Count UFC president Dana White among those who thought that the
heavyweight fight between Sergei
Pavlovich and Derrick
Lewis could have gone on longer than it did.
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Pavlovich rocked Lewis early on in their main card bout at UFC 277
on Saturday night, and the Russian swarmed with heavy punches for
the finish. The assault caused “The Black Beast” to fall foward and
hit his head on the canvas, which prompted referee Dan Miragliotta
to step in and halt the contest as Lewis was returning to his feet.
Lewis protested the stoppage immediately, but it was to no avail at
that point, as the bout was over just 55 seconds after it
began.
While White understands Miragliotta’s reasoning, he still thinks
Lewis should have been allowed to continue.
“I think it was too soon, but to be fair – I think Miragliotta’s a
great ref – the way that he fell, probably nine out of the 10
people in this room would’ve jumped on him and stopped the fight,
including me,” White said at Saturday’s post-fight press
conference. “I like the ref, but I wouldn’t really debate that was
an early stoppage. That was definitely an early stoppage.
“When you jump right back up like that and you’re ready to go –
listen, he was a little rocked, but no more rocked than Julianna
[Pena] was three, four times in the fight [against Amanda
Nunes], and she fought five rounds. Miragliotta made a mistake,
and it happens. So I don’t think it diminishes Derrick
Lewis at all. I would’ve liked to see that fight go on.”
Pavlovich, meanwhile earned the biggest win of his career by
besting a two-time heavyweight title challenger. The Russian, who
has been victorious in four straight UFC bouts, believes
Miragliotta stopped the fight at the appropriate time.
“The ref is a pro, and I think he did his job,” Pavlovich told
assembled media. “He did his job well, so I don’t have any
questions about the stoppage. I think it’s a good stoppage. …I
saw it in his eyes that he was losing it, he was going away a
little bit, so I knew I had to press on and finish it right
there.”