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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief
Despite an official from the Brazilian MMA commission saying this week they couldn't overturn the result of last weekend's Drew Dober vs. Leandro Silva bout, it appears they're going to do just that.
According to a report from MMAFighting.com, the commission (CABMMA) has decided to overturn the bout to a no contest after an appeal from Dober's coach Leister Bowling.
The Dober-Silva bout came to an abrupt end last weekend at UFC Fight Night 62 when Silva had a guillotine choke from the bottom. Dober was in a good position to defend the hold, and wasn't in any danger of going out. He was just about to pop his head out to take an advantageous position when referee Eduardo Herdy stepped in and stopped it.
Here's the statement from the commission explaining their decision:
The Brazilian MMA Athletic Commission (CABMMA) has done a relevant research and analysis of precedents involving government and independent regulatory bodies to decide on how to proceed in Leandro Silva-Andrew Dober ́s case. There was no international jurisprudence found and record of overturned result based on an incorrect judgment call of the referee, when specifically not related to misinterpretation of the rule.
After receiving a detailed technical report from Mr. Eduardo Herdy, referee in charge of the bout mentioned in the case, which in the end clearly states that his stoppage was to preserve the fighter ́s integrity, being that his highest responsibility when it comes to the duty of a referee, he has admitted his professional mistake and is willingly in favor to forgo his authority in the bout.
Due to the factors involved and after receiving Mr. Andrew Dober ́s formal appeal, CABMMA has defined a fourth provision regarding the change of decision after contest or exhibition, which follows below."The Executive Committee may, on an exceptional basis, revert a decision to "no contest" if it determines that a good faith judgment call of a referee was mistaken and therefore considered a self-evident error. Such decision may be taken provided (i) an appeal is filed with the commission within 72 hours of the relevant bout, (ii) the appeal is accompanied by a video (or link thereto) of the bout showing the challenged judgment call, (iii) upon request by the Executive Committee, the relevant referee presents a written justification of his judgment call and (iv) after analysis of the relevant video and justification , the Executive Committee determines that the judgment call was in good faith but considered a self-evident error."
In addition, based on the success of the New Jersey State Athletic Commission and its resource to help prevent similar cases by the usage of instant reply, CABMMA will study the possibilities of using this same resource in future events where promoters have the infrastructure to provide so. New protocols are, as of this moment, being analyzed with the purpose of identifying such palpable errors during the events. It is important to state that Mr. Larry Hazzard, Sr. (Commissioner) has shown CABMMA a new perspective of conducting events in Brazil, creating a safer and fairer environment for MMA.
Regarding Mr. Eduardo Herdy, CABMMA is thankful for his professionalism in recognizing this error, helping the entity evolve in its regulatory affairs in Brazil by seeking the development of higher standards and demonstrating his commitment as an official referee of the sport.
Consequently, after reviewing the case, the Executive Committee presided by Mr. Rafael Favetti (Chairman & CEO) and Mr. Cristiano Sampaio (COO), has decided to overturn the result of Leandro Silva vs. Andrew Dober bout and is officially determining it as a NO CONTEST.
Penick's Analysis: They made the right call in over-turning this to a no contest, but we should be wary of the arbitrary nature of them making up a new rule on the fly to apply here. It's something that should have been in there, and they should be able to overturn something that was so clearly a mistake on the referee's part, but to just add it after the fact isn't necessarily the way they should have gone.
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Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
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