Morning Report: Jorge Masvidal’s coach Mike Brown says ‘Jorge got two finishes that night’

On Saturday night at UFC on FOX 23, Jorge Masvidal cemented himself as one of the top welterweights in the UFC by knocking out fifth-ranked Donald Cerrone. It was arguably the best performance of Masvidal’s career but the win did not come without controversy.

As the first round was nearing the end, Masvidal landed a big right hook that dropped Cerrone. Masvidal followed him to the ground with punches and the referee Herb Dean jumped in, seemingly before the horn for the end of the round sounded. Dean quickly informed Masvidal that he was stopping the round and not the fight and both fighters returned to their corners.

On the most recent episode of the Anik & Florian podcast, Masvidal’s coach at American Top Team, Mike Brown, discussed the confusion surrounding the end of the first round and his belief that Herb Dean stopped the fight before the horn.

“That was a real weird situation,” Brown said. “Looking back at the tape, he did waive it off. He waived the fight off, it was over, and then like a second later, a half-second later, then the buzzer went. So if you look at it, Jorge got two finishes that night in my book.

“I jumped up, I celebrated, I thought he won. I ran into the cage and Jorge told me that it wasn’t over. He’s like, ‘It’s not over. It’s not over,’ and I’m like, ‘Oh no!’ So I had to run back out and grab the stool. I wasn’t sure what I saw but after looking back at it, he waved it off and then the buzzer went. It was a little confusing at the time but Jorge realized it right away and got things back together...

“It’s a lot of pressure, a lot of stress. I think [Herb Dean] made a mistake, to be honest.”

Though there is a very credible argument that Masvidal should’ve been declared the winner right then, the end result was the same. When the second round started, Masvidal wasted no time and finished off a still dazed Cerrone one minute into the round.

While the fight was stopped with Cerrone still on his feet, afterwards a lot of talk centered around Cerrone’s corner and whether they should have allowed him to continue despite being arguably knocked out. While Brown respects Cerrone’s coach, Greg Jackson, he says that had the same thing happened to Masvidal, he would have stopped the fight.

“Looking on the other side, those eyes looked pretty glossy, he looked like he was pretty out of it. That’s maybe one of those times when you look at your guy and say, ‘Hey, I think we’ve had enough. We save it for another day.’

“Like you said, you’ve got to know the guy. But those eyes looked pretty glossy to me. He didn’t look like he was all there. I think I would have called it right there. It’s not an easy call obviously because the guy’s gonna be really upset with you and every fighter thinks he’s got a chance to still pull it out but he didn’t look like he was capable of fighting his way out of that.”

In the end, he wasn’t able to fight his way out of it and now Masvidal is on a three fight winning streak in the division and knocking on the door of a title shot. When asked what’s next for his charge, Brown says they’re looking towards UFC gold.

“Big fight. No. 1 contender type spot. Maybe like a Maia, something like this. He’s ready, he’s there, and he can beat anyone in the division.”

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MEDIA STEW

Monday Morning Analyst.

Bermudez ahead of his fight.

Benavidez saying he should get Mighty Mouse next.

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LISTEN UP

Brit Pack.

Severe MMA

Show the Art.

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TWEETS

Killing it.

New blood coming in hot.

The feels.

Beef.

More beef.

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Twitter fight.

Trying to make it happen.

Apology.

That man is enormous.

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Ouch.

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FIGHT ANNOUNCEMENTS

Ian McCall (13-5-1) vs. Jarred Brooks (11-0); UFC 208, Feb. 11.

Jimi Manuwa (16-2) vs. Corey Anderson (11-2); UFC Fight Night: London, March 8.

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TODAY IN MMA HISTORY

2004: B.J. Penn won his first title when he submitted Matt Hughes to win the UFC welterweight championship at UFC 46. In the main event that evening, Vitor Belfort won the light heavyweight championship from Randy Couture when an early punch cut Couture on the eyelid, resulting in a doctor stoppage. This event also had the UFC debut of Georges St-Pierre who defeated Karo Parisyan via unanimous decision.

2009: Georges St-Pierre defeated B.J. Penn to retain the UFC welterweight championship at UFC 94. It was the first time in history two title holders fought each other in the UFC.

2015: Anderson Silva won a decision over Nick Diaz at UFC 183 which was eventually overturned when both fighters failed drug tests, Diaz for marijuana and Silva for drostanalone and androsterone.

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FINAL THOUGHTS

This has nothing to do with fighting but it’s amazing so I wanted to share.

Take it easy and see y’all tomorrow.

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If you find something you'd like to see in the Morning Report, just hit me up on Twitter @JedKMeshew and let me know about it. Also follow MMAFighting on Instagram and add us on Snapchat at MMA-Fighting because we post dope things and you should enjoy them.