Bad Ref Stoppage?

[Kyle Hilfiker]

I dont mean a bad stoppage as in to quickly... I mean a brutally late one! Josh Rosenthal needs to get his act together! Munoz could have been terribly injured! Skip to 9:20 for the K.O.
I think our MMA refs need better training. This wasn't even just a fighter attacking so fast its hard to make out... this was just plain ignorance from the Ref.
What do you guys think?

[chronic_jiujitsu]

I think I would probably agree that he could have called it sooner and it been completely acceptable.. But I dont see this as too late of a call. I think being in the refs shoes, sometimes it can be hard to make a call. Because if youre going to stop a fight.. you need to be POSITIVE that the fights over. Those first few punches looked like they hurt him and he was pretty much done, but on the flip side, he WAS attempting to cover his head until those last couple punches. So I mean, even though its unlikely that he was going to recover.. It can be hard to tell when someone is almost out, or if they are just gassed and laying there trying to compose themselves. And you have to think.. a lot happens in a short period of time.. So even if the ref hesitates for a second to be sure.. thats enough time to land 4 punches to someones face, which has a way of looking really bad. :P But again, I would agree he could have called it earlier.. But hindsights 20/20, and I may have done the same thing had i been the ref (Which is probably why im not a ref) lol

[Jeremy Gates]

that was a little late but refs get alot of hate for calling fights too early and too late. theyre damned if they do and damned if they dont

[Jack LaBarge]

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[Sean Marshall]

The only way i see it could be late is because Munoz's body flattened out, but if you cant see his face then he might have been trying to pull guard or something. In the short time it took the ref to get around to see his face he started blocking his head, which would count as intelligently defending. He was also alert enough to lift his head up off the ground after flattening out. Flash knock outs are hard to call cuz people go into auto pilot. Their brain checked out but some tiny spark keeps em going, and they just need a second of not being hit to come back

[David Rosado]

Late stoppage? Yeah. Bad call? That's a bit subjective. How long have you been reffing? IMO the best ref in the biz is Herb Dean and even HE has had some bad moments. Until you're in those shoes, you have to take your own opinion with a grain of salt. I don't think it was as bad a call as people think. Looks like Mark was stunned but trying. The last 3-4 punches were the ones that really put him out from what I could see.

A ref's primary concern is fighter safety. I trust him. That's how I see it.

[brent_littell]

Maybe one of those punches could've woken Munoz up