Mike Rodriguez does not want to see any ill will towards Ed Herman.
Controversy inserted itself into UFC Vegas 10 when referee Chris Tognoni halted a fight between Rodriguez and Herman. The pause was due to a perceived illegal knee strike landed by Rodriguez, which actually landed on Herman’s midsection. Herman, who won the fight via third-round submission, has allegedly received a lot of hate from fans and Rodriguez wants that to stop.
“I would just say it happened, it was an awkward moment in our sport,” Rodriguez said on What The Heck (via Steven Marrocco of MMA Fighting). “We should just accept and move right along. Don’t send Ed Herman no hate messages or anything. Please don’t. He’s a good dude. All he did was get an opportunity and capitalize on it. That was it.”
Rodriguez’s manager did say that the loss will be appealed, but no ruling has been made by the Nevada Athletic Commission (NAC) at this time. A defeated Rodriguez also had quite the meeting with UFC President Dana White after the controversial loss to Herman.
“He had this red beet face, and I’m like, ‘Did I do something? I didn’t do anything,’” Rodriguez said. “He’s like, ‘I’m so pissed, this is one of the worst referees I’ve ever seen,’ and he started going off on this tangent. And before I left, they were like, ‘Hey, he’s still going to give you the win money.’ I was like, ‘Oh, sh*t. Thank you.’”
White also blasted the referee after the event, comparing Tognoni to the much-maligned Steve Mazagatti.
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