Q&A With Steve Mazzagatti:Talks About Controversial Johnson/Burns Fight

D Wizzle talked to MMA referee, Steve Mazzagatti, to get his take on the Anthony "Rumble" Johnson/Kevin Burns fight that took place on July 19 as part of UFC Fight Night 14.  Mazzagatti was the referee for that particular fight and awarded a victory to Burns via TKO when Johnson fell down and turned his back to Burns in the third round.

Johnson was on his way to a victory but  got poked severely in his right eye which caused him to scream in pain. Johnson had to have surgery on his right eye due to the damage from Burns' eye poke. 

The agent for Johnson, Ken Pavia, is appealing the decision, and hopefully the fight will be changed to a No Contest.

Pictures of Johnson after his eye surgery can be seen here -

http://dwizzlesworld.blogspot.com/2008/07/anthony-rumble-johnson-pictures-after.html

Q&A With Steve Mazzagatti

I know you have been getting criticized of late due to the controversial decision in the Johnson/Burns fight. Can you tell me what you saw in the third round when Johnson fell to the ground and turned his back screaming?

I did not see the eye poke as I was on the other side of the action. After he got hit, it looked like he went down from a punch,  so I called it the way I saw it. Remember,  we only have one or two seconds  to make a call, and without any  form of replay. I agree...it was a bullshit call but that's what I saw.

Do you think there should be instant replay in MMA?

It would be nice, but it could also be a problem. How far would it go? The place for the replay would be in the protest phase with the commission.

What do you have to say to all the fans out there who are ripping you for your call in that fight?

I would have loved to call the fight while sipping a cold one on my La-Z-Boy watching the replay over and over. Good work Guys.

How do you deal with the backlash? Does it ever get to you?

I can understand why the fans are bummed out. It bums me out also.  I can only call it the way I see it and  I didn't see it. My bad.

Is it true that you apologized to Johnson after the fight?

Yes. 

UFC Fight Night 14: Boring Fights

UFC shows never seem to live up to its hype anymore. UFC Fight Night 14 was just another example of a terrible show with too many mismatches or lethargic performances from the fighters.

It was a good thing that I had the Affliction show on at the same time so I would not fall asleep. There were a lot of exciting matches on the Affliction show, and I was watching that show more than I was watching the UFC broadcast.

CB Dolloway had a nice submission win over Jesse Taylor to start the UFC broadcast on Spike TV but the Kevin Burns fight against Anthony "Rumble" Johnson made fans very angry.

Burns established himself as one of the most feared and dangerous fighters in the planet after the fight, and I don't think many fighters will want to sign to fight him in the very near future. He might be more dangerous than fighters like Fedor or Anderson Silva right now. Sure, you might get knocked out by those two fighters but you could lose your eyesight fighting Burns.

Burns' fingers poked and scratched Johnson's eye about four or five times in the match. Burns showed no class and sportsmanship when he tried to go for the kill and attack a fallen Johnson after another eye poke in the final round. Burns pretended he didn't know what had just happened and even deceived the referee who stopped the fight and awarded the TKO victory to Burns.

Frankie Edgar and Hermes Franca had an uninspiring three-round fight which ended in a decision and the other three matches on the main card were all mismatches or lethargic.

Brandon Vera was supposed to defeat Reese Andy and he did but it was one of the worst fights of the night. Andy reminds me of former UFC fighter, Sean Salmon, for some reason. I guess it is because they are both wrestlers and short.

Heavyweight prospect Cain Velasquez easily defeated UFC veteran Jake O' Brien in the first round, and Silva quickly dismantled the overmatched James "The Sandman" Irvin.

I was really glad the Affliction show was on because the show was way more exciting than the UFC's show.

Vitor Belfort, Andrei Arlovski, Josh Barnett, and Fedor Emelianenko all had great fights that got fans really excited on Saturday night.

Affliction's show had way more action and excitement than any of the UFC shows in the past few months.

There is more MMA action this weekend as EliteXC has their second big show on CBS and Showtime on Saturday night. This show should be very exciting and the fights should be way more competitive and intriguing than the fights on UFC Fight Night 14.

There will be three title fights and also a women's match as well.

If the UFC continues to have bad shows with boring fights and questionable judging and officiating by the judges and referees, MMA fans will tune in instead to shows by their competitors such as Affliction and EliteXC if they haven't already.

You can count me as one of those fans.