Referee Marc Goddard says he cried after officiating Israel Adesanya vs. Kelvin Gastelum: “The darkest depths of their souls”

Longtime MMA referee Marc Goddard hadn’t been shaken up many times in his legendary career, but all that changed as Israel Adesanya and Kelvin Gastelum battled at UFC 236.

Adesanya and Gastelum fought for the then-interim UFC middleweight title at UFC 236 in Atlanta. The winner earned the right to face then-UFC middleweight champion, Robert Whittaker, for the lineal championship.

Many were excited and intrigued by the Adesanya vs. Gastelum matchup at the time of the bout. But, the fight surpassed all reasonable expectations for the viewing audience at home and cageside.

Adesanya and Gastelum put on a five-round war for UFC fans in one of the classic fights in mixed martial arts history. Goddard, who officiated the action, vividly remembers the fight’s all-time prominence.

Marc Goddard became emotional after Israel Adesanya vs. Kelvin Gastelum

In a recent interview on talkSPORT‘s Uncaged, Goddard reflected on one of the greatest fights in UFC history.

“That fight, when you’ve got two fighters that went into the deepest, f***ing darkest depths of their souls. Deepest, darkest waters imaginable or possible in a fight, and I was right alongside them. Standing three feet away, witnessing this unfold,” Goddard said. “If you go back and watch those last ten seconds of the fight…I’m hearing ‘Stop it! Stop it!’ and in my head I’m going ‘No! No!’…because there could’ve been a point with one second left. But Kelvin Gastelum, when he was taking it a little bit because [Israel] had him in the depths of despair in that final round. That’s the deepest, darkest point I’ve ever seen a fighter go to, and allowed to finish that round…

“You watch the fight when it finishes. I run off straight away, I know they’re safe. Head in my hands, and I won’t be ashamed to say I’ve cried after that fight. Watching it back, because it was ungodly what those guys did. It was ungodly.”

Adesanya won the fight by unanimous decision to earn the then-interim middleweight belt. A few months later, he finished Whittaker to become the lineal champion.