Shattering the hearts of a billion individuals, UFC 312 delivered a verdict that may have determined the fate of India’s rising MMA star, Anshul Jubli. ‘King of the Lions’ carried the weight of a nation’s hope, but his chin was shattered as Quillan Salkilld’s powerful right hand sent the Indian prospect crashing to the canvas at UFC 312. Jubli immediately grabbed Salkilld’s leg in an attempt to recover, but it was too late—the referee stepped in to stop the fight and awarded the victory to the Australian. Was it an early stoppage, or was it justified? This question has sparked debate within the MMA community. Now, the referee has broken his silence and addressed the controversy.

While having a conversation with the media, the referee Jim Perdios emphasized that he understood that Jubli wanted the win pretty badly but the stoppage was necessary to protect him from further damages – “I understand how bad Anshul wanted to win for India and I get it. I have a ton of love for India but he was out when u jumped in and that is that.”

This was Anshul Jubli’s second consecutive MMA defeat after going undefeated in his first seven fights. The young Indian prospect has now been knocked out twice in his career, leading many within the community to believe that ‘King of Lions’ may not yet be ready for high-level competition.

However, many also believe that the stoppage was too early. ‘The MMA Guru’ in his assessment emphasized that the UFC might have just sabotaged Jubli’s career, “Anshul Jubli got smoked seconds into the first round, but honestly I have a problem with how early the stoppage was, you CANNOT take into consideration the fact that he’s Indian when deciding if to stop the fight. Like legit they WMMA stopped it the second he got dropped.”

Well, MMA Guru is not the only one who was frustrated by such an early stoppage as Brazilian UFC star. Renato Moicano also voiced out his concern as he took to his X handle to write, “20 years to have an Indian in UFC and the referee does that.” In addition to him, current bantamweight champion, Merab Dvalishvili, who considers Anshul Jubli a friend was equally frustrated by the stoppage, “Work so hard in training camp and gets an early stoppage … hate this! #UFC312.”

The referee might have come clean on his words but the UFC CEO Dana White might have to introspect into the refereeing aspect of the game. Meanwhile, Jubli’s head coach has come forward to defend him against all of the trolls.

Anshul Jubli’s coach questions Dana White’s UFC 312 refereeing

After losing his second chance at the UFC, Anshul Jubli has been facing a lot of criticism, specifically from the MMA community, who are not optimistic about him. However, many fans are equally frustrated by the fact that the stoppage was way too early for even to be considered a victory. Tuning in to the accusations, Ansul Jubli’s head coach, Siddharth Singh has come forward to defend his fight by calling out the refereeing aspect of the game.

“I would like to give references to two fights, first one is Frankie Edgar vs. Gray Maynard. This fight is very important to take note of, this is a fight from 2011. In the first round, Gray Maynard hurt Frankie Edgar thrice. But the fight was allowed to proceed by the referee. Later, Frankie Edgar, despite being hurt, comes back and wins the fight. The second fight reference is to Cheick Kongo vs Pat Barry. This fight is important because, in this fight, Pat Barry hurt Cheick Kongo very badly. But it was Cheick Kongo who knocked out Barry later on.” said Singh.

In addition to that, Siddharth Singh ascertained that his pupil had made a grave mistake by pulling his guard down as well as fighting a bit clumsy. In the end, the coach emphasized that Anshul Jubli will introspect on his fight and come back stronger. Given that, what are your thoughts on the hubbub? Do you think that Dana White should look into the matter? State your opinion in the comment below.