Benji Radach planning to appeal April 11 Strikeforce loss to Scott Smith
by Jesse Holland on May 3, 2009 4:39 AM EDT
76 comments
Props: ESPN the Magazine
Quoteworthy:
"I was not out ... I'm not a sore loser, and I think Scott Smith is a great guy. I wish it didn't come to this. But I'm just doing what I think is right ... If Scott hadn't gotten a hold of the cage—which is blatantly against the rules—I think I would have finished him [in the second round]."
Strikeforce middleweight banger Benji Radach plans to file an appeal over his knockout loss to Scott Smith at Strikeforce: "Shamrock vs. Diaz" back on April 11. Razor is citing referee Herb Dean for several mistakes during the bout, including a fence grab in the second round (that stymied a Radach guillotine) and an illegal punch to the back of Radach's head to end the fight. "Hands of Steel" was getting schooled for three rounds before out of nowhere he dropped another magical right hand square on the button of "Razor" to put him down for the count. Is Radach crying over spilt mik? Or does he have a legitimate case against Dean and the stoppage? Check out a quick clip of the head shot after the jump.
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He was done. Sucks to be him and lose after dominating, but that’s the way things go sometimes. Hell of a comeback by Smith.
by yohnstoppable on May 3, 2009 4:40 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs
whats the point of disputing the decision. we all know the commission IS NOT going to overturn this decision….so why is Beji even wasting time and money by dealing with the hearings? Its just stupid if you ask me…Its mma, there is no exact science to reffing mma fights…Not every fighter that gets stopped is going to be OUT…thats the nature of the beats. Deal with it! If Rumble’s eye poke loss wasnt overturned then this decision is sure as hell not getting over turned!
by john on May 3, 2009 8:20 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Benji, Benji, Benji, you seemed so classy after having allowed a guy you were hammering to come back and knock your ss out. It was a great fight and a classic and now you pull a BJ Penn and start btching about a dude grabbing the fence??? No class, dude. Just except that you had your chance, Smith took it from you, and move on. Don’t be a tool.
by RedDog on May 3, 2009 9:44 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Even when a guy has a legit argument, it just comes off like whining after a loss.
These guys need to understand that even if the commission were to overturn the loss (which they won’t) fans wil not give him the same respect as if he had won. On the contrary, they will have less respect for making a big deal out of this.
Fans will always root for guys that lay it all out there, regardless of a loss.
Some fighters just don’t get it.
by Jrandolph on May 3, 2009 9:39 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Exactly, despite Leites looking miserable during his fight with A. Silva, he had the opportunity to cry foul about Silva rubbing the vaseline on his body but he refused to go that route and so I respect him that much more.
by RedDog on May 4, 2009 3:12 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Why not just ask for a rematch? Shows much more class, Benji Radach is now a tool.
by Cogito Ergo Sum on May 4, 2009 7:07 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
This is far worse than what BJ did, I’m a BJ fan and was annoyed with all of the whining he did after the GSP fight but I’ve never heard anything so ridiculous. How can you have a KO overturned, it doesn’t make any sense, it’s not like he took an eye poke, he was dropped by a hard right from a guy with one punch KO ability. If Herb hadn’t stepped in Benji would have been badly hurt. What an absolute tool, this won’t do Benji any favours in the long-run and it puts a dampener on what was a great fight.
by David W-S on May 4, 2009 9:02 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
I’m really surprised he is doing this. If there was anything off about that stoppage everyone would have been on it after the fight. Whether he was out or not- it was a perfectly good stoppage, nothing controversial in the least. It’s gotta suck to be winning a fight and lose it the final seconds, but he may want to get his bitchassness levels checked.
by DSmith on May 3, 2009 10:22 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
NEWS
houston has a broken hand and is out, reported on his twitter page.
