Between a Rock and a Hard Place: Yves Lavigne, Referee Stoppages and Armchair Analysis

While a great deal of the discussions stemming from UFC 102 have centered around the return to form of Minotauro Nogueira, Randy Couture's "never say die" showing and Todd Duffee's record-setting knockout, Yves Lavigne is getting his share of attention too.

Many are questioning Lavigne's indecision in the ring when Jake Rosholt had a very tight arm triangle choke on Chris Leben. "The Crippler" appeared to tap weakly, Lavigne started to move in to stop the fight and then stopped when Leben's legs bucked towards the referee. Seconds later, he was out cold, Lavigne jumped in and the hold was released.

Then Leben began to convulse on the canvas.

Seeing a fighter twitch on the mat is never a pretty sight and obvious concern for their safety mounts. In this case, people looking to cast blame turn to Lavigne, a referee who has had some tough calls in recent memory that certainly don't help the situation.

Everyone remembers his stop-start routine from the UFC 96, where Pete Sell looked to be finished, but Lavigne "restarted" the fight before waving things off shortly thereafter. That same night, many questioned a different referee's decision when a seemingly early stoppage awarded Shane Nelson a quick win over Aaron Riley.

Therein lies the problem: No matter what these referees do, people are going to question their decisions.

Don't get in there early enough, you're endangering fighters livelihood and well-being.

Get in there too soon and you're depriving the paying customers of what they came to see in the first place and not giving the fighters a chance.

The only way a referee remains unscathed is if there is an unquestionable finish or the final bell sounds. Everything else is put under a microscope and scrutinized by hundreds of people, all of whom have an opinion on the events from the comfort of their living rooms and computer desks, myself included.

Interestingly enough, there was a non-call on that same card that merits some discussion, at least in the eyes of Watch Kalib Run's Zak Woods.

On the most recent WKR Cage Cast recapping UFC 102, Woods questioned whether referee Mario Yamasaki could have jumped in and stopped the main event when Randy Couture was mounted and clearly taking a great deal of punishment.

Though Couture eventually got back to guard and continued in the bout, he wonders whether a little extra lenience was afforded in this bout simply because it was Randy Couture taking the punishment, and it's hard not to understand where he is coming from.

There is no denying that there is room for improvement in the refereeing of Mixed Martial Arts fights, just as there is similar room in the officiating of most sports.

Legendary referee "Big" John McCarthy has introduced his COMMAND training program to help in this regard, which, along with continued experience and exposure, will hopefully result in better officiating.

But the naked truth is that referees are going to make mistakes.

They will stop fights too soon and let some continue on when they shouldn't. Unfortunately, it is the nature of the beast, and something that will never be 100% resolved.

For the most part, these men and women perform admirably in a thankless position where the only time they receive recognition is when countless people who wouldn't want to switch places with them feel they made a mistake.

Saturday night, Yves Lavigne fell under the microscope of public scrutiny; he let the fight continue for three seconds too long and didn't trust his natural instinct.

Some are calling for his job, while others are talking about the potential of deaths in the ring if similar situations occur in the future.

I'd just ask that those same people keep this in mind the next time they think a referee stops a fight too early.

One thing that maybe only I find interesting in all this:

Guys can beat their opponents into bloody messes, knock them out cold and even break their appendages, usually to a chorus of cheers. Dan Henderson delivers a clearly unnecessary forearm to the head of a fallen Michael Bisping and it's okay, because it was in the heat of the moment and you have to keep going until the fight is stopped.

Yet these referees make one mistake either way and people are calling for their careers and throwing them under the bus in the name of fighter safety, risk of injuries or perhaps even worse.

Somewhere in there lies a double standard that we'll tackle tomorrow.

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Fight Week Previews: Chris Leben vs. Jake Rosholt

Welcome back, Crippler!

After serving a nine month suspension stemming from a positive test following his loss to Michael Bisping, Chris Leben makes his return to the UFC right in his own backyard of Portland, Oregon.

In a strange way, Leben actually deserves some credit heading into the cage on Saturday for the way he's gotten out in front of his positive test and dealt with the repercussions. While most athletes swear they never used steroids and blame over the counter medications and supplements, Leben has admitted his error in judgment, taken his lumps and returns ready to deliver some of his own.

Unfortunately, it won't be that easy.

Chris "The Crippler" Leben (18-8-0) vs. Jake Rosholt (5-1-0)

Clearly, the original bad boy from The Ultimate Fighter series has a distinct advantage in the experience department over the former All-American wrestler. Even in defeat, having fought guys like Anderson Silva and Michael Bisping teach you things about yourself and your skills.

Rosholt, on the other hand, is just six fights in to his professional career and comes in off the first loss of his career, a quick submission defeat to Dan Miller at UFC Fight Night back in February.

The good news for Rosholt is that he doesn't really have to worry about getting submitted in this one. The bad news, of course, is that he has to worry about getting his mouthguard launched into the 14th row by Leben's dangerous hands.

That being said, Rosholt matches up well stylistically agains the stand-and-bang style of Leben, as his wrestling pedigree gives him an edge on the mat and a way to control this fight.

A highly-decorated wrestling with Oklahoma State, Rosholt was a three-time National champion and four time All-American on the same team as recent UFC winner Johny Hendricks and WEC fighter Shane Roller. Clearly, bringing this fight to the ground not only nullifies Leben's knockout power, but puts Rosholt in his comfort zone where he can control the fight and utilize his ground and pound.

If you look at Leben's track record, his wins come against guys who are willing to stand and trade with him (Alessio Sakara, Terry Martin, Jorge Santiago), while anyone who comes in and sticks to their gameplan seems to be able to secure a victory, as was the case against Jason McDonald, Kalib Starnes and the aforementioned Michael Bisping and Anderson Silva.

Simply put: if you play with fire, you're going to get burned.

Rosholt is going to be a good, if not great MMA fighter; his wrestling base is off the charts, he's working with Xtreme Couture who, despite what Kit Cope may say, are an outstanding group and have a great deal of wisdom to impart and you know he has the competitive fire inside him having been a top level athlete on the collegiate level.

The merging of the WEC Middleweight division into the UFC was an unfortunate hiccup in his career path and could lead to some tough times ahead. Rosholt was too good a prospect to simply let go, but still too green to be able to compete against some of the stiff competition the UFC has to offer.

Mark Munoz suffered the same fate, moving from the WEC Light Heavyweight division with an impressive record to getting knocked silly by Matt Hammil in his UFC debut.

The question now is whether Rosholt has made adequate improvements to his game in the six months since he's been in the cage and will be able to keep clear of Chris Leben's powerful punches?

We'll all find out together on Saturday night.
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