UFC cornerman will be investigated after refusing to stop bout despite fighter's pleas

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nuraknu

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Jul 20, 2016
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The Nevada State Athletic Commission will investigate why Max Rohskopf’s cornerman refused to stop Saturday’s UFC fight against Austin Hubbard after Rohskopf reportedly said to “call it” nine times in the rest period entering the third and final round, according to ESPN.

NSAC inspector Charvez Foger stopped the fight on Rohskopf’s behalf when his chief cornerman, Robert Drysdale, refused to do so. Hubbard (12-4 MMA, 2-2 UFC) was awarded a second-round TKO.

Rohskopf, a former North Carolina State wrestler and 5-0 lightweight prospect entering Saturday’s fight, had agreed to fight Hubbard on short notice last week in a preliminary bout for UFC’s Fight Night in Las Vegas....

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ECC170

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Jan 23, 2015
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That was bullshit.. Cornermen see there to protect their fighter not put them in worse danger...
 

Robbie Hart

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Feb 13, 2015
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ECC170 @ECC170 i heard this fighter saying stop and a cornerman not listening/fighting it, but what are your thoughts?

also, Leigh @Leigh San, want your thoughts too? Man, it’s not a good look, especially when the kid asks for the stoppage
 

Sheepdog

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Dec 1, 2015
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I genuinely think his license hould be immediately revoked for an extended period of time - not because of the incident itself, but because of his reaction to it.

If he admitted fault, then some more minor disciplinary action would be fine. But because he is incapable of even understanding that what he did was wrong, then he simply can't be trusted to be in that position again.

This wasn't 'hit him with your groin' motivation to overcome an injury. Once a fighter says he is done, then he is done - it doesn't matter what your personal opinion, that means they have already checked out mentally. And in this case, he clearly had no chance of winning, so the coach was being extra retarded.
 

Rambo John J

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Unless they had a previous conversation about him pushing him thru a quitting tendency that was not a good thing...that man wasn't feeling it and had decided it wasn't in him to win that fight that night

Corner deserves heat
 
M

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I didn't see this live. When I read the story, it sounded like the guy was sent out or about to be sent out against his will and didn't want to protest too much to his coach.

That's not what happened. Yeah this is hard to watch but the guy wasn't going to fight regardless. When the inspector asked him to get up, he said "No I can't, call it." He was not going to fight round 3 no matter what anyone said.


View: https://twitter.com/espnmma/status/1274471524087427072?s=19


I'm not saying it isn't bad, it's just not as bad as people are making it sound.
 
M

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I genuinely think his license hould be immediately revoked for an extended period of time - not because of the incident itself, but because of his reaction to it.

If he admitted fault, then some more minor disciplinary action would be fine. But because he is incapable of even understanding that what he did was wrong, then he simply can't be trusted to be in that position again.

This wasn't 'hit him with your groin' motivation to overcome an injury. Once a fighter says he is done, then he is done - it doesn't matter what your personal opinion, that means they have already checked out mentally. And in this case, he clearly had no chance of winning, so the coach was being extra retarded.
You're overreacting. Drysdale should be punished, yes, but with all the backlash he's going to get from fans and the media, I doubt he'll ever do this again.

Fine him or suspend him for 60 days. He's probably learned his lesson already
 

Sheepdog

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Dec 1, 2015
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You're overreacting. Drysdale should be punished, yes, but with all the backlash he's going to get from fans and the media, I doubt he'll ever do this again.

Fine him or suspend him for 60 days. He's probably learned his lesson already
YOU'RE FUCKING OVERREACTING! I'LL MOLEST YOUR PETS AND PISS ON YOUR CARPET!

But I disagree. I didn't take from his statement that he is willing to learn anything at all. I think 6 months might do the trick - let him know that his career is in jeopardy if he has no regard for his own fighter's safety. Remind him that it is part of his job.

