Fighter shoves referee, gets disqualified
When it comes to MMA referees there is no better referee at controlling matters inside the octagon than Marc Goddard.
Marc found himself in a sticky situation when he found himself in a shoving brawl with a fighter inside the cage. Goddard was refereeing a featherweight fight between Ahmad Al Darmaki and Bogdan Kirilenko at UAE Warriors 12 on Friday.
It all started when Al Darmaki secured a deep rear-naked choke at the end of round 1. Kirilenko tapped out but Al Darmakri refused to let go of the choke for several seconds. Goddard tried to peel off the choke but after several unsuccessful attempts, he yelled at the fighter causing a heated altercation.
After letting go, Al Darmaki got in the referee’s face and shoved him multiple times. The referee can be heard shouting at the fighter.
As a result, Al Darmaki was disqualified and his submission win was retracted.
Below is the link to the altercation via Twitter.
Ahmad Al Darmaki was just DQ'd after he refused to release an RNC against Bogdan Kirilenko. Things got physical between him and ref Marc Goddard.#UAEWarriors12 pic.twitter.com/XF1azA1Jzs
— caposa (@Grabaka_Hitman) July 31, 2020
The referee tried to control the situation as best as he could, but the fighter was already heated and was not having it.
Al Darmaki did apologize after the altercation, but it was inexcusable behavior for a professional fighter.
Referee Marc Goddard is no stranger to heated altercations with fighters.
Goddard got into it with Conor McGregor at Bellator 187 when Conor jumped into the octagon to congratulate victorious teammate Charlie Ward.
McGregor was not a licensed cornerman and after attempting to kick Conor out of the cage, Goddard was shoved by McGregor from behind.
