There are two things fans hate to see in MMA: dirty moves and bad officiating.
Tonight in a UFC on Versus 4 preliminary, we saw both when Charles Oliveira took on Nick Lents.
For most of the fight, Oliveira showed great stand up and continued to show why he is one of the best in the lightweight division on the ground.
Midway through the second round, Oliveira landed an illegal knee to Lents while he had a knee on the ground.
The referee let the match continue as if nothing happened.
The crowd clearly knew the mistake was made, as they booed after the illegal knee happened.
Dana White agreed with the crowd as he posted on his twitter, “Illegal knee and the ref is clueless!!!" And “The crowd knows the rules better than the refs!!!”
Oliveira took advantage of a dazed Lents, continuing the onslaught and picking up a submission win.
As the live crowd from Pittsburgh continued to boo, a Pennsylvania Athletics commissioner entered the ring to notify both the ref and the fighters that they would review the tape.
Although the knee did not look intentional like Michael Bisping's did against Jorge Rivera, it did take away from what was a great fight.
Despite the knee, the referee should have stepped in.
Refereeing like judging is not perfect in the sport. But this was a clear cut and dry case that the ref should have stopped the fight.
Unfortunately, every ref can’t be Herb Dean. But in order for the sport to continue to prosper, refs need to be knowledgeable of all the rules.
Although Oliveira was rewarded the win tonight, it will most likely be overturned by the Pennsylvania Athletics commission.
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