Chris Curtis and Roman Kopylov were dead even going into the third and final round of their UFC Vegas clash last night. While the Russian was well on his way to winning the final round, what happened in the dying seconds made the fight talk of the MMA town. With just a few seconds to go in the fight, Kopylov caught Curtis with a devastating head kick, sending the American crashing to the canvas.

Kopylov was sure that Curtis won’t get up and so walked away. Meanwhile, the referee, Mark Smith, stopped the fight with just one second on the clock. Many felt the stoppage was wrong under the circumstances, while others felt it was justified since the American did seem to do the ‘break dance of unconsciousness’ and didn’t look like he could continue. However, perhaps the most illuminating take on the topic was given by legendary MMA referee ‘Big’ John McCarthy, who explained exactly why he feels the referee made the wrong call.

“I know the stoppage was bad, and it was bad. If Kopylov had gone after Chris, it’s a good stoppage, okay… You’re gonna stop the fight when the person cannot defend themselves. And at that moment there was nothing to defend against. And you’re taking a look at what happened with, you know, Curtis got hurt,” McCarthy told co-host Josh Thomson on their ‘Weighing In’ podcast.

“He got hit with a good kick, he goes down on the side, but he’s looking towards his opponent to a point. And his opponent’s walking off, he has nothing to defend, don’t stop the fight there. If he’s out, stop the fight but if he’s not and his opponent’s walking off, and you know [don’t stop the fight]”, the veteran official declared.

McCarthy, of course, was a part of drafting the official Unified Rules of MMA and knows the intricacies and subtleties of the rules better than anyone else. And he is spot on here on all points. Curtis was not out cold and was looking at his opponent. And with just one second to go before the fight ends, the ref could have let the fight go to the judges’ scorecard. In fact, that is exactly what ‘Big’ John thinks Mark Smith should have done.

Chris Curtis’ controversy mirrors the ‘finish’ between Silva and Bisping

The Chris Curtis vs. Roman Kopylov decision has an echo of the Anderson Silva vs. Michael Bisping fight in 2016, which went the other way. In the dying seconds of their fight, Silva caught Bisping with a flying knee, downing the Englishman. Silva, sure he had won, was jubilant and went off to celebrate. But referee Herb Dean refused to end the fight and Bisping was saved by the bell, which ‘Big’ John thinks was the right call, despite the flak Dean got from the fans at the time.

“This is exactly what happened with Bisping and Anderson Silva with Herb Dean. If you recall, Bisping got obliterated by a knee, goes and just crushed down to the ground and Anderson goes off to celebrate. But Bisping is actually still there and he’s looking at him and you know he’s not getting up, but he’s still there,” McCarthy recalled.

Since the fight wasn’t stopped in the fifth round, it went to the judges, who scored a unanimous decision win for Bisping. Silva, who was coming off two consecutive losses and a failed dr-g test, was crestfallen and would go on the worst UFC losing streak of any fighter his caliber and accomplishments.

In the case of Curtis-Kopylov, however, McCarthy thinks the Russian native would have won even if it were up to the judges. “I think he [Curtis] would have lost it on the cards anyways,” the referee clarified. In the end, the right man won for McCarthy even if he had reservations about how exactly it came about. What do you think about ‘Big’ John’s take on the Curtis-Kopylov clash?