Dana White goes off on referee in Ed Herman vs. Mike Rodriguez fight: ‘One of the worst things I’ve ever seen’

UFC President Dana White was not happy with the referee who officiated the fight between Ed Herman and Mike Rodriguez.

Rodriguez dropped Herman with a knee to the body and was seconds away from a knockout victory.

Referee Tognoni paused the fight and declared the blow an illegal low blow. But replays showed otherwise.

The fight continued and Herman pulled through with a spectacular comeback to submit Rodriguez with a kimura in the third round.

Dana White ripped the referee following the event.

“It’s hard not to bang on this guy – the worst I’ve ever seen,” White said of Tognoni at the UFC Vegas 10 post-fight press conference. “He’s f**king [Steve] Mazzagatti-level. Some Mazzagatti-level sh*t right there. That was one of the worst things I’ve ever seen.

“That kid wins by knockout, technical knockout and loses the fight. One of the worst things I’ve ever seen. Disgusting.”

White complained about the inability to use the replay to change the referee’s call.

“I was all over them tonight about replay,” White said when addressing the Nevada Athletic Commission. “We have to have replay. There’s gotta be replay. All you’ve got to do is look at the f**king replay that’s playing 6,000 times while Herman’s on the ground to say, ‘Oh sh*t I made a mistake.’ Not only did that happen, but he goes ‘Time!’ And Mike Rodriguez goes, ‘Time? What do you mean time? Fight’s over.’ Then they start fighting again, he knocks him down again, and hits him with like 15 punches and elbows and he still doesn’t stop it.

“I thought Ed Herman owed that guy money or something. Like what the f**k did Ed Herman do to this guy? Only Ed Herman could have pulled that off, cause that guy is so damn tough. You can’t see everything. They’re human. You can’t see everything. That’s a tough one. How you think that is a groin kick is next level nuts, but whatever it happens but what are you going to do? It happened.”

White took the opportunity to take a jab at the former referee Mazzagatti.

“I’m telling you, nobody has ever f**ked up more than Mazzagatti, and that was a Mazzagatti moment right there for that guy,” White said. “It was one of the worst things I’ve ever seen. It was over. The fight was finished.

“That’s like him being knocked out and f**king lets give him time to wake up and he can fight again. Literally what it was like. Then as soon as he stood up, the whole side of his body was as red as red could be.”

Rodriguez’s corner complained about the call and thankfully he did not suffer any injuries.

White added he will still compensate Rodriguez for the fight.

“That’s what I was really worried about,” White said. “This kid gets robbed like that, and he’s got a broken arm. He doesn’t have a broken arm. He’s OK, which is awesome.

“We’re giving Mike his win money, too. He won the f**king fight.”