Jason High was cut by the UFC last week after an incident where he shoved referee Kevin Mulhall following what many believed was an early stoppage. The worst part however, was that High found out he had been cut the same way many have before him…Twitter.
High joined Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour to discuss his release from the UFC.
“I was a little surprised. I expected the commission to handle it.
“I’m not going to make excuses. I put myself in that position. I took a punch, [dos Anjos] put me down, it’s MMA. I would’ve liked a little more time to fight out of that, but you know, the referee is doing the same thing that I’m doing. He’s making a quick decision in the heat of the moment, so it’s really just something that happens in MMA. To put your hands on the referee is not the way to go. But I did talk to Kevin Mulhall, went up and apologized to him. I caught him coming out of the cage after he reffed another fight and I talked to him, shook his hand, told him I was out of line and I was sorry. He was cool, like ‘I totally understand, man.’ He was very cool, he was very forgiving.”
High said however that he found out about his release the same way many fighters have before him, a way that in many people’s minds, is unacceptable.
“Man, it’s definitely upsetting,” High admitted. “I had to kinda readjust my goals in the sport. I planned on retiring with the UFC, but it’s always best to not dwell on things like that.
“Of course, just to say that [White] heard it from somebody and then to make that kind of decision, such a drastic decision, after having not even watched it — of course, you know, I would’ve liked him to check it out. It was completely out of line, it was wrong, I was wrong. You should never touch a referee the way I did, but I would’ve liked for him to watch it.