MMA has a corner culture problem. It's hard to sanction someone that has just passively allowed a fight to continue, because then the ref is probably at fault too. But in this case, where the cornerman was openly derelict in his duty and then doubled down, it's a perfect opportunity to make an example of someone and send a message that could go some way in helping to fix the problem.
 

SuperPig

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I totally understand a coach trying to push their fighter to keep going if the fight is up in the air or the opponent is equally gassed and they really think that there is a chance for a victory and the coach simply thinks the fighter doesn't realize it and just has a little hurdle to get passed. But when the fighter repeatedly tells you that they're done, when they took the fight on super short notice, had to cut weight, jitters from making their debut, and just took a beating in the previous round? Nope. Push a little but definitely protect your kid. Foolish not to listen.
 

kneeblock

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I've been in a similar situation. Had a fighter I was cornering have a meltdown between round 1 and 2. He said to me that he just didn't know if he should be there and how his mind was just elsewhere and all this other weird stuff despite dominating round 1. I grabbed him by the chin and yelled at him and he snapped out of it and went out and handily won by RNC in round 2. Competing is emotionally and physically taxing and sometimes people need to be reminded that they can do it. Drysdale probably thought that's what he was doing. With a spiteful company like the UFC, I'm sure they won't forgive this dude for quitting on the stool. If anything, the heat being on Drysdale helps shift the narrative toward him being the problem, which is made easier by his own roiding flame out past. It'll be interesting to see what happens if SACs start holding cornermen accountable while giving promoters a free pass during these COVID short notice hastily built cards.
 
M

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But I disagree. I didn't take from his statement that he is willing to learn anything at all.
Neither did I but I'm saying all the shit he's catching and will continue to catch will be enough to make him not do it again.

I think 6 months might do the trick - let him know that his career is in jeopardy if he has no regard for his own fighter's safety. Remind him that it is part of his job.
This is reasonable.
 

RaginCajun

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Oct 25, 2015
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I've been in a similar situation. Had a fighter I was cornering have a meltdown between round 1 and 2. He said to me that he just didn't know if he should be there and how his mind was just elsewhere and all this other weird stuff despite dominating round 1. I grabbed him by the chin and yelled at him and he snapped out of it and went out and handily won by RNC in round 2. Competing is emotionally and physically taxing and sometimes people need to be reminded that they can do it. Drysdale probably thought that's what he was doing. With a spiteful company like the UFC, I'm sure they won't forgive this dude for quitting on the stool. If anything, the heat being on Drysdale helps shift the narrative toward him being the problem, which is made easier by his own roiding flame out past. It'll be interesting to see what happens if SACs start holding cornermen accountable while giving promoters a free pass during these COVID short notice hastily built cards.
 

Leigh

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Jan 26, 2015
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ECC170 @ECC170 i heard this fighter saying stop and a cornerman not listening/fighting it, but what are your thoughts?

also, Leigh @Leigh San, want your thoughts too? Man, it’s not a good look, especially when the kid asks for the stoppage
I haven't seen the video and don't know their relationship, so I'm not making any judgements. However, if the guy wants out, he must be let out.

At our gym, I'm really firm on respecting the tap. If someone taps and the opponent doesn't let go and says something like, "but it's not on," I'll probably beat them up. The guy is tapping for a reason, just like this kid wanted to quit for a reason. Maybe he felt some kind of injury.

I've heard fans (and other fighters) ridiculing fighters for not fighting until stopped and they have no fucking clue what they're talking about. Andrew Golota left the ring during a fight with Mike Tyson and people threw rubbish at him and called him a coward. He went to hospital and it turned out that he suffered a concussion, a fractured left cheekbone and a herniated disc during the fight.

People called Gerald McClellan a coward for taking a knee during his fight with Nigel Benn and refusing to beat the count, then standing and walking back to his corner once the fight was stopped. He collapsed with a blood clot on his brain, fell into a coma and lost his vision and ability to walk.

So no matter how it looks from the outside, if someone wants out, you let them out.
 

SongExotic2

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I didn't see this live. When I read the story, it sounded like the guy was sent out or about to be sent out against his will and didn't want to protest too much to his coach.

