Koscheck responds to Lavigne's comments, "better get that resume ready Lavigne"

UPDATE: Yves Lavigne is denying that he gave the interview in question and it has been pulled from the canoe.com web site. See more at BloodyElbow.com

If you read my story yesterday in regards to the comments that MMA ref Yves Lavigne made in regards to Josh Koscheck and his opponent at UFC 124 Georges St. Pierre. Lavigne said that Koscheck was scared to stand up with Daley and was happy to hold him to the ground among other things. Koscheck responded via his website blog:

"UFC referee, Yves Lavigne is clearly not suited to be a referee after his rant of personal attacks and opinions on me as a fighter.  It's supposed to be his job to look at a fight unbiased, but how can anyone trust this guy to fairly referee any fight ever again after his comments?  It's scary to think this guy has been calling fights in the octagon for this long. It's very fair to say Mr. Lavigne will never ref one of my fights again. I would never put all my hard work as a fighter or my livelihood in the hands of this ref. 

The (UFC) and the commission would be irresponsible to let him continue his job- any call this guy makes would have to be questioned. You call MMA a professional sport?  Well, professional starts at the top. Never would an NFL, NBA or other major sports official state there personal opinions publicly about a player and keep their job.  I now question every call Yves has ever made as a referee. Hopefully no fighter ever has to step into a fight with Yves Lavigne as referee.  Better get that resume ready Lavigne....."

Koscheck is correct. A ref is supposed to be objective. Period. There's no mistaking this. Do I think all refs are 100% unbiased? No. But at least don't be stupid enough to tell me you are. I know movies are fake, but I don't want the actors to tell me during the movie "Hey, I'm an actor". If Lavigne had merely offered analysis of the fight, this would be a non-story. If he had merely made these comments, you could make a case for it being lost in translation. However, the whole interview with Lavigne reads as GSP fanboyism and dismissal of his opponents.

The response to this has been telling of MMA fans. Most fans say "Who cares?" Their motivation for that stems from their dislike of Josh Koscheck. "Heel" refs belong in the WWF and not MMA. A ref should not harbor biases especially in a fighting sport like MMA. I remember the fuss over the ref who called those BS technicals on Tim Duncan for laughing. It was clear he was biased as well. Also, it's not like Yves Lavigne is the most competant ref in the business. Matt Brown/Pete Sell? Mac Danzig/Matt Wiman? Nover/Bradley?

Josh is also right in that the commissions should take a good look at this. I'm not for someone losing their job, however, a nice fine should do. He also should never be allowed to ref a GSP fight nor a Josh Koscheck one.

(As an aside: Josh Koscheck stands MUCH more than GSP. Was GSP "scared" to stand with Dan Hardy? Thiago Alves?)

Edit: The above article and the opinions that followed were made with the belief that the interview with Mr. Lavigne was authentic. The interview was recently taken down and Mr. Lavigne has stated that he never "gave an interview" to this author. As this story is still breaking, we at WKR will continue to keep you updated and we will have more information in the upcoming hours. If in fact these comments were not made by Mr. Lavigne, I can only offer my sincerest regrets for the commentary offered based on incorrect info.