Yves Lavigne stands by his decision for the Nover-Bradley fight
by Zak Woods on May 29, 2009 11:15 AM EDT
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Yves Lavigne has faced a great deal of criticism regarding his stoppage in the Phillipe Nover Kyle Bradley fight.
Lavigne recently taked to Sherdog and stood by his decision.
"It was the toughest one to call, because you don't see the face of the guy receiving the punch," Lavigne told Sherdog.com Wednesday. "You have to look with the body, so basically, I based my judgment on Mr. Nover's reaction. When he went face-first in the mat with his arms behind him, I decided to stop the fight."
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I know it looks bad. I know some people on the Internet said I re-start[ed] that fight," said Lavigne. "I never re-start[ed] that fight. I didn't want to receive a kick in the face and get knocked out. When the fighter doesn't really comply, what am I supposed to do? I think the step back was the best way in order to stop the fight."
As WKR said before the larger issue was not the stoppage but Lavigne's lack of decisiveness. Lavigne's double take caused more issues than his decision to end the fight. After all, Nover went limp and as a referee your job is to protect a fighter. In that capacity Lavigne's actions are reasonable and understandable.
Lavigne was also the center of criticism surrounding the Pete Sell Matt Brown fight at UFC 96. That fight went too long and Lavigne later admitted to his mistake.
gifs of the UFC 98 stoppage after the jump
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right on again…he jumped in but stopped and pulled back. He should just jump in if he’s going to jump in. It would probably still was early, but it would not have looked so tentative, and would not have left the door so wide open for criticism if he didn’t look so unsure.
One thing Big John McCarthy always seemed to do was cover up the downed fighter, not try to pry off the attacking fighter. Being an armchair referee is easy, of course, but if he would give himself some distance before jumping in, he might be able stop himself if he thought it was not yet over. Then commit, and cover the downed fighter.
I agree with Lavigne after hearing his description of events. Looking at that last gif, it does look like he was getting out of the way in the name of self-preservation. Like Zak said a guy like McCarthy or Miraggliotti (sp) might be able to take an errant shot than a smaller man like Lavigne.
Plus, and it may just be me, but Yves Lavigne just comes across as a stand-up guy. When he screwed up he owned up to it publicly. That tells me he’s not too proud to admit he’s wrong, which makes me respect his viewpoint when he believes he was right.
Upon rewatching that clip, I have to comment that that was a pretty impressive slam by Bradley that set up the finish. He powered out of that Thai plumb by picking Nover up like an infant and slamming him on the back of his head.
Looks to me like someone might belong in the Featherweight division.
I can’t really fault Lavigne too much for this one. It was a tough, split-second call, and he also had to worry about protecting himself. I give him a pass on this one, and don’t think anyone would be nearly as worked up about it if A) he hadn’t botched (BADLY) the Sell-Brown fight, and B) Nover didn’t pop right back up. Nothing Lavigne can do about the first part – you fuck up, you end up with a reputation for a while, and he’ll just have to work through it – but the second part always strikes me as unfair. Remember when Alves caught Karo and he crumpled to the mat like a puppet whose strings were cut? And then he bounced up right after the fight was stopped and everyone and their brother called the stoppage early? Yeah, Karo was OUT, even if only for a split second, and I think Nover was too. The ref can’t make a decision on whether or not to stop the fight based on how long they think a fighter will be unconscious. Were it me, a guy goes limp while lying on his face, I’d stop the fight too.
"I'm AJB and I endorse this nut-puncher."
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