Top UFC Ref Explains Decision to Skip Adesanya vs. Pereira 2, and Why He Avoids Leon Edwards’ Fights

With veteran referee Marc Goddard being with the UFC almost since its inception, fans were surprised to find that he won’t be officiating the much-anticipated title rematch between Israel Adesanya and Alex Pereira. That, coupled with his absence from all of Leon Edwards’ fights has fans wondering why.

Goddard recently appeared on The Overdogs Podcast, where he took the audience through the ins and outs of being an official, and explained why he chooses not to officiate certain matches.

During the interview, Goddard was asked if there is any fighter that he will never referee or is not allowed to referee. To this, citing  Leon Edwards’ name, he claimed he would never officiate his matches since he had coached the fighter during his amateur years. Naturally, this might have created an involuntary bias towards Edwards and Goddard did not want that to come in the way of his duty.

“I don’t want to be put in a predicament where I am making a call that could go against him and that works both ways.”

 

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Goddard also went on to share his reason behind declining the opportunity to referee the rematch between Adesanya and Pereira. While he was the one who officiated their first encounter, ‘The Last Stylebender’ felt that the fight was stopped prematurely. Goddard believed his presence might distract Adesanya in the rematch and thus, chose to step away.

Speaking of Adesanya, the 34-year-old will step into the octagon a few weeks from today to try and claim what he once lost.

Adesanya to become a three-time middleweight champion?

At UFC 305 in Perth, ‘The Last Stylebender’ will take on Dricus Du Plessis for the middleweight belt. Adesanya lost the belt to Sean Strickland who subsequently lost it to DDP at the start of this year.

Ever since ‘Stillknocks’ won the fight, Adesanya has been restless for another title shot. He stated in recent interviews that he does not care about belts anymore and that he just wants to collect heads now. Moreover, he will be hoping that the referee in charge gives him a fighting chance if things do not go his way at any point.