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Marc Goddard releases statement after UFC 281 main event stoppage: “Protection is paramount”
Marc Goddard has opened up on his decision to stop the UFC 281 main event between Israel Adesanya and Alex Pereira. In the fifth round, Pereira had Adesanya badly hurt against the cage, and after a few more punches landed, Goddard stopped the fight. Right away, many fans suggested the stoppage was early as Adesanya […]
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Referee Marc Goddard responds to concerns that Jiri Prochazka tapped out at UFC 275: “I told him it’s a risky game”
Referee Marc Goddard is responding to concerns that Jiri Prochazka tapped out at UFC 275. It was Glover Teixeira (33-8 MMA) vs Jiri Prochazka (29-3 MMA) in the light heavyweight main event this past weekend which took place at the Singapore Indoor Stadium in Kallang, Singapore. In just his third fight in the UFC, knockout […]
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Marc Goddard sends message to “cold and cynical souls” who kick fighters when they’re down
Veteran mixed martial arts referee Marc Goddard has a message for fans who berate fighters when they’re riding tough losses. Goddard took to Twitter to share this message over the weekend, seemingly in response to Conor McGregor’s shocking, second-round TKO loss to Dustin Poirier. I know that for the most part I’m throwing this out […]
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Veteran referee Marc Goddard reacts to “sickening” inter-gender fight featuring 529-pound man
Veteran MMA referee Marc Goddard was not impressed by a recent fight involving a 529-pound man and a 139-pound woman. The bout in question occured in Moscow, Russia last week, under the Nashe Delo Fights banner. In the early going, it looked like the male fighter, Grigory Chistyakov, might come out on top. In the […]
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Referee Marc Goddard praises Impa Kasanganay for positive attitude following brutal KO loss to Joaquin Buckley
Referee Marc Goddard praised middleweight Impa Kasanganay for his positive attitude following a brutal KO loss to Joaquin Buckley. Kasanganay was on the wrong end of one of the greatest highlight-reel knockouts in UFC history when Buckley finished him with a spinning back kick in their preliminary card bout at UFC Fight Island 5. Buckley […]
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Marc Goddard: It was “an honor” to officiate final Daniel Cormier fight
Referee Marc Goddard says it was an “honor” to officiate the last fight Daniel Cormier will ever compete in—but that’s nothing new. Cormier, the former UFC heavyweight and light heavyweight champion, competed in his retirement fight in the UFC 252 main event in August, giving up a close decision in a bid to reclaim the […]
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Marc Goddard issues public apology after missing eye poke Daniel Cormier absorbed at UFC 252
Referee Marc Goddard, who was the third man in the Octagon for the UFC 252 heavyweight title fight between Stipe Miocic and Daniel Cormier, has issued a public apology. Mid-way through Miocic and Cormier’s fight, the former landed an inadvertent eye-poke that left the latter with compromised vision. When Cormier complained about sustaining an eye-poke, […]
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Video | Fighter disqualified after shoving referee Marc Goddard
Featherweight Ahmad Al Darmaki was disqualified after shoving veteran MMA referee Marc Goddard at a UAE Warriors event in Abu Dhabi on Friday. Al Darmaki (2-6) submitted his opponent Bogdan Kirilenko with a vicious rear-naked choke but Al Darmaki refused to let go of the chokehold when Goddard tried to wave off the fight. Goddard […]
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Referee Marc Goddard reveals he received death threats following UFC 245
Referee Marc Goddard says he received death threats after his decision to stop the UFC 245 main event between welterweight champ Kamaru Usman and challenger Colby Covington. After four rounds of non-stop action in the main event of UFC 245, Usman knocked Covington down in the fifth. Goddard intervened and put a stop to the […]
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Marc Goddard defends Kamaru Usman vs. Colby Covington stoppage
MMA referee Marc Goddard has spoken publicly for the first time about the controversial stoppage in the Kamaru Usman vs. Colby Covington fight at UFC 245. Goddard stopped the welterweight title fight with just 50 seconds left in the fifth round in what was up until the point of the stoppage a very close fight. […]
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Marc Goddard responds after Colby Covington calls him a “Fake Ref”
Referee Marc Goddard had the responsibility of overseeing last night’s UFC 245 main event between welterweights Colby Covington and Kamaru Usman. The highly anticipated scrap lived up to expectations as ‘Chaos’ and ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’ proceeded to go to war right from the opening bell. After 20 minutes of thrilling standup action, the three judges […]
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Conor McGregor rips referee Marc Goddard over behavior in 2012 fight
In 2017, Conor McGregor found himself in hot water after getting physical with referee Marc Goddard amid some confusion during his teammate Charlie Ward’s fight. As it turns out, this is not the first time the Irishman had an issue with Goddard. In a 2012 Cage Warriors fight, the McGregor fought England’s Dave Hill. Goddard […]
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Referee Marc Goddard gives in-depth response to Usman-Woodley backlash
Kamaru Usman’s unanimous decision defeat of long-time UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley was a performance to remember. Unfortunately, the fight will also be remembered for a few controversial calls from referee Marc Goddard — most notably a handful of controversial stand-ups, issued when Usman was in dominant positions, seemingly working hard. After a comment from […]
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UFC 235 commentator Jon Anik criticizes referee Marc Goddard, Goddard responds
On Saturday night, in the co-main event of UFC 235, Kamaru Usman authored a dominant decision victory over long-time UFC welterweight champ Tyron Woodley. During the fight referee Marc Goddard continually stood Usman and Woodley up, oftentimes when some onlookers felt it wasn’t necessary. UFC commentator Jon Anik, who was on duty for the card, […]
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Referee Marc Goddard discusses Crute vs. Alvey stoppage after backlash
Not everybody agreed with the stoppage in last weekend’s Jim Crute vs. Sam Alvey fight. UFC President Dana White, for example, was adamant that referee Marc Goddard stopped the action too early, and that Alvey should have been given a bit more time to recover. Speaking to MMA Fighting, Marc Goddard gave his take on […]
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Dana White criticizes referee Marc Goddard for Jim Crute vs. Sam Alvey stoppage
Mid-way through the first round of a compelling UFC 234 light heavyweight contest, Australia’s Jim Crute rocked his foe Sam Alvey, leaving the American on spaghetti legs. With Alvey hurt, Crute quickly swarmed to force a stoppage, and eventually got one. Yet many onlookers felt that stoppage came a little too early — that includes […]
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Referee Marc Goddard defends main event officiating after Kevin Lee calls “bulls**t”
Last night, in the main event of UFC Sao Paulo, Thiago Santos stepped into the cage with short-notice replacement opponent Eryk Anders. Toward the end of the third round, Santos began unloading on Anders on the ground, punishing him with thudding punches and elbows to the head. Remarkably, however, Anders survived until round’s end. Unfortunately, […]
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Marc Goddard addresses controversial standup in Dustin Poirier vs. Eddie Alvarez fight
On Sunday night, in the main event of UFC on Fox 30 in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, Dustin Poirier and Eddie Alvarez finally stepped into the cage for a do-over of their controversial 2017 no contest. In the end, Poirier would win this rematch with a violent second-round volley. Unfortunately, this rematch produced a whole new […]