Dan Ige is back in the winning column after emerging victorious at UFC 314. However, his victory was marred by a controversy, and Dana White might need to take a look at it because the ending of the fight had the entire MMA world agitated. The featherweight contender earned a 3rd-round TKO win over Sean Woodson, but for the fans and even some of the UFC pros, the fight ended a bit too early.

Henry Cejudo, lightweight fighter Terrance McKinney, and many others have called out referee Andrew Glenn for ending the fight too early. For context, Dan Ige and Sean Woodson closed the prelims in a hardly contested 145 lbs bout. But things got interesting when the fight entered the final five minutes.

Sean Woodson got wobbled by Dan Ige in the third round and was taking some hits before deciding to go for a single-leg takedown. But while he was on the single leg, Woodson would continue to take shots, leading the referee to end the fight. That ended with Ige earning his first win since June 2024. For Woodson, though, he suffered his first loss since 2021.

While Dana White claimed to have not watched the prelims closely, he did mention watching the end of the fight when all the controversy went down. And guess what? The UFC CEO sided with the popular opinion about the referee’s blunder. “I agree that the Ige fight was stopped too soon,” the 55-year-old stated during the post-fight presser.

As it normally happens, the MMA community shared their opinion about the fight, taking shots at the referee for how he handled the last round. Let’s take a look at some of their reactions on social media.

UFC pros and fans express to Dana White their dissatisfaction with the referee

Witnessing the strange end to the fight, one Henry Cejudo stated, “Terrible stoppage. Hurts Ige just as much as Woodson, robbed off a potential spectacular finish.” Echoing the same sentiment, lightweight contender Terrance McKinney claimed the fight saw a “bad stoppage.” But when it came to the fans, they had divisive opinions. Some fans agreed that the popular opinion about the referee had committed an error, but the result would have been the same.

“The stoppage was coming but definitely early af he’s was getting up,” one fan stated. “Ten more seconds and it would have been the same outcome,”
added another fan. Meanwhile, there were some fans who saw nothing wrong with how the fight ended. “No. Lol Dan was winning whole fight and Sean couldn’t even stand,” an Instagram user commented, apparently siding with the referee on his decision.

But some fans were certainly concerned about the fight’s end, and didn’t stop making some harsh assessments of the refereeing work. “Worst stoppage of the year for sure.” But seeing how refereeing seems to be one of the toughest jobs in any sport, some fans suggested that Andrew Glenn made the decision that he deemed right at the moment when Sean Woodson was taking the shots from Dan Ige. “You’re still going to get criticized, so you might as well do whatever you want,” that fan added in that regard.

It’s not the first time that this has happened, nor will it be the last time. However, it remains to be seen how Dana White tackles this situation. What do you think? Let us know in the comments down below.