UFC exec says referee stopped Justin Gaethje vs. Donald Cerrone fight too late

UFC president Dana White was not in attendance for Saturday night’s UFC Vancouver event. However, top executive David Shaw was, and he believes the main event between Justin Gaethje and Donald Cerrone was stopped too late by referee Jerin Valel.

Shaw was asked by the media post-event what he thought about the stoppage. Both Gaethje and Cerrone complained about when the referee stopped the fight. For Gaethje, he believes the referee waited too long, and for Cerrone he believes it was stopped too early. If you ask Shaw his opinion on the matter, he believes the referee stopped the fight too late.

“Justin seemed upset. Cowboy seemed upset. It was one of those situations where Jerin probably gave Cowboy — considering his experience, expertise, and how long he’s been fighting — the benefit of the doubt. It probably could have got stopped a punch earlier,” Shaw said.

“He did the right thing in the end. It probably could have been stopped a punch earlier. Sometimes you have to give guys a bit more leeway to see if they can recover. But from my position, I believe it was stopped a tad too late.”

Shaw was also critical of the referee in the Todd Duffee vs. Jeff Hughes fight, which ended in a No Contest after Hughes accidentally poked Duffee in the eye. Duffee immediately complained that he was seeing double and couldn’t see, but the referee waited a few minutes before calling the doctor in to take a look. Ultimately the right call was made and the fight was ruled a No Contest due to injury due to an accidental foul in the first round, but Shaw was right to criticize the referee and doctor for the way they handled it.

Do you think the fight between Justin Gaethje and Donald Cerrone was stopped too late?