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MMA

05th Nov 2017

Referee stoppage of Joseph Duffy fight received its fair share of complaints

It was a little early

Ben Kiely

Nobody was loving the referee’s stoppage of James Vick vs Joseph Duffy at UFC 217.

We’re sure James Vick didn’t mind, but the referee’s timing of awarding him a TKO victory over Joseph Duffy wasn’t well received by fans.

Duffy just about edged the opening stanza, which was very competitive on the feet. His takedown and trip did just enough to get him the nod in the opening frame, but Vick began to take charge in the second.

Vick began utilising his reach advantage more in round two, taking command of the centre of the Octagon and maintaining forward pressure. He dropped Duffy with an uppercut with seconds left in the round, then pounced and began working his ground and pound until the referee called the fight off with less than one second until the buzzer.

Duffy was clearly in trouble, but some folks felt that the stoppage was a poor one.

While the Irishman was rocked by the initial punch, he was intelligently defending himself by getting back to guard off his back.

A lot of people were quick to point this out and complain about the referee’s decision after it was all over.

https://twitter.com/lthomasnews/status/926990161254240258

https://twitter.com/FurysFightPicks/status/926991415565062144

https://twitter.com/FurysFightPicks/status/926990409460568070

https://twitter.com/GregMcLarnon/status/926990773396148224