there goes the last good slugfest :’(
by Jared on May 3, 2009 8:42 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Ridiculous!I also don’t remember seeing Smith grab the fence…anyway the commission will never overturn this one.It’s a waste of time and That’s just gonna make him look bad. JOHN,if you didn’t see my post yesterday concerning why,i was making a joke at you being gay,because of your choice of the Smith/Drago fight!Well there it is…i was referring to Scott Smith who said thanks to his masseuse Tom Atencio,at his last fight against Radach.And i was,only making the joke because of the other John who did post a few time,some very gay comments.That wasn’t toward you at all,buddy!!
by Alpha Male 360 on May 3, 2009 11:47 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
he clearly grabbed the fence like he said .but I do not think they should have went this route with it,Benji should have just pointed it out to Strikeforce and asked for a rematch,I am sure they would have been real upset in having to put them two back in the cage together.
by scott on May 3, 2009 12:59 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
no worries alpha…Its all in good fun. Im not one of those guys that you cant joke with…I wasnt being a dick, I just didnt get the joke….I forgot all about the little “Pigmy masseus”, Atencio….hahahahaha
by john on May 3, 2009 3:26 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Scott, they can’t go granting rematches just because someone grabbed a fence. If that were the case, we’d never see fighters fight someone new. Fighters grab the fence all the time. If a rematch was made, it would be by virtue of how great a fight it was rather than for fence grabbing.
by RedDog on May 3, 2009 3:49 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Exactly RedDog great post, Bitching Benji has just become one of my most hated fighters what an absolute joke. And Scott Smith is funny as hell, that’s twice he’s implied that Attencio’s gay.
by David W-S on May 4, 2009 9:05 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Agreed…. if anything, Benji should be used the fight to hype a rematch, not complain about the loss.
by DJ on May 3, 2009 12:03 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Hmm that’s funny, he doesn’t look anything like BJ Penn
by Sirchokemout on May 3, 2009 8:29 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
hahahahahaha YES! i was hoping someone else would think something along these lines
by sanshouer on May 3, 2009 11:01 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Maybe he can get his Mom to plead his case…
by Ixian on May 4, 2009 1:20 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
LOL! HE WASN’T OUT????
by Bennie Blanco from the Bronx on May 3, 2009 12:32 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
well this is the worst gif you could ever look at to decide if it was a legit stoppage you don’t see anything that happens after he gets knocked down! so of course we’re gonna think it was a legit stoppage.
by AzCombat on May 3, 2009 1:55 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
If Smith was out in the 2nd he would not have been able to come back and win by KO. It was one of the best fights I have ever seen. I’d pay to see them lock horns again.
by hatteras on May 3, 2009 7:18 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Damn! Benji and his girlfriend are really nice people. I was speaking with him and he was telling me he was not out and it was a bad stoppage. But I saw it and saw him get up in a very wobbly fashion after. His arm was in a sling and he had stitches in his face and I could just stand there and say…really? What do you say to the dude? Unfortunately he was out, and this does nothing for him to complain.
by theCloser on May 4, 2009 4:22 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Total bullshit. Even if he wasn’t out, it was still a good stoppage.
by iEminence on May 3, 2009 4:42 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs
This was a great fight. benji shouldnt be knocking the call. I thought it may have been early until I seen benji was still “rubber” even as his corner came in, as well as the cut guy.
I had actually gained a lot of respect for benji durning this fight, too bad i just lost all of it.
by What? on May 3, 2009 5:06 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs
yes, thank you. It was around 5-6am when i posted.
by What? on May 3, 2009 12:23 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
No explanation needed.
Everyone has heard of a typo.
It’s obvious what you meant, but some people can’t just ignore it they have to correct the person so they feel better about themselves.
by Adebisi on May 3, 2009 7:49 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Sore loser….I was there LIVE and he was out. If it was an early stoppage then why didn’t he complain then? and then he goes and say I WOULD have finished him!!
