Ultimate Fighting Championship

UFC 208: Dana White Blasts Main Event Referee Todd Anderson

Updated Mar. 5, 2020 12:46 a.m. ET

Fansided, Nick Strickland/FanSided via Cage Pages

UFC president Dana White was not very complimentary about a number of topics on Saturday night but the biggest of all was the officiating.

UFC 208 was supposed to be a card that would be remembered for years to come and it was, but for all the wrong reasons. Nine of the 10 fights went to a decision, the New York commission had a terrible night thanks to some very questionable judging and even worse officiating during the night’s main event.

In the past, we have some seen some really questionable judging errors but on Saturday night at UFC 208, that questionability was taken up a whole nother level. From the Derek Brunson Anderson Silva decision all the way to Germaine de Randamie’s end of round fouls against Holly Holm, it seemed like the NYSAC officials had no idea what was going on.

The one thing we all know and love about Dana White is that if he has something to say, regardless of if it’s good or bad, he will say it. And during the UFC 208 post-fight show, he let his feelings about the horrendous officiating from Todd Anderson, in particular, be known.

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“I feel like the ref from New York shouldn’t be reffing a main event fight. They don’t have enough experience. He should not have been in there. But again, we don’t make those decisions. The commission does. That was a bad decision by them, and if that guy takes a point for hitting after the bell, it’s a draw. The only possible way this night could be any sh**tier.

“Everyone was blowing me up on the phone, ‘what’s wrong with this ref?’ and what’s wrong with this ref is that he doesn’t have big fight experience like that. None of these guys do in this state yet, and they should’ve had one of the experienced MMA refs in there reffing that main event.”

The event was supposed to be known for crowning the first ever UFC female featherweight champion but unfortunately thanks to the bad officiating surrounding the card, it will only be remembered for being one of the worst UFC cards in recent history.

The first pay-per-view of 2017 being such a huge failure in terms of the controversy surrounding it is sure to have an effect for months to come.