The legal team that represents Brock Lesnar recently filed paperwork with the Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC), requesting that referee Steve Mazzagatti be removed from consideration as the man who will be in charge of the action during the main event at UFC 91: “Couture vs. Lesnar” at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, on November 15.
Mazzagatti officiated Lesnar’s Octagon debut against Frank Mir at UFC 81: “Breaking Point” earlier this year.
In the opening seconds of the heavyweight bout, Lesnar stormed the former champion and began to maul him with a flurry of strikes. It appeared that Lesnar was on his way to an impressive technical knockout victory; however, the former World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) star landed several questionable — and according to Mazzagatti — illegal blows to the back of the head.
As a result, the action was stopped and Lesnar was docked one point. And when the action restarted Mir survived another blitzkrieg and locked in a fight-ending submission (kneebar) just 91 seconds into the match.
Of course, several fans blamed Mazzagatti and his ruling for the result rather than Lesnar and his inability to defend submissions and/or land legal blows. Regardless, when all was said and done, it was perhaps the most hectic and crazy minute and a half of action inside the Octagon in all of 2008.
So now that Lesnar is paired against heavyweight champion Randy Couture in what is being billed the “biggest fight in UFC history,” he apparently does not want to take any chances with Mazzagatti making the same alleged “mistake” twice and affecting the outcome of his fight.
That’s just fine according to the mustached wonder.
“I’m [not offended] at all,” Mazzagatti said in a recent interview. “He’s a professional — they’re both professionals — and they have to do what they have to do. It’s fine with me. I’m going to enjoy watching the fight”
Talk about taking the high road.
Sherdog.com recently reported that in addition to Mazzagatti, “Herb Dean, Josh Rosenthal and Mario Yamasaki were under consideration to officiate the Couture-Lesnar match.”
NSAC Executive Director Keith Kizer — who praised Mazzagatti for his work inside the Octagon on February 2 — eventually granted the request from Lesnar. Yamasaki is now the man in charge, which hopefully means that Lesnar can now focus 100 percent on Couture come fight night.
