Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos scolds referee for non-stoppage at UFC 267: “He was putting people in danger”

UFC welterweight Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos scolded the referee for his non-stoppage at UFC 267, saying “he was putting people in danger.”

Referee Vyacheslav Kiselev had one of the worst performances ever by a referee in a high-profile MMA fight as he left Saint-Denis to suffer unnecessary punishment over the course of 15 minutes. There were numerous times during the second round of the fight — which was a 10-8 round — where the fight could have been stopped as Saint-Denis was barely fighting back and yet absorbing plenty of punishment. However, the referee refused to stop the fight, which led to him being criticized by the UFC commentators on the calls, not to mention fans, media, and fellow fighters on social media. Dos Santos, too, was not happy.

Speaking to the media following UFC 267, dos Santos scolded the referee for his non-stoppage in the fight, suggesting that the referee was putting the fighters in danger.

“We didn’t know he had been removed (from the Magomed Ankalaev vs. Volkan Oezdemir fight), but we did talk about it with the doctors and the medical staff that he just didn’t do a good job there. He was putting people in danger,” dos Santos said (via MMAjunkie.com).

As far as dos Santos goes, there were several points in the second round where the fight should have been stopped.

“There were at least two or three moments where it was very clear the ref should have stopped it. He ended up making the fight a lot tougher than it should have been. I’m just sorry for the guy because he ended up getting hurt a lot more than he should have been – and myself included because when you’re beating someone up, you’re getting hurt, as well,” dos Santos said.

What do you think is next for Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos after defeating Benoit Saint-Denis at UFC 267?