UFC referee Vyacheslav Kiselev officiated the prelims fight between Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos and Benoit Saint-Denis at UFC 267

The UFC 267 prelims fight between Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos and Benoit Saint-Denis was marred with controversy after referee Vyacheslav Kiselev had a horror night.

The second round of the fight saw dos Santos badly rock Saint-Denis multiple times.

In fact, Saint-Denis was nearly knocked out several times – any other referee or even a schoolboy with basic knowledge of the sport would have stopped the fight. But, Kiselev didn’t.

St. Denis looked battered, Kiselev just didn’t seem to be bothered.

Dos Santos had also accidentally eye-poked Saint-Denis. Although, St.Denis did complain, Kiselev brushed it off, and let the fight go ahead without going for any ringside physician check.

The commentators ringside, Daniel Cormier, Jon Anik and Paul Felder openly criticized the referee for his poor performance.

DC wasted no time, as he tweeted, calling it the worst refereeing performance he had ever seen.

Cormier wrote:

“Honestly the worst performance I have seen from a referee in my life. Honestly a hard job but man unreal. Makes you respect the good ones like @JasonHerzogMMA@JohnMcCarthyMMA@HerbDeanMMA and many more. I hated watching that I hope Benoit is heading to hospital right now !”

Honestly the worst performance I have seen from a referee in my life. Honestly a hard job but man unreal. Makes you respect the good ones like @JasonHerzogMMA @JohnMcCarthyMMA @HerbDeanMMA and many more. I hated watching that I hope Benoit is heading to hospital right now !

— Daniel Cormier (@dc_mma) October 30, 2021

Michael Chiesa, Julian Marquez and others chime in as well

UFC middleweight Julian Marquez wasn’t one bit pleased with what he saw. ‘The Cuban Missile Crisis’ didn’t want to see Kiselev ever again.

This is the last time will ever see this ref #ufc267

— Julian marquez (@JMarquezMMA) October 30, 2021

Chiesa weighed in on the controversy as well:

The most important role of an MMA referee is to protect the fighters. This referee is doing a terrible job of that, in more ways than one. #UFC267

— Michael Chiesa (@MikeMav22) October 30, 2021

There was also a point where Benoit said he couldn’t see after an eye poke and the garbage ref didn’t call the doc in. There were a more than a few bad decisions by him tonight.

— Devon Siler (@devonjsiler) October 30, 2021

The ref watching Dos Santos commit a sanctioned felony: #UFC267 pic.twitter.com/P2ojaQS4xs

— MacMally 🍀 (@MacMallyMMA) October 30, 2021

Amy Kaplan, UFC fansided reporter, brought up Kiselev’s poor record as a professional MMA fighter.

Same guy? 👀 #UFC267 pic.twitter.com/XkcwQWNk3p

— Amy Kaplan (@PhotoAmy33) October 30, 2021

Sean Strickland just asked if Vyacheslav Kiselev could ref his next fight.#UFC267

— Jed I. Goodman © (@jedigoodman) October 30, 2021

Let's not use referee Vyacheslav Kiselev for the rest of the night. UFC broadcast team accurately tearing him a new one for fumbling this fight. #UFC267

— Mike Bohn (@MikeBohn) October 30, 2021

It was later reported that, Kiselev was pulled from his other UFC 267 assignments following his atrocious performance.

Vyacheslav Kiselev: I’m ready for my next assignment

UFC: pic.twitter.com/Ueqp1CrG93

— Kevin Thang (@Skip2MyJays) October 30, 2021

Vyacheslav Kiselev at the betting window to collect his “fight goes the distance” money for Dos Santos and Saint-Dennis #UFC267 pic.twitter.com/qTojsVM7N8

— Ryan (@rtw579) October 30, 2021

Vyacheslav Kiselev was so bad he made this man look like a saint #UFC267 pic.twitter.com/biqbEuG0Ya

— Jason Williams (@jasoneg33) October 30, 2021

UFC has pulled referee Vyacheslav Kiselev from his other #UFC267 assignments due to his performance during the Zaleski dos Santos-Saint Denis fight. pic.twitter.com/lt04N8b6ax

— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) October 30, 2021

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