Refereeing is an immensely stressful job that demands razor-sharp focus and unwavering commitment. In combat sports, a referee isn’t just an enforcer of rules—they are the unsung guardians of fighters, ensuring safety while making split-second calls that can decide careers, and sometimes, lives. Though often overshadowed by the spectacle of the sport, their role is the backbone of every fight. However, even these referees make mistakes that change the flow of the game.

From the Paul Craig vs. Jamahal Hill fiasco to the Robbie Lawler vs. Ben Askren Dilemma, time and time again, they make mistakes, which let us know that even the most seasoned referee can make mistakes. Today, we have tried to list five of the most controversial stoppages and mistakes by the referees that changed the course of the game.

Paul Craig vs. Jamahal Hill – UFC 263

We will start our montage with not a stoppage but a serious mistake from the referee, Al Guinee, whose negligence might have destroyed the career of Jamahal Hill. How? Late referee stoppages usually occur during knockout attempts, but this time was different, as it stemmed from a submission attempt.

In their bout, Paul Craig caught Jamahal Hill in a triangle armbar in the opening round. ‘Sweet dreams’ was completely taken off-guard by it and he couldn’t free himself from the clutches of Craig who torqued it every which way possible before switching to punches and elbows. It seemed evident to everyone but the referee that Hill’s left arm was toast.

In the end, the referee did intervene, but by that point, Hill’s arm was already dislocated, and Paul Craig received a TKO via injury win. This was also Hill’s first professional loss.

What was interesting was that Hill was part of a trio of gruesome injuries that happened on consecutive UFC PPVs. At UFC 261, Chris Weidman broke his leg in arguably the most gruesome injury in UFC history, just like Anderson Silva’s. Then came Jacare Souza’s arm break at UFC 262, followed by Hill’s injury at UFC 263. The final entry on the list? Conor McGregor’s UFC 264 leg break! Talk about the injury curse coming full circle.

Khalid Murtazaliev vs. CB Dollaway – UFC Fight Night 136

The Khalid Murtazaliev vs. CB Dollaway fight in 2018 was literally one of the most controversial referee mishaps in the UFC history which left the UFC fans thinking what was wrong with Herb Dean that night. The UFC Moscow fight made it to the third round, but this is where things got complicated. Murtazaliev claimed the top position over Dollaway and rained down a barrage of punches over him.

CB Dollaway failed to defend himself against those punches, and made it clear he was done. However, Herb Dean didn’t stop the fight and let it continue. Ultimately, the fight was stopped when the bell rang. How bad was the damage? Dollaway couldn’t even make it back to his corner, which forced Dean to finally intervene and stop the match!

“I’ve been on the other side before, where I thought a fight got stopped too early for me. But, being on the other side now, it’s like — it’s a rough job being a ref, they want to give you the benefit of the doubt, but at the same time, you’re there to protect us, and I don’t know what was going on, but I don’t feel like I got protected,” Dollaway told MMA Fighting in a retrospective statement nine days after UFC Moscow.

What’s worse is that it was the end to a chaotic week for Dollaway.  He took the fight against the debutant Murtazaliev on less than a week’s notice. Since then, ‘The Dobberman’ has failed to win any match in his MMA career. He exited the UFC after this loss and fought Jiri Prochazka on Rizin 20 in December 2019 in a losing attempt. He has not competed in MMA since.

Ion Cuțelaba vs. Magomed Ankalaev – UFC Fight Night 169

Ion Cutelaba might be too good at playing possum. His first fight with Magomed Ankalaev delivered an intense face-off, 38 seconds of chaos, and one of MMA’s weirdest stoppages. The event went down at UFC Norfolk in March 2020 and set the stage for a rematch at UFC 254.

Ankalaev unleashed heavy shots, but none seemed to land clean. Cuțelaba, ever the showman, sold the damage with wobbles and stumbles, baiting his opponent into an all-out assault. The act worked too well—not just on Ankalaev, but on the ref, who stepped in prematurely, stopping a fight that was just getting started. The aftermath? A bunch of foul cries on X.

“The referee called this one wrong!” Francis Ngannou wrote on X. Even the UFC official handle on X described it as ‘controversial.’ If that does not show how bad the call was, we don’t know what will.

At UFC 254 (where Khabib Nurmagomedov retired), Ankalaev answered all the ‘what if’s by putting Cutelaba to sleep in front of a home crowd in Abu Dhabi. So, with that settled, we move on to the next.

Drew Dober vs. Leandro Silva – UFC Fight Night 62

The contender for possibly the worst stoppage in MMA history is the fight between Drew Dober and Leandro Silva from March 2015. In a grappling back and forth, Silva grabbed Dober’s neck and pulled guard for the guillotine choke. Dober knew he was in a problem, but he pulled himself to the safe side and ended up on top of Silva. Referee Eduardo Herdy checked whether the Denver, Colorado fighter was conscious or not.

Suddenly, Dober popped his head out of the choke to take a sigh; however, what followed was a stoppage from the referee who ruled the fight in favor of Silva without any context. There were no clear signs in Dober’s position indicating that he had tapped out or lost consciousness. In the end, the fight was overturned to a no-contest by the Brazilian Commission.

Robbie Lawler vs. Ben Askren – UFC 235

When the UFC exchanged Demetrious Johnson for Ben Askren, the MMA community was hyped to witness his debut fight, and Dana White pitched him against former champion Robbie Lawler. The fight started with ‘Ruthless’ almost taking out Askren with his pace. However, ‘Funky’ survived the attempt and then he wrestled his way across the entire match.

Ben Askren caught ‘Ruthless’ in a deep bulldog choke, causing Lawler’s arm to go limp. Herb Dean immediately stepped in to stop the match and gift the victory to Askren. However, Lawler immediately protested, stating that he was conscious during the choke and that his assessment was wrong.

These are just five among the many referee mistakes that have shaken the world of MMA. What changes would you make to this list? Share your opinion in the comments below!