Referee Jason Herzog admits he made a mistake in the recent fight between Henry Cejudo and Song Yadong.
In the main event of UFC Seattle this past Saturday, Henry Cejudo faced Song Yadong in a controversial match. Song Yadong, after a dominant start, accidentally poked Cejudo in the eye in the third round. Referee Herzog paused the fight, giving Cejudo five minutes to recover, but did not penalize Song with a point deduction for the foul.
Cejudo, still affected after the five-minute break, told his corner he couldn’t see at the end of the round. The fight was stopped, and Song was declared the winner by technical decision with scores of 30-27, 29-28, and 29-28. This was a tough loss for Cejudo, as an illegal strike effectively ended the fight and his chance to win. Even referee Herzog now agrees his handling of the situation was incorrect.
“I’m reconsidering my decision about not taking a point, because after reviewing the footage, it seems I should have,” Herzog admitted to Cejudo on his YouTube channel. “Let me explain my thinking at the moment, not to justify it, but to give you context. I understand your point, especially when you mentioned after the restart, when he again had his fingers extended, why I didn’t stop it immediately then and take a point. That’s a valid criticism and something I should have adjusted.”
Herzog, while admitting his initial error, also clarified to Cejudo that he acted in Cejudo’s best interest under the circumstances, possibly preventing a TKO loss for Cejudo.
“I was mainly focused on your well-being,” Herzog stated. “So, I agree with you that I probably should have stopped the fight and taken a point.”
“However, considering the point deduction, when you continued to fight after taking the allotted time, that’s a factor. If a fighter continues for a short time and then can’t proceed between rounds, it becomes a TKO loss for Henry Cejudo. My priority then was to ensure the decision went to the scorecards, which was the best outcome I could achieve at that point.”
“I see your point that a point deduction would have resulted in a draw. But then Song’s team would argue it was a TKO loss due to forfeit and shouldn’t have gone to the scorecards.”
Ultimately, this explanation offers little comfort to Cejudo, who is now on a three-fight losing streak for the first time in his career.
