Kiefer Crosbie isn’t at all happy with how things went down at UFC Shanghai.
Crosbie’s back was already to the wall ahead of his Welterweight match up versus Chinese prospect Taiyilake Nueraji. Not only was Nueraji fighting in his home country, but the young knockout artist was 11 years Crosbie’s junior and heavily favored by odds makers to win. Furthermore, Crosbie had yet to pick up a UFC win in two previous trips to the Octagon.
Indeed, the fight played out as many expected. Nueraji was the faster and more powerful striker, and he put Crosbie on the defensive early. However, he also landed a nasty knee to the face while Crosbie was seated on his side, splitting open the Irish striker’s face. For the illegal blow, referee Mark Goddard deducted two points. He also restarted the fight very quickly, leading to a knockout loss for Crosbie just moments later.
A lot of fans speculated that Crosbie could — should? — have stayed sat down and accepted a disqualification victory. After the loss, “BDK” is understandably upset about how it all went down, and he blames the ref for failing to give him his full five minutes worth of recovery time.
“Yeah take away a point and I’ll carry on,” Crosbie wrote on Instagram. “Sound [thumbs up emoji]. ‘My job is to keep you safe at all times.’ How come I didn’t get 5 minutes [Marc Goddard] 45 seconds I got and couldn’t even see straight or remember what happened. Obviously I was gonna continue because that’s what fighters do but to rush me back in whilst still concussed and confused is f—king ridiculous. Playing with my life. Ridiculous call”
In the comments, he continued, “After the fight I asked backstage how come a doctor didn’t come in and assess me, then they told me he did. I don’t remember any of it.”
Refereeing is a difficult job, but there’s no way Crosbie should have been allowed to fight again so quickly. Time and time again, we see referees remind athletes of their five minutes for fouls like low blows or eye pokes, strikes which aren’t necessarily as damaging as a full powered knee to the face. Goddard did well to take points, but there’s an argument to be made that an instant DQ or “No Contest” was the only call given the damage done.
It remains to be seen if UFC will award Crosbie another opportunity in the Octagon given the controversy.