I would have
could have
should have
but you didn’t buddy!! so take the loss like a man. GREAT FIGHT though. Definitely fight of the night.
by Skelow on May 3, 2009 6:15 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs
To his defense ,Scott did grab the fence to try and releave pressure from the choke,and he was complaining saying the second punch once he got dropped was a punch to the back of the head,which it was ,with all that said he should have just asked for a rematch
by scott on May 3, 2009 1:08 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Exactly, we, the fans don’t generally take too well to fighters b_tching about things like opponents grabbing the fence or accidental strikes to the back of the head unless it’s monumental like the eye poke that Anthony Rumble Johnson took that cost him his fight with Kevin Burns or the awful call by the judges of the Bisping-Hamill fight.
by RedDog on May 4, 2009 8:22 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Just way more trouble than it’s worth. I’m sure it was a tough loss, but the dud needs to focus on his next fight and tighten up his defense instead of crying. Can’t help wondering if BJ set a precedent for this kind of shit.
by Kuato on May 3, 2009 6:37 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs
I’m sure we’ve all seen fights which were ended after a blow like this…
On the other hand, there have also been many that were allowed to continue in similar circumstances, and the clip does make it look like Smith lands a massive blow to the back of Radach’s head.
Which is what I care about – not his appeal (I think it’s a bad precedent, and unlikely to go anywhere) but the quality of the refereeing. Too often, when a fighter gets dropped, the other guy jumps on him like a rabid dog, lands blows without any care or consideration, and gets away with it because the fight is getting stopped.
Of course, what’s the alternative? Stop a fight and declare a DQ because someone KOed with a blow to the back of the head? But the refs should be more careful…
by MattNY on May 3, 2009 8:16 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs
I’ve seen a lot worse cases of cage grappping then what smith did in that fight.
No way he wins this battle either.
by Toad on May 3, 2009 8:37 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs
Agreed this is a lose-lose by persuing this. Makes him look like a sore loser prick.
by RedDog on May 3, 2009 3:52 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
my favorite part of that fight was when smith tried a guillatine and radach like slammed him over his head that was kool. but i agree radach is just wasting time and money no way this fight gets overturned
by Jared on May 3, 2009 8:41 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs
Radach is pulling a BJ “douchebag” Penn…its a waste of time.
by General Jim on May 3, 2009 9:04 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs
Benji, this fight even though you lost was still the greatest fight of your career in terms of excitement, don’t mar it with these fruitless allegations you vagabond!
by DirtyML on May 3, 2009 9:16 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs
wow really, shit like this happens all the time, refs dont catch everything. Good thing not every fighter pulls this bullshit or there would be more fighters in court than in the cage
by mwd on May 3, 2009 9:52 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs
One one hand you appeal, which you will never win and lose a lot of fans in the process or on the other hand, you shut up, take it like a man and pat Scott on the back. Hmmm?
by Youtaped on May 3, 2009 10:03 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs
This was an awesome fight. Scott Smith fights never disappoint, the guy is tuff as hell. Even his second loss to Robbie Lawler,he was taking knees to the stomach (that eventually dropped him), but other fighters would have been done on the 1st or second. The Smith/Sell fight should be way up in the UFC top 100 fights. Smith is awesome, always has a ton of respect for other fighters, and is just a great guy. I’m with Youtaped, Benji only stands to loose twice in this match now. He should have finished Smith, or congratulated, but crying gets you no respect.
by jk358 on May 3, 2009 10:34 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs
wow. get over it. once it’s over it’s over. don’t be like bj benji.
by Phil Baloni on May 3, 2009 10:44 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs
Always hated Benji. He’s going to blame his loss on Smith cage grabbing.
by Lyquid on May 3, 2009 10:54 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs
anyone who credits his discipline as “face smashing fu” should be denied entrance to the cage….
by sanshouer on May 3, 2009 11:03 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Haha, yeah. Every time I see that I cringe.
by Johnny Farnham on May 3, 2009 10:58 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
. . . and thug jitsu is just as lame.
by Johnny Farnham on May 3, 2009 10:59 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
It was a Great fight that neither fighter need be ashamed of. I still have respect for BR, but once the third round began, he lost his right to appeal.
BR needs to focus on his next fight and not the past.
Besides, do you think Radach would bring his mom to his appeal hearing?
