At UFC Vegas 111, Gabriel Bonfim might have pulled off one of the most exciting finishes of the year. After a sharp first round, ‘Marretinha’ launched a big knee in the second that sent Randy Brown crashing to the canvas. Without wasting a single second, referee Mark Smith swarmed in and immediately waved off the fight. Up to this point, everything sounded like a typical UFC event finish. However, things took a turn when the referee started receiving heat for a premature stoppage. 

Following the stoppage, it became clear that Brown wasn’t unconscious, as he quickly got up and protested the decision. Soon, backlash toward Mark Smith’s call began circulating online. Industry expert Ariel Helwani criticized the stoppage on X, writing, “Don’t love the stoppage. He turtle’d right away. Fell badly, no doubt, but was premature imo.”Just like that, questions around the main event stoppage started to rise, while counterarguments also began to creep in. And now, UFC commentator Jon Anik also shared his verdict, defending the stoppage by saying Brown didn’t have to take an unnecessary follow-up shot. 

Jon Anik backs Mark Smith’s UFC Vegas 111 main event stoppage 

On the DraftKings Anik & Florian podcast, Anik opened the discussion and immediately made his stance clear. “Hey, Ken Flo, what do you think of the stoppage? Mark Smith getting in there, I liked it.” His podcast partner, Kenny Florian, responded, “Yeah. I mean, he was pretty messed up, Randy Brown. He was covering up. I think he would’ve eaten an unnecessary big shot after that. I don’t think it was necessary for him to take another one. I didn’t have major problems with it.” 

Anik and Florian’s discussion brought back the long debate of whether a referee should stop a fight before a fighter becomes unconscious, or wait until it’s absolutely clear that the fight won’t continue. Well, some fighters have indeed recovered from nasty knockdowns and gone on to win. However, in the case of UFC Vegas 111, the UFC play-by-play commentator pointed out that Brown was damaged enough for referee Mark Smith to step in and save him from further punishment. 

Jon Anik added in the Anik & Florian podcast, “Good recovery, and instinct from Brown to immediately cover up. But yeah, dude, you’re eating a meatball sub from Bonfim, with extra f–in cheese in the gullet, and then you’re twitching on the canvas.”  

And that could’ve very well happened to Randy Brown if Bonfim had landed those follow-up shots. But could the Jamaican have avoided that shot and fought back? Probably. But this is where a referee’s job becomes extremely tough, deciding what counts as early and what doesn’t. Relating to that exact dilemma, former UFC bantamweight champ Dominick Cruz also weighed in on the stoppage. 

Dominick Cruz sympathizes with the UFC Vegas 111 referee 

Referees catching heat over controversial fight decisions is nothing new in the UFC. It happens at almost every event. In recent memory, Dan Miragliotta faced backlash from fans and experts for messing up a few calls at UFC Vancouver, and now Mark Smith has landed in a similar situation. Not only did he get criticized for stopping the main event early, but the veteran referee also faced backlash for waving off Christian Leroy Duncan’s knockout over Marco Tulio late as well. 

So, seeing a referee getting called out for both an early stoppage and a late one on the same night, Dominick Cruz couldn’t help but sympathize with him.  The former bantamweight champ said during the broadcast, “We saw Tulio eat a big shot earlier tonight. That’s a hard one. I think Brown was OK, but as the ref, I can understand too. If you’re Mark Smith, it’s tough, but if you’re a fighter I’m pissed.

He added, “ I do think it’s a little early but at the same time if Bonfim gets up and he’s actually out and he actually comes and puts a stamp on this, how bad does Mark Smith look and what does the whole internet say about Mark Smith. But now because he wasn’t actually completely out, now it goes the other way.”   

Later, Cruz admitted that it’s definitely a “tough spot” for referees to handle situations like this, and he’s right. That said, do you actually believe we’ll ever see spotless officiating in the UFC? Or will these mistakes keep happening? Let us know in the comments section below.