UFC Vegas 82, The Morning After: Just Let Him Go To Sleep!

Here’s what you may have missed!

I’d like to keep this one short and sweet, so let’s skip the typical “Refereeing is a tough job” preamble. It may be true, but everyone has heard it before, and the third man in the cage was no rookie.

Trey Ogden vs. Nicolas Motta was a fun Lightweight clash at UFC Vegas 82 last night (Sat., Nov. 18, 2023) that ended in unfortunate fashion (watch it). Both men found success early, but Ogden’s wrestling and top game were slowly taking over as the fight wore on. In the third, Ogden was ahead on the cards and close to locking in an arm triangle choke. As he squeezed, referee Mike Beltran was clearly antsy, repeatedly checking on Motta as he bridged and pushed on his opponent’s arm pit to create space to breathe.

Motta, busy fighting the choke and unable to speak, didn’t have the time to convince Beltran that he was awake. His job, after all, is to intelligently defend himself, not make the referee feel better.

Consequently, Beltran intervened and saved a very conscious, very upset Motta. The bout was subsequently deemed a “No Contest” due to the faulty stoppage, meaning Ogden lost out on the other half of his paycheck, which was less than two minutes away from being secure regardless of the potential arm triangle finish.

Ogden was real upset, too.

Here’s the kicker: arm triangles are not dangerous. Chokes in general are among the least dangerous techniques to employ in an MMA fight, but arm triangles are even less dangerous than something like a rear naked choke. The inclusion of the arm in the strangle means it’s a slower submission. A little bit of blood is still flowing, so it takes longer for the choked fighter to pass out and it takes longer for an actual damage to occur afterward.

I’ve done jiu-jitsu for 14 years, run programs, and refereed at grappling tournaments. In that time, I’ve seen lots of unexpected little naps, and it’s just not a big deal.

There’s an extreme difference between being knocked out cold versus put to sleep via strangle. The former can ruin your entire f—king life, and the latter is relatively harmless. Fighters sign up willing to risk both, but it’s important that they’re treated differently.

I’m not endorsing infamous situations like the Kim Couture neck scissor, which saw Couture asleep for roughly 60 seconds before the referee intervened. That’s not healthy, but there’s a whole lot of margin between that and what happened last night. Nikolas Motta, Robbie Lawler, Daniel Lacerda — just let them go to sleep if the choke is in!

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For complete UFC Vegas 82: “Allen vs. Craig” results and play-by-play, click HERE!