Justin Gaethje and Donald Cerrone competed in the main event of UFC Fight Night Vancouver, which Gaethje won by first round knockout.
UFC Executive David Shaw was in attendance at the show and he believes that main event was stopped too late.
“Justin seemed upset. Cowboy seemed upset. It was one of those situations where Jerin probably gave Cowboy — considering his experience, expertise, and how long he’s been fighting — the benefit of the doubt. It probably could have got stopped a punch earlier,” Shaw said at the post-fight press conference (via Adam D. Martin of BJPenn.com).
Gaethje did confront the referee as well after the bout, which ended when Gaethje nailed a downed Cerrone with a plethora of unanswered strikes before the encounter was waved off.
Shaw understands that fighters have the right to recover when dropped, but still thought the bout could’ve ended sooner.
“He did the right thing in the end. It probably could have been stopped a punch earlier. Sometimes you have to give guys a bit more leeway to see if they can recover. But from my position, I believe it was stopped a tad too late,” says Shaw.
Jerin Velil was the official for the main event bout and he has been on the wrong side of controversy in the past.
