Roy Nelson defeated Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva last night in Brazil, but the finish to the fight was highly controversial.
Following the end of the fight, Nelson stood up looking disgusted with referee John McCarthy and proceeded to kick him before walking away and continuing to express his disdain.
Asked about his actions at the post-fight press conference, Nelson explained that he felt the fight should have been stopped sooner. “When I knew I hit Bigfoot, I knew I already knocked him out.” he said. Nelson was shocked McCarthy told him to continue fighting after it appeared Silva could not defend himself. “Dude, I know what a knockout is, that’s what I do for a living,” Nelson said.
For Nelson, it was less about frustration with McCarthy and more about concern for Silva’s health. “For me, I just didn’t wanna hurt Bigfoot more than I had to,” he said. “It just hurt me that I kept hitting a guy that didn’t need to be hit.”
With the win, Nelson improves to 22-13 and Silva falls to 19-10
Cervantes Analysis: The stoppage may indeed have come a bit late, but that in no way excuses Nelson of his actions afterward. I understand his concern for Silva’s safety but, instead of kicking McCarthy, Nelson should have made note of it in his post-fight interview in the Octagon or at the press conference and encouraged a review of how referees determine how much damage is enough. This does not look good on his part as he has had issues with McCarthy in the past and I believe there should be consequences for Nelson to make sure that fighters understand that contact with a referee like that is unacceptable no matter what.
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