Sergei Pavlovich doesn’t think there was anything wrong with his stoppage win over Derrick Lewis, but his boss doesn’t quite agree.
On Saturday night at UFC 277, Pavlovich scored another first-round TKO victory, stopping Lewis just 55 seconds into the bout with a barrage of punches. The win was not without controversy, though, as Lewis stood up and protested the stoppage immediately after referee Dan Miragliotta waved off the fight.
For the man who got the win, he believes Miragliotta did his job well.
“The ref is a pro, and I think he did his job,” Pavlovich told reporters via translator at his post-fight scrum. “He did his job well, so I don’t have any questions about the stoppage. I think it’s a good stoppage. ...
“I saw it in his eyes that he was losing it, he was going away a little bit, so I knew I had to press on and finish it right there.”
The stoppage was quickly debated, with people coming down on both sides of the argument. One man who didn’t think there was much debate, though, is UFC President Dana White. Speaking with reporters afterward, the exec vehemently argued that Miragliotta made a mistake.
“I like the ref, but I wouldn’t debate that that was an early stoppage,” White said. “It was definitely an early stoppage. When you jump right back up like that and you’re ready to go – listen, he was a little rocked, but no more rocked than Julianna was three, four times during the fight, and she fought five rounds. Miragliotta made a mistake, but it happens.
“So I don’t think it diminishes Derrick Lewis at all. I’d have liked to see that fight go on.”
White also acknowledged that Miragliotta’s “mistake” did not come without reason, saying that anyone could have made the same mistake with the way Lewis fell down immediately before the stoppage.
“I think it was too soon, but to be fair, Miragliotta’s a great ref,” White said. “The way that he fell, probably nine out of the 10 people in this room would have jumped on him and stopped the fight, including me.”
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