Bobby Green had to re-watch fight to understand UFC viewers concerns
The 37-year-old fighter had to relive his loss to Jalin Turner to understand why fans and UFC itself were livid at the official.
Bobby Green finally understood why viewers of his latest UFC fight - against Jalin Turner - and those around him kept reaching out to him. On his Instagram story, the 37-year-old spoke to his fans, sharing that he had watched his fight with Turner and now knew why fans and those close to him were worried.
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"I was wondering why people were calling and checking up on me," Green said on Instagram. "Then I saw the fight. I went 'sheesh.' S*** happens, you know?
"You don't get focused on that. You can't go back, you can't change it, you can't take too many punches back, you know? It is what it is - just live with that s***. On to the next one."
Green was knocked out by Turner in the first round after the latter was able to get the former on the ground on his stomach. Usually, when a fighter is on their stomach, continually getting punched in the head, the referee would call off the fight and name a winner rather quickly.
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However, when Green was on the ground on his stomach with Turner hitting him, referee Kerry Hatley waited too long to call the fight in Turner's favor. After the fight, even Turner was surprised it took Hatley so long to end the bout, as Green showed no signs of retaliating to his opponent's attacks.
"I don't know what to call it," Turner told reporters after the fight. "He was waiting until Bobby was out. Like Bobby's tough, you know what I mean? Bobby's a really tough fighter so when I was punching him, I was like, 'He was defending, he was moving, he was still a bit coherent' and I was like, 'Dang, maybe this should be stopped, maybe not' and I'm not going to stop until you pull me off because it's him or me."
The 28-year-old Turner added that had he let up for even a moment, that could have given Green enough time to reverse Turner's actions and gain the upper hand. However, that didn't happen, as Green was out cold after Turner's barrage.
"And if he would've got his bearing about him, he could've got back on top or something crazy, you know what I mean?" Turner continued. "So it is what it is, and he was healthy, he was coherent, he was good after, we had good words so I'm happy was in good health, decent health. So it is what it is."
In the immediate aftermath, UFC CEO Dana White and former champion Michael Bisping criticized Hatley for taking so long to call the fight, which potentially could have had a disastrous outcome for Green. Bisping, in particular, called Hatley's inaction "disgusting."
He said: "That was utterly disgusting and disgraceful, I bet if he were face down on the Octagon with some cracking on his face he’d want it to be stopped sooner,” he said during the broadcast.
Meanwhile, White called the Hatley's showing one of the "worst" he's seen. "The difference is we’ve had some refs say some dumb s*** in the past, like, ‘I allowed her to be a warrior tonight,’ and goofy s*** like that. He knows he made a mistake tonight and does not feel not feel good about it, so it’s unfortunate. Definitely a bad stoppage. Very bad.”
After taking a loss like that, Green is now understanding just how egregious the late stoppage was. And it seems like all parties can agree on one thing: The fight should have been stopped sooner than it was because it could have gotten ugly very quickly.
