As advertised, the UFC Oklahoma main event delivered one of the most exhilarating showdowns of the year. Dricus du Plessis and Kamaru Usman ended up leaving it all inside the Octagon with an amazing back-and-forth five-round contest that saw both being rocked multiple times. However, the stellar headliner was marred by controversy, and once again, it was the referee who found himself at the center of it. 

From the opening bell, the South African former champion looked like he had never left the Octagon despite being out for nearly a year after losing to Khamzat Chimaev at UFC 319. Every time Du Plessis threw a combination or a kick, it managed to connect with Usman, and that’s how the majority of the first round unfolded. But in the second round, the fight picked up steam.

During one of the exchanges, ‘DDP’ landed a hook that connected flush on Usman’s face, rocking him badly. But surprisingly, the former welterweight champion complained to referee Kerry Hatley about an eye poke. Following the Nigerian-American’s protest, the referee halted the bout for a moment, giving Usman time to recuperate. However, the replay showed the South African landing a perfectly clean punch with no signs of a foul. Had the referee not briefly stopped the fight, a follow-up shot from Du Plessis might have resulted in a finish. As such, it appeared as if the referee had essentially saved Usman from a vicious knockout. 

The fight ultimately went the full five rounds, with the judges awarding Dricus Du Plessis a clear unanimous decision victory. However, this isn’t the first time referee Hatley has been entangled in controversy. 

The longtime official earned massive backlash for his notorious late stoppage of the Jalin Turner vs. King Green fight in 2023. Even though Turner completely flatlined his opponent, Hatley took over ten seconds to wave off the bout, resulting in Green absorbing a barrage of unnecessary shots.

Yet, when it comes to a similar situation like the UFC Oklahoma main event, there’s another referee who also faced backlash for a comparable call. 

Back in 2020, referee Mark Smith thought he had potentially spotted an illegal knee from Jessica-Rose Clark to her opponent, Sarah Alpar. But the replay showed the strike was legal, which allowed Alpar valuable time to recover. Even so, Clark ultimately ended up winning the bout via knockout.

Fans were highly upset with how referee Kerry Hatley handled Kamaru Usman’s eye-poke complaint, and they didn’t hold back in their backlash. 

Fans call out the referee over UFC Oklahoma main event controversy   

After the fight, a fan wasted no time calling out the referee, writing, “Referee Kerry Hatley is a CLOWN. Just robbed DDP of a fight-ending sequence.” A different fan also felt the same and commented, “Ref just completely f–ed Dricus from getting a finish and gave Usman time to recover.”   

Following that, another fan pointed out that the referee provided Kamaru Usman with much-needed recovery time by halting the fight, writing, “Ref stops it temporarily because Kamaru complains about a legal punch. They gave him time to survive. Terrible reffing. Big 2-0 DDP, but it was going to end right there.”   

The Nigerian-American for sure got a considerable amount of time to recover after the referee temporarily stopped the bout. We saw Usman getting re-energized and even absorbing much more significant blows to his chin in the following rounds. So, the fan rightfully pointed out the referee played some part in taking the fight to the distance. 

After referee Kerry Hatley, the fans also called out Kamaru Usman for appearing to call his own fouls instead of letting the referee make the call.

One fan wrote, “Why are they stopping that? DDP punched him? And you don’t f—ing call your own fouls in this sport.” The comment was followed by another user, who believed, “Usman is faking fouls to be saved by the ref, otherwise he would already have been KO’d.”

Well, the former welterweight champion has previously called out fouls during his fights. In his third fight against Leon Edwards at UFC 286, Usman complained multiple times about the Englishman’s cage grab, low blow, and other fouls. However, Edwards only admitted to grabbing the cage.  So, ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’ seldom calls out if he feels there’s a foul. 

In this case, it could be that he felt DDP’s thumb graze his eye while throwing, which is something that can happen during a fight. Still, despite all the controversy, Dricus Du Plessis managed to establish his dominance over the former 170-pound champion, which should firmly put him back in the title mix at middleweight once again.