The performance of veteran referee Marc Goddard have been questioned after UFC 319.
The British officer was the man in the middle when Khamzat Chimaev became world champion on Saturday evening.
For the most part, Marc Goddard remained out of the way when 'Borz' middleweight holder Drus du Persis during their five -round UFC 319 Main Event.
However, he intervened a few times when their matchup changed a stalemate to the floor.
Photo by Geoff Stellfox/Getty images
Demetrious Johnson calls UFC 319 referee
Marc Goddard ordered the UFC 319 headliners back to their feet several times during their 25 -minute fight.
As a result, Dricus Du Plessis had the opportunity to set up a late comeback attempt in round five.
Former UFC Flightweight Champion Demetrious Johnson insists that this is a chance that 'DDP' should not have had.
'Mighty Mouse' proclaimed Goddard's great mistake when he Chimaev vs. Du Plessis on his YouTube channel.
“I think the ref DDP should not have given the chance to get up again,” said Johnson.
'Even though fans were [booing]I think it was a big L of the ref.
“But the referee just tries to make an exciting fight. That is what he is trying to do.”
Some of the fans also expressed their frustrations with Goddard who stood upright and du Plessis.
Many other people, however, agreed with his attempts to make the main event of the UFC 319 more interesting.
We need Marc Goddard as a UFC Ref, he clearly tried to cheat on DDP and got up when DDP was turned off.
Khamzat landed and promoted positions, it is DDPS task not to get up, not Goddards#ufc319 pic.twitter.com/fhmspzhlz
– Kenny Okoye🇳🇬 (@truthfulufcfan) August 17, 2025
View tweet
Fans hits another UFC 319 referee
Referee Jason Herzog was again reprimanded by fans after a quick stopping during UFC 319 Prelims.
Alex Hernandez dropped Chase Hooper with less than five seconds from the first round of their fight.
After a few follow-up bumps, Herzog stepped in to wave things away somewhat prematurely. Hooper was still aware and tried to protect himself, when the referee intervened with two seconds on the clock.
Herzog was recently criticized by fans, experts and fellow hunters for allowing a UFC record six official knockdowns from Steven Nguyen to opponent Mohammad Yahya at UFC Abu Dhabi.
The performance of the UFC support pillar came under fire from California State Athletic Commission Head of Andy Foster, who contacted the veteran referee to discuss the incident.
The deceased interruption of Herzog led UFC Play-by-Play broadcaster Jon Anik to publish a fiery message to Herzog on his podcast, so that he hints on the absence of promoting fighting safety in the fight.
That interruption came the week after the early interruption of Herzog in the fight of Derrick Lewis vs. Tallison Teixeria was questioned.