Last month, one of the more controversial finishes of the year took place at the UFC 235 pay-per-view (PPV) event. Former ONE and Bellator welterweight champion Ben Askren made his UFC debut against ex-170-pound champion Robbie Lawler.
Right out the gates, Lawler battered Askren with his striking, bloodying him up and slamming him on his head. However, after recovering, Askren was able to establish dominant position on the ground and lock in a bulldog choke. Referee Herb Dean called off the action after it looked like Lawler was rendered unconcious.
However, when Lawler shot right up to his feet after the fight was called off, it was clear the stoppage was premature. Recently, Dean appeared on “The Joe Rogan Experience” podcast and discussed the finish. Here’s what he had to say (via Bloody Elbow):
“When I see some chokes, a rear-naked choke, especially with the guy on the back face up, I take a sigh of relief,” Dean said. “My job just got so much easier. It’s not like he’s gonna go out and in a second, take some extreme amount of damage.
“He may go out, I’ll have a second to make sure – not even a second – a half a breath, to make sure he’s OK. And then let it go out and he’s not gonna take any other damage. A bulldog choke – anytime you have a choke where there’s pressure on the neck and to see the spine
“So I see someone go limp, and I know that on top of it, they’re no longer putting tension on their neck, and their neck is just being bent, I can’t see that I should do something different than that.
“With that same situation with the arm going limp with that type of a choke on someone, I would think the arm should be doing something else. At this time, I don’t think that I should do something different.”
What do you think of Dean’s explanation for the Askren vs. Lawler stoppage?
