UFC Fight Night Sao Paulo saw Eryk Anders chosen as a last-minute replacement against Thiago Santos in a light heavyweight bout. Santos made sure that he seized the opportunity to show his true caliber. He pounced upon his opponent bombarding with heavy punches and agonizing elbows in the third round. However, Anders took all the pain and managed to survive till the round’s end.
Despite being able to take impact from the third round, Anders was unable to regain his strength later on. Though he tried to stand firm in front of his ravaging opponent, he fell on the canvas twice, causing the referee Marc Goddard to call it a day.
Soon after the fight, lightweight artist Kevin Lee put in some retrospective into the fight, criticizing Marc Goddard about his decision to let the artists continue the bout when one of the fighters didn’t have a mouth guard on in UFC Fight Night Sao Paulo.
Damn @marcgoddard_uk you really stole that shit from @erykanders. Straight put him in position to take them elbows. I’m calling bullshit
— Kevin MTP Lee (@MoTownPhenom) September 23, 2018
“Damn [Marc Goddard] you really stole that shit from [Eryk Anders]. Straight put him in position to take them elbows. I’m calling bullshit.”
To this, Goddard issued a statement about the confusion regarding his decision. The referee tried to clarify his choice of decision during the bout.
Mr Lee both fighters returned to exact same position that I stop to replace the gum-shield, i.e. against the fence in over/under clinch. Would you rather I start with Mr Anders pressing position taken away? We can have our own opinions, we can’t have our own facts. I respect you. https://t.co/UDV5kObAJB
— Marc Goddard (@marcgoddard_uk) September 23, 2018
“Mr. Lee both fighters returned to exact same position that I stop to replace the gum-shield, i.e. against the fence in over/under clinch. Would you rather I start with Mr. Anders pressing position taken away? We can have our own opinions, we can’t have our own facts. I respect you.”
Goddard also went on to shush the rumors about Santos illegal striking to Anders, which had hurt the latter’s fans considerably.
For the record being struck below the line of the top of the ears IS NOT a foul. A 2 inch line running centre from curve/crown of head down the spine is the foul area inc. entire rear (not side) of neck.
Also being struck directly behind the ear is NOT a foul.
Hope this helps
— Marc Goddard (@marcgoddard_uk) September 23, 2018
“For the record being struck below the line of the top of the ears IS NOT a foul. A 2 inch line running center from curve/crown of head down the spine is the foul area inc. Entire rear (not side) of neck. Also being struck directly behind the ear is NOT a foul. Hope this helps.”
The referee added another Tweet about these rumors,
You’ll see Marretta throw some punches to Anders as he is face down. I don’t want the fight to be stopped on a foul so I shout to warn of punches close to that 2 inch centre line. He then switches to elbows. All elbows. perfectly legal.
Again I really do hope this helps. https://t.co/JzfbOmv3Wk
— Marc Goddard (@marcgoddard_uk) September 23, 2018
“You’ll see ‘Marreta’ [Santos] throw some punches to Anders as he is face down. I don’t want the fight to be stopped on a foul so I shout to warn of punches close to that 2 inch center line. He then switches to elbows. All elbows. perfectly legal. Again I really do hope this helps.”
Marc Goddard assured his doubters that his first priority as a referee was to ensure that everything was black and white. He said that as long as he was referring, he would be transparent about it.
I will always strive to give insight & explanation wherever I can to help educate (in the realest sense) & explain thought process & decision making. I believe this is fair, just & critical for the sport. Ignorance we can overcome, abuse I won’t. Thanks all.
— Marc Goddard (@marcgoddard_uk) September 23, 2018
“I will always strive to give insight & explanation wherever I can to help educate (in the realest sense) & explain thought process & decision making. I believe this is fair, just & critical for the sport. Ignorance we can overcome, abuse I won’t. Thanks all.”
What do you think about UFC Fight Night Sao Paulo results? Do you think Marc Goddard did a good job officiating bout between Eryk Anders vs. Thiago Santos?
