Maniacs,

I was having a good debate with a weekend poster (a petty, lazy fuck who wants credit for discussing an MMA match on an MMA blog instead of doing his own work) who claimed the referee in the Tate vs. Rousey match should have stepped in and stopped the contest before Tate's arm was damaged.

I decided to do a quick search to see if there is any language that would support his point of view.

I found the following...

According to the MMA Unified Rules of Conduct (MURC) :

13: 46-24A.17 Types of Bout Results

(a) The following are the types of bout results:

1. Submission by:
i. Tap Out: When a contestant physically uses his hand to indicate that he or she no longer wishes to continue; or
ii. Verbal tap out: When a contestant verbally announces to the referee that he or she does not wish to continue;

2. Technical knockout by:
i. Referee stops bout;
ii. Ringside physician stops bout; or
iii. When an injury as a result of a legal maneuver is severe enough to terminate a bout

GIF of the submission below:

It seems that this rule - iii. When an injury as a result of a legal maneuver is severe enough to terminate a bout would certainly be applicable in this situation.

However, the ref seems to go with the interepretation of this rule - i. Tap Out: When a contestant physically uses his hand to indicate that he or she no longer wishes to continue.

How about more evidence to determine which rule is followed more consistently?

Another example of the Tap Out rule in effect :

Mir vs. Big Nog

You can see that Herb is quick to stop the contest AFTER the tap from Big Nog (despite the obvious damage to the arm).

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Coincidentally, there is also another example involving the same ref which reinforces the TKO by severe injury rule:

Mir vs. Sylvia

Herb rushes in and stops the contest after the break in Sylvia's arm despite Tim NOT tapping out. *Apologies for not being as awesome or technically savvy as Nostradumbass* ========================================================================================== Same ref...but he uses both interpretations in two different matches. What do you Maniacs think?