=P
by Jay K. on May 3, 2009 11:03 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs
I hope i’m wrong about this, but maybe a B.J Penn syndrome while soon be sweeping the MMA world.
by Ray on May 3, 2009 11:05 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs
ahha isn’t that funny that theres a bj penn video right under this, losers travel in packs i guess..
by guyverbob on May 3, 2009 11:05 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs
Not much i can say other than, what a dumb@ss. Hes going to lose the fans he gained IMO.
by JV on May 3, 2009 11:39 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs
Scott Smith is average at the very best, if I were Benji I would be embarrased to but come on man he KO’D you. I agree with Radach says about holdong the fence for a split second, it happens all the time. You see a guy about to get taken down and he grabs it quick enough that the ref cant even tell him to let go but by then the takedown has been stopped and the fight course has been changed. I think a point should be taken every time one grabs the fence regardless its against the rules and no matter how quick or little the grab is, it does affect what the other guy is trying.
by the spyder on May 3, 2009 11:47 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs
I wish we would stop having to watch Scott Smith, they should just htrow him in there against a really good ground guy and let him choke Scott out, Im tired of watching this plug!!!!
by the spyder on May 3, 2009 11:50 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs
If you don’t like him, then stop watching him…..Oh, wait, you can’t stop because everytime he fights he puts on a good show. Stop complaining about quality fights on free television.
by shawn on May 3, 2009 1:38 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Scott’s had some great fights for Elite, UFC and Strikeforce and has loads of highlight reel KO’s, how can you complain about watching him fight? There always has to be someone complaining about fighters no matter what they do…
by David W-S on May 4, 2009 9:09 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
This is ridiculous. Herb Dean was going to stop if before the shot to the back of the head which I’m sure was unintentional and if Herb didn’t see Scott grab the fence it probably didn’t happen. I mean c’mon it’s Herb Dean
by zachy on May 3, 2009 11:55 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs
Well June 6th isn’t that far off for Diaz v Smith. Diaz takes it easy.
by Lyquid on May 3, 2009 11:57 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs
I’m not sure he should be ashamed of that loss or even try to argue about it. Does anyone remember the Matt Hughes V/S Carlos Newton fight? UFC 34. Anyway Carlos got Hughes in a Triangle, hughes picks him up and places him on the cage. He holds him there for a big and them bam slams him to the ground. They both look fucked up and the ref calls it giving the championship to Hughes. After they hit the ground Hughes never had any offense, Don’t get me wrong i’m glad he won but I thought it was kind of B.S.
by Anderson Silva on May 3, 2009 12:47 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
No doubt he was struck square on the back of the head. Not a glancing blow behind the ear, etc. Right at the very back of the head, at the base of the neck. Bam! That animated GIF shows it clearly.
by MMACrossifre on May 3, 2009 1:22 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
Is it now a stigma for any fighter to dispute the outcome of a fight? Does any appeal immediately warrant comparisons to BJ Penn, GSP and “Greasegate?”
It doesn’t look like he was out to me. He got knocked down, for sure, but was immediately on his way back up when Smith clearly nailed him in the back of the head (which I am sure was accidental.) Both of these guys are extremely respectable fighters, and if Radach feels this strongly about the outcome, he has every right to dispute it. I have no reason to believe Radach is pulling a BJ; he is not whining, and he is not blaming Smith or disrespecting him, but he obviously feels very strongly that he was cheated twice (once by Smith grabbing the fence to avoid a guillotine, and then getting hit in the back of the head, neither of which was noted by Dean.) I think people are jumping on him and calling him a sore loser too quickly. He has never been overly egotistical in any interview I have ever heard of him. Nobody has a better frame of reference pertaining to what happened in the fight than him (as well as Smith and Dean.) Give him more of a chance to state his case.
by mburtoni on May 3, 2009 1:25 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
Anyone who complains about a stoppage winds me up (the only exceptions being blatant cheating a la Johnson-Burns I) and to try to get a result overturned in this way is just a joke. Benji is a sore loser and has lost a lot of fans and given negative press to a FOTY contender. Scott Smith is known for highlight reel KO’s so Dean’s actions were done to protect Bitching Benji from taking uneccessary punishment. This sort of thing won’t do anything good for MMA.
by David W-S on May 4, 2009 9:13 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
If he wins the case everyone will try to overturn their losses. There are tiny infractions all the time
by EazyEismydad on May 3, 2009 1:41 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
But at the same time, in a sport where infractions constantly go unpunished, should the fighters just have to accept this as a part of the sport or should they have the right to appeal decisions they deem unfair? It is not uncommon to read posts that complain about unfair stoppages. I don’t understand how these people can not support fighters like Radach who at least appear to have a legitimate claim to appeal a decision.
