UFC Hall from Famer Chael Sonnen has an interesting theory behind the controversial interruption of Derrick Lewis vs. Tallison Teixeira.
UFC Heavyweight Ster Derrick Lewis turned another rising competition on Saturday with a knockout of 35 seconds on UFC Nashville. Lewis defeated Tallison Teixeira by TKO after dropping the talented Brazilian with a right hand only a few seconds in the fight, followed by brutal follow -up falls.
Teixeira immediately protested the referee Jason Herzog's Stop when Lewis ran around the Octagon to celebrate his victory. UFC CEO Dana White and others have criticized Herzog for pulling the fast trigger to stop the fight.
Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC
Chael Sonnen believes that referee Jason Herzog was not going to wave UFC Nashville Main Event
UFC Hall of Famer Daniel Cormier has received the opposite approach. Cormier recently defended the Lewis/Teixeira break because Teixeira got away with a fence when Lewis laid heavy bumps.
Cormier's ESPN-Co-Gastheer, Chael Sonnen, went one step further during a recent episode of Good Guy/Bad Guy.
“You have to keep an eye on the end of that fight, quite close to see this. But there is a clear control device not once, but twice, with grabbing the fence,” Sonen said.
“It changed the position, brought him back on his feet. A referee will often end an exchange and then make a statement. Not in such a case, when you lose position, the ref must immediately put down in steps and Teixeira, put the black beast on him, and they will not continue with him.
“My own conspiracy, but I believe he stopped the action to offer discipline, 1 point in front of the fence. Derrick is starting to celebrate, crowd starts to respond … All the start of a TKO and my own faith is that they just gone with it.
In Teixeira's first post-fight comments, he did not recognize the controversial interruption because he seems to bounce back from his first loss of career.
Herzog later told the long -retained referee 'big' John McCarthy that, after viewing the battle, he believes that he made a mistake when stopping the fight when he did. Herzog is considered one of the best officials in modern MMA by many, although the best referees can still make mistakes.
Referee Jason Herzog admitted that stopping was 'a little early'
Lewis vs. Teixeira has closed an eventful night of fighting in UFC Nashville. Former UFC title finer Stephen Thompson and the rising welterweight Gabriel Bonfim fought in a Wild Co-Main event, while rising stars such as Morgan Charriere value added with large finishes.
Lewis knocks on the door of a potentially heavyweight title shot after UFC Nashville. He is one of the few top candidates who have not had to deal with undisputed heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall, and Aspinall is expected to defend his belt later this year.
Time will learn whether Lewis will get a third crack when earning a UFC title.