Jason Herzog decided to take a point off for a groin kick in the UFC 256 main event between Deiveson Figueiredo and Brandon Moreno
Deiveson Figueiredo and Brandon Moreno put on a show for the ages in their UFC 256 main event.
Figueiredo was in his second title defence and many predicted that he would be too much for Moreno.
However, the Assassin Baby took the champion all the way to the fifth round. Moreno seemed to have Figueiredo in trouble in some of the rounds and the God of War needed to dig in and ensure he remained champion.
As with any fight, there were some illegal moves that happened by accident. Moreno was on the receiving end of a nasty eye poke early on but worse was to come.
He was kicked in the groin, extremely hard and many UFC stars and reporters didn’t like the sight of that at all.
While most stars wear groin cups in the UFC, getting kicked flushed in the groin, even with a cup, is not a good experience.
Moreno took his time to get back to his feet and the referee had some words with Figueiredo. However, Jason Herzog, the UFC referee, decided to take some action and that could have proved costly.
UFC referees can deduct points for groin kicks or eye pokes, and Herzog wasn’t going to let this go.
He gave a warning to Figueiredo before deducting the point and many believed this was the right decision from the referee.
However, former UFC star Ben Askren didn’t believe this was right, but the kick to Moreno was in full force and could have caused a ton of damage.
The point did prove costly in the end as Figueiredo won the fight according to one judge but the other two saw it as a draw.
The title remained with Figueiredo and Moreno also didn’t have any qualms about the decision. It is only a matter of time before the pair fight again, and even Dana White suggested that this was the greatest fight in Flyweight UFC history.
Figueiredo also didn’t make a huge meal of the deducted point and claimed that the referee was only doing his job.
Herzog has been excellent in recent weeks in the UFC and even saved a female UFC star from an embarrassing wardrobe malfunction.
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