According to Matt Mitrione, the referee on duty -- or the ringside physician -- for his Heavyweight collision against Travis Browne this past weekend (Sun., Jan. 17, 2016) at UFC Fight Night 81 in Boston, Mass. (recap), should have said "no mas" after "Hapa" inadvertently poked him in the eye on two occasions.
Because Mitrione, for one, isn't going to throw the towel on himself. On the contrary, he recently declared on "The MMA Hour" that he will always continue to the end regardless of how high the odds are stacked against him, as was the case by not having all his visual capabilities in "Beantown."
His words (via MMA Fighting):
"I feel that I'm a competitor. I'm a life-long competitor. And I know that I'm losing the potential of getting the other half of my paycheck if I say I can't go anymore. So, I'm going to do anything I possibly can to continue fighting, even if it's not in my best option, because I need just one chance to get him. In the middle of that fight, after the first eye poke, I was fighting with one eye closed just so I could see one Travis. That's not a safe way to fight at the highest level in the world against people that are [skilled in] takedowns, kicks, punches, everything in the world. So I feel like, once that was seen and I had my eye closed for however long it was closed, like a minute or something like that ... that should have been a sign to the doctors and for the referee to be like, ‘hold on, dude's closing his eye because he can't focus, we need to call this a no contest. We need to save him from himself, and step in and do something about this.' Because I'm not going to do that, because I'm too grindy and gritty and I want my paycheck. But it's not a safe way for the sport to evolve. I'm not going to blow the whistle on myself, and removed that chance of getting the other half of my money."
As a result of being allowed to continue, Mitrione ate a solid right from "Hapa," which ultimately broke his right orbital bone, they same eye that was the recipient of the eye pokes.
See the gruesome aftermath here and here.
To be clear, Mitrione -- who also suffered a separated shoulder -- did acknowledge that the pokes were not done on purpose by Browne and that he wasn't offering up excuses for the loss.
It's just the facts, ma'am.
Furthermore, when asked if he should've verbally tapped and admitted he couldn't continue, Mitrione said that decision shouldn't be up to him, but rather it's the professional decision of the referee or doctor to save him from himself and rule the fight a no-contest. Because at the end of the day, a competitor like Mitrione -- who is doing better three days later -- isn't going to give up half of his paycheck so easily.
Anyone (dis)agree with Mitrione's sentiments?