Marc Goddard News

Cole Shelton - November 15, 2022

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 never went out. ‘Stylebender’ has also come out and said he thought the referee jumped in a bit early.

Susan Cox - June 13, 2022

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.

Tom Taylor - January 28, 2021

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.

Tom Taylor - December 1, 2020

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 end, however, Darina Madzyuk turned the tables on her male foe, winning with a volley of strikes.

Tom Taylor - September 4, 2020

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 UFC heavyweight title from Stipe Miocic.

Tom Taylor - August 16, 2020

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, however, Goddard denied that a foul had been committed.

Adam D Martin - July 31, 2020

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 yanked Al Darmaki off of his defenseless opponent and Al Darmaki was then seen shoving the referee and grabbing onto his shirt. Instead of winning the fight via submission, Goddard instead rightfully disqualified Al Darmaki instead.

Natasha Hooper - February 19, 2020

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 action, awarding Usman the TKO victory.

Chris Taylor - December 15, 2019

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.

Tom Taylor - June 2, 2019

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.

Tom Taylor - March 7, 2019

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 MMA Fighting’s Luke Thomas on Twitter, referee Marc Goddard issued a lengthy explanation of his calls in this Usman vs. Woodley matchup.

Tom Taylor - March 4, 2019

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, shares that opinion. Yes! Wildly inconsistent. And Usman was working his ass off.

Tom Taylor - February 10, 2019

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 UFC President Dana White. Speaking at the UFC 234 post-fight press conference, Dana White criticized referee Marc Goddard for his handiwork in this Jim Crute vs. Sam Alvey matchup.

Tom Taylor - September 23, 2018

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, Anders could not regain his footing once the round was over. Although it his cornermen attempted to peel him off the canvas, he collapsed not once, but twice, which prompted referee Marc Goddard to wave the fight off.

Tom Taylor - July 29, 2018

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 dose of controversy. In the second round, Alvarez had full mount on Poirier, who was wedged against the cage, unable to move. Alvarez then landed an illegal 12-6 elbow — one of the most frequently debated fouls in MMA — on Poirier’s shoulder, which prompted referee Marc Goddard to step in and issue Alvarez a warning. Instead of letting the action continue on the mat, however, Goddard then reset Poirier and Alvarez in the standing position in the center of the Octagon. No longer trapped, Poirier then poured on the offense, and got the TKO win.