The Doggy Bag: The Skeptics Edition

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Was getting caught up on Tachi Palace Fights 14 and, oh my goodness, has any referee -- any kind of sports official for that matter -- had a night as bad as Marcos Rosales had? I felt embarrassed for everybody involved, as he let fights rage on far too long with a couple guys looking seriously injured. Isn’t the concern of referees supposed to be the safety of fighters? -- David from Atlanta

Jordan Breen, administrative editor: You felt embarrassed? Try sitting cageside.

I’ve following MMA for 13 years now. I’ve been getting paid to follow it for almost seven. I’ve been to countless MMA events, and I’ve only ever yelled at a referee three times from press row in my entire life, with Mr. Rosales becoming the most recent addition to such an ignominious list. What Rosales turned in at Tachi Palace Fights 14 was probably the worst single night of officiating I’ve ever seen by a single referee or judge.

Here’s what you need to know: Tachi Palace Fights promoter Richard Goodman was vocal to the California State Athletic Commission about not wanting the notorious Rosales to referee his fight cards in the past. On this card, Rosales split the 11-fight bill with Jason McCoy, taking every other bout, for a total of five bouts. In his first bout, he let Zeth Martin assault David Bollea for well longer than necessary. He did exactly the same thing just minutes later, letting Angel DeAnda absolutely destroy Drew Montgomery to an even more exaggerated, unnecessary degree.

Rosales’ upped the ante as the evening went on. Rolando Velasco locked up an obviously tight, crushing guillotine on Antonio Duarte. Not only did Rosales miss Duarte’s obvious tap, he missed his obvious slip into unconsciousness. The Mexican bantamweight spent a good four or five seconds out cold, locked in Velasco’s grip, prompting me to lose my mind cageside and start screaming. Rosales returned later to let Andre Fili beat Ricky Wallace within in an inch of his life -- by the end of the gruesome first round, Wallace was falling over Trevor Berbick-style -- and then screwed up Fili’s armbar finish by halting the fight when Wallace tapped once.

Rosales’ most effective refereeing of the night came in his final effort. Georgi Karakhanyan and Micah Miller spent most of 25 minutes in the clinch, and Rosales -- who had been booed viciously, yelled at by Goodman and stinkeyed by everyone in the venue -- seemed terrified to do anything and opted to simply be a bystander. Even if we count this as a triumph, this makes him 1-5 on the evening. In all blown calls, fighters were exposed to considerable amounts of unnecessary punishment and, in the case of Wallace, an unconscionable amount of unnecessary punishment.

The savvy lot of you out there will have quickly identified the fact that the CSAC is in complete turmoil and despair right now. As it continues to regulate events while still embroiled in political brouhaha, it will not give due attention to these matters. For more insight into the tattered state of the CSAC, you should all check out Zach Arnold’s delightful reportage over at FightOpinion.com.

Anyhow, I will concede all of these issues. Yes, the CSAC has bigger fish to fry, like securing a future for itself. However, that does not make what happened OK or alright. One out of five gets you fired in other jobs. You cannot bat .200 when you’re graduating students or doing organ transplants or controlling air traffic or planting crops or a million other analogies I don’t want to keep typing. In the real world, people get fired when they screw up and get other people hurt. MMA should join that world.

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