As for the worry of a flood of attempts to appeal decisions, it might be inevitable, but that does not mean that everyone will eventually get the outcome they want. Anthony Johnson didn’t get his desired outcome after appealing his TKO loss to Kevin Burns, yet I have never heard anyone say that that was a good stoppage.
by mburtoni on May 3, 2009 2:21 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Good for him. He had Smith in trouble WORRSE than that which gave Smith the win 3 TIMES!!!! But as soon as Radich gets knocked down, the ref gave him about 1 oe 2 seconds to recover.
Smith was on queer street for LONG periods of time. AT one point(and Scott admitted this) he just held onto his leg hoping that the fight wouldnt be stopped. Sctott said ha had no idea where he was.
by fightfan on May 3, 2009 3:52 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
what is he trying to accomplish? all he is going to do is tarnish a helluva fight. He was done and there is no doubt about it. So what Smith might of grabbed the fence it happens in a lot of fights and Herb Dean handled it appropriately he gave him a warning. Benji is playing the what if game. what if the fight wasnt stopped, what if i would have tapped him out, what if this what if that. the what if game is not going to hold up against the athletic commission and him appealing this has made me lose a ton of respect for him and after this maneuver on his part i would love to see a rematch and i would love to see Scott smith ko him again. he is a sore loser and if he cant deal with losing maybe he should get out of the sport.
by matt on May 3, 2009 4:22 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
“He was done and there is no doubt about it.”
I disagree. He got knocked down but was clearly on his way back up when he got hit in the back of the head by Smith, which finished the bout. Radach had Smith in trouble numerous times throughout the bout, and it seemed to me that Herb Dean gave Smith more leeway to continue than he gave Radach. This is entirely different from the “what if” game. Was Anthony Johnson playing the “what if” game when he appealed his TKO loss to Kevin Burns after essentially being finished with an eye-poke?
by mburtoni on May 3, 2009 6:26 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
dude dont even compare this to the eye poke incident, anthony johnson had the video evidence and the ref admitted to making a mistake, herb dean had every right to stop that fight he lets it continue and the fans will be saying he should of stopped the fight benji did not need to take all that excess damage. And how the hell is benji not playing the what if game. He is essentially saying what if he didnt do this what if this didnt happen to me that is the what if game.
by matt on May 3, 2009 11:26 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
He may not have been out cold…but that is how it goes in MMA. I have seen tons more that were even less of a KO than that, and they never appealed. For instants…Koscheck and Riley both were stopped prematurely at UFC. So he needs to take his loss with him back to camp, and come back stronger.
by Preston on May 3, 2009 6:14 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
he was stumbling all over the place afterwards.
by alex on May 3, 2009 7:38 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
Maybe Benji wants to appeal the Danny Lafever stoppage too.
by Adebisi on May 3, 2009 7:51 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
It was a good stoppage. It’s a waste of time for Radach to appeal this.
by pud333 on May 3, 2009 8:21 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
Valid appeal. Not the ‘what if’ game at all. Legitimate concerns. On the way up and then hit in the back of the head. What would you do if you were in his shoes? This is the legal process to deal with this. Who knows what the contracts say and how his contract implication effected this decision to appeal. Benji has been around for a long time and should have all of our respect. Everyone on here calling him out needs to train for 15 years through injury after injury, stand toe to toe and see what happens. Benji had him on ice skates three times. Scott was admittedly out on his feet. Benji was caught and on his way up when he was hit in the back of the head. REMATCH!! (After Diaz puts Smith to sleep with a Go-Go…)
by fan31 on May 29, 2009 4:27 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
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