That's not what happened. Yeah this is hard to watch but the guy wasn't going to fight regardless. When the inspector asked him to get up, he said "No I can't, call it." He was not going to fight round 3 no matter what anyone said.


View: https://twitter.com/espnmma/status/1274471524087427072?s=19


I'm not saying it isn't bad, it's just not as bad as people are making it sound.
There's ten seconds Or so missing here. The ref is the one that calls it in the end, he goes over and asks if he wants to fight. Iirc.

They was trying to push him out there when he diddnt wanna, RAF said nah fuck that it's done.
 

SongExotic2

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i think any coach would do what rd did
I'm not a coach or a fighter, I don't recall a time where it's been so blatantly obvious a guy diddnt want to go out there,

I've seen coaches criticized in different circumstances for sending a fighter back out, but in this case he said he diddnt want to. And this wasn't for him...

Ref saved him
 

Tiiimmmaaayyy

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I've obviously never been a fighter so my opinion may not be of value. However, I would like to give the coach the benefit of the doubt. He knows his guy best. We have all been around guys who let self doubt come into play during competition. Maybe this kid is that type and needs to have someone pushing him so he can fully realize his potential. Also, Drysdale has been around for a long time. He isn't some random dude from nowhere just telling his guy to go bang, bro. He was giving him good direction and was staying positive in his approach. To me, it doesn't seem wrong for him to try and give this kid every opportunity he can to succeed. If the kid would've went back out there and started getting starched at the beginning of the round he could've thrown in the towel and still saved him. If it's just a matter of the kid being out of gas he may have been able to push through. We all know that not getting off the stool is a ticket out of the UFC and bye bye to your dreams. He didn't want that to happen for his guy. I respect that.
 

Sheepdog

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Dec 1, 2015
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I haven't seen the video and don't know their relationship, so I'm not making any judgements. However, if the guy wants out, he must be let out.

At our gym, I'm really firm on respecting the tap. If someone taps and the opponent doesn't let go and says something like, "but it's not on," I'll probably beat them up. The guy is tapping for a reason, just like this kid wanted to quit for a reason. Maybe he felt some kind of injury.

I've heard fans (and other fighters) ridiculing fighters for not fighting until stopped and they have no fucking clue what they're talking about. Andrew Golota left the ring during a fight with Mike Tyson and people threw rubbish at him and called him a coward. He went to hospital and it turned out that he suffered a concussion, a fractured left cheekbone and a herniated disc during the fight.

People called Gerald McClellan a coward for taking a knee during his fight with Nigel Benn and refusing to beat the count, then standing and walking back to his corner once the fight was stopped. He collapsed with a blood clot on his brain, fell into a coma and lost his vision and ability to walk.

So no matter how it looks from the outside, if someone wants out, you let them out.
It's kind of like we've gone back to debating whether we can tell if someone is a witch or not by throwing them off a cliff. A fighter wanting out is the indisputable baseline for a corner stopping a fight, not something to even be debated. The debate is when a corner should step in when a fighter DOESN'T want out.

Also, as you correctly allude to, this nonsense about a corner 'knowing' their fighter - being an MMA cornerman doesn't make you a medical professional or a human X-ray machine. You can know how to motivate guys in particular ways, but you can't know how much damage they've sustained. Doctors often don't know what is wrong with a guy just by looking at them. And even if a guy is just looking for a way out - then he is looking for a way out. He has already mentally conceded the fight. So you stop the fight regardless.
 

Filthy

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Drysdale has always been a bit of a know-it-all with an ego to match, but I generally thought his heart was in the right place even when he's been wrong or grandoise...but now that I've seen it, I think it's worse than it appeared just reading about it.

There was nothing out of that kid's mouth except "call it". And Drysdale didn't even address it and coach it, he just ignored it and tried to push on. If he's not banned as a cornerman, I don't know why anyone would want him as a cornerman. I don't know the guy, but the few times I've been in his company, he definitely gave me the same vibe as Marc Laimon.