Dana White is sick of refs ‘f-king up’ and ‘stealing fights’

UFC Fight Night 147: “Till vs. Masvidal” on ESPN+ went down on Saturday night from O2 Arena in London, England, and what would a mixed martial arts (MMA) event be without a little controversy involving the in-ring officials? The most egregious call of the night definitely went to Kevin Sataki for stopping a fight just as Danny Roberts was escaping an armbar from Claudio Silva.

Sataki’s reasoning? Roberts’ grunts in the moment constituted a verbal submission.

You can watch the finish right here and see how upset Danny Roberts was with the call.

”When the ref stopped that, I was already out of that armbar,” Roberts told Dan Hardy during his post-fight interview. “I had already transitioned to the other side, and I was OK. Yeah, I made noise, I might have grunted, it hurt. But, I was ready to come out and carry on to the bitter end and the end of the third round. We had him finished, I wasn’t done. I’m just gutted that it stopped when it did.”

UFC President Dana White agreed with Roberts’ sentiment, releasing an Instagram post supporting his fighter.

”Kills me when these refs F**K UP and steal such a great fight and opportunity from the not just the fighters but the fans!!!!!” White wrote. “@danhotchocolate SO SORRY!!!!!”

You can tell White’s mind is still on the big Ben Askren vs. Robbie Lawler fight from a few weeks ago at UFC 235. In that case, Herb Dean stopped their fight after thinking Lawler had been choked unconscious. A very not unconscious Lawler protested, and afterward White said he wanted to set up an immediate rematch to make things right. So ... how about Danny Roberts vs. Claudio Silva 2?

For complete UFC London results and coverage click here.