Tonight, the UFC created history by holding its first-ever event in Serbia, dubbed UFC Belgrade, delivering an action-packed card for the local audience as well as fight fans around the world. But while fans enjoyed several exhilarating clashes, the Fight Night event also witnessed an early controversy during the prelims after referee Jason Herzog made a highly debatable call, one that even the winner of the fight admitted may have been mistaken.
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At UFC Belgrade prelims, Bogdan Grad and Dennis Buzukja’s featherweight bout turned out to be the clash that sparked the controversy. The opening round between the two promising 145ers began competitively, with Grad clearly dictating the action through his grappling. However, the second round took a controversial turn after the Austrian fighter locked in a tight triangle choke. Grad squeezed hard in search of the finish, but referee Jason Herzog rushed in and waved off the fight, supposedly believing he had seen a tap. Immediately, Buzukja protested the stoppage, insisting he never tapped.
The replay showed Buzukja attempting to create space to escape the submission by placing his hands on Grad’s thigh. To be fair to Herzog, his hand movement closely resembled tapping, but many soon understood that it wasn’t. Yet Herzog stopped the fight, handing Bogdan Grad the win by second-round submission. Even the winner of the fight, Bogdan Grad, didn’t feel a tap.
“I think he can claim official,” Grad said. “There’s an email for that. I didn’t feel it, but the ref was there, and the ref and everything else are pros here. So, I trust them.”
Prominent UFC journalist Adam Martin immediately noted this remark by Grad on X: “Bogdan Grad says he didn’t feel a tap #UFCBelgrade.”
Bogdan Grad says he didn't feel a tap #UFCBelgrade
When it comes to submission-related controversies, this is not the first time the veteran referee has come under scrutiny. Jason Herzog previously faced heavy criticism after failing to notice Justin Gaethje tapping multiple times during his UFC 254 showdown with Khabib Nurmagomedov. As a result, ‘The Highlight’ was rendered unconscious after enduring the choke for too long.
Reflecting on the incident during a recent appearance on The Joe Rogan Experience, Gaethje revealed that he tapped “three times” during the bout. He also claimed that Herzog believed he would never submit, which is why the referee allowed the fight to continue.
Alongside that incident, Jason Herzog has also faced criticism from fans and analysts on multiple occasions for several controversial officiating decisions. Most notably, Herzog drew widespread backlash for abruptly stopping the Henry Cejudo vs. Song Yadong bout. The veteran ref handed the Chinese TKO victory even though ‘Triple C’ was unable to continue following an eye poke in the third round.
As such, even the winner was of the opinion that there wasn’t a tap. That was ammo enough for fans to question the veteran referee’s decision, slamming him across social media for what they believed was a misjudged stoppage following the conclusion of the UFC Belgrade prelims bout.
Fans grilled Jason Herzog over controversial stoppage at UFC Belgrade
After Jason Herzog sparked another controversy at a UFC event, a fan quickly weighed in, writing, “Jason Herzog is a f—g disgrace.” Shortly afterward, another fan lashed out at the veteran referee, posting, “Arrest Jason Herzog f—g retard.”
The wave of backlash continued, with another user demanding, “Jason Herzog is a paid referee, fire this f—er.” Meanwhile, another fan drew an interesting parallel to a past UFC controversy, writing, “I clearly felt a tap” – Jason “Ubereem” Herzog 🤣.
Here, the user referred to one of the most viral post-fight moments involving Joe Rogan, who conducted a rather awkward interview with Alistair Overeem. The former Strikeforce and K-1 heavyweight champion faced Stipe Miocic at UFC 203 and suffered a first-round knockout loss. After the fight, Overeem claimed he had felt Miocic tap while applying a guillotine choke. His assertion prompted Rogan to review the replay and challenge Overeem’s claim, pointing out that there had been no tap.
Alongside Herzog, one fan also blasted Michael Bisping for allegedly agreeing that there had been a tap, writing, “‘I saw a tap.’ ‘Yeah, I did too.’ Get Bisping the f—k out of here along with Jason Herzog. Stop standing up for these horrible calls. Herzog needs his a—s kicked.”
However, Bisping was not the only figure to draw the fans’ wrath following UFC Belgrade’s controversial stoppage. A fan compared Herzog to Herb Dean, who has recently come under fire for several high-profile officiating controversies, including an infamous feud with Alex Pereira, writing, “Cmon Herb, that wasn’t a tap!”
While the majority of viewers believed Jason Herzog made the wrong call, some acknowledged that it was a difficult decision to make. One fan wrote, “Tricky call for Herzog. I do not think Buzukja’s intention was to tap, but he’s in a tight submission and grimacing, and when he’s looking to push the leg, his hand is moving up and down. Can’t blame Herzog for stopping it and can’t blame Buzukja and his team for being upset.”
Again, it is worth noting that Buzukja’s hand movement closely resembled a tap, which could understandably create confusion for the referee. In situations like these, it becomes extremely difficult for officials to make the correct judgment. Even so, some fans went a step further, claiming that Buzukja had actually tapped before the referee stopped the fight.
One fan wrote, “He tapped a few seconds before the fight was stopped,” while another commented, “For sure a tap, he was half asleep.”
This is not the first time a referee has mistaken a fighter’s actions during a submission exchange. Previously, veteran referee Mario Yamasaki controversially stopped the fight between Kevin Lee and Michael Chiesa after Lee locked in a rear-naked choke. Following the stoppage, Chiesa insisted that he had never tapped, arguing that the stoppage came prematurely. In that regard, Jason Herzog is far from the only referee to have found himself at the center of such a controversy.
Still, incidents like these once again demonstrate that officiating errors are an unfortunate part of mixed martial arts. They have happened in the past, continue to occur today, and are likely to happen again in the future.