Hector Lombard says he should not have been disqualified at UFC 222 on Saturday night, because his after-the-bell blows came as part of an exchange and referee Mark Smith didn’t step in at the round bell to halt the action quickly enough.
As it turns out, those things aren’t necessarily mutually exclusive.
John McCarthy, the godfather of MMA officiating, told MMA Fighting on Sunday that, in his assessment, Smith was indeed late getting in between Lombard and C.B. Dollaway at the bell to end the first round. However, McCarthy said Lombard’s punches — especially the last one — came after the bell and after Smith called “time!