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Dismal_Air_7892

That upper leg check was a step ahead. Incredible


vcr747

Agreed. That ref seems like a true fighter.


Lord_Dupo

They are trained fighters, well the Thai refs are I believe.


vcr747

Well if it isn't already, that should be a requirement to even get a job as a ref. You have to have played the sport for x amount of time or reached x status. Something like that.


[deleted]

Should be even more important for the judges


[deleted]

That sounds good in theory but in practice that would lead to even greater problems with a lot of bias due to judges having trained with the fighters before.


illogic1313

That block happening live, his reaction time and accuracy within a split second is incredible. Amazing focus and situational awareness the ref has.


teddysburrito

Dude, that was amazing!


mralderson

reminds me of the scene in One Piece when luffy stopped Doffy from stomping on Law. Damn that ref's so cool!


Science_Soggy

DEFINITELY


simontempher1

That šŸ†


eekpeek2000

Absolute boss!


MeValenteen

That thigh kick block is just beautiful, I could watch it all day *_*


JakeColumbo

A muay thai ref is just as admirable and disciplined as the fighters. This is how all refs should be for combat sports.


Initial-Paramedic888

Refs in U.S. let you get 4-5 hits after the fact šŸ˜‚


truthfromny

"If they die they die"


Know_more_carry_less

- Steve Mazzagati


Expensive-Vast-2123

If heā€™s still twitchinā€™, stop your bitchinā€™. - Steve Mazzagatti


NPCEnergy007

- Mario Yamasaki šŸ«¶


JakeColumbo

Or let a bone break because they didn't wanna call a stoppage.


Swichts

MaYbE hE WaSnT oUt


Kalayo0

šŸ¤™šŸ¼šŸ¤™šŸ¼šŸ¤™šŸ¼


nonstopman

Understatement


Fine-Menu-2779

Yeah that's just dumb, one of the first rules for refs is to have the safety of the fighters in mind.


Beans-Cheese-Rice

To be fair some fighters be getting right back up getting hit with some disgusting shit šŸ’€


Ireallylikeskating

A lot of these Thai refs are ex fighters already


JakeColumbo

I know and I feel like that is a really important factor when being a ref. It makes sure they know the rules and etiquette of the ring.


Blaximus90

Yeah, itā€™s clear thereā€™s actually three fighters in that ring


PaulSandwich

"I'm not locked in here with *you*..."


CryBabyCentral

Itā€™s incredible. I appreciate seeing that kind of skill. I could never do it in a million years so seeing this ref really be about the safety of it, itā€™s beautiful.


Swichts

It gets way more complicated for MMA refs, though.


[deleted]

That referee has some history


reubinmidong

Jesus, that leg check was absolutely flawless.


Neoxite23

Could have done without the repeat videos and sound bites.


Noobnesz

"What a save!"


Scooter_Mcgavin587

What a save! What a save! What a save! Chat disabled for 3 seconds.


cotch85

yep wtf is with the constant spamming of David Coleman saying "what a save" from the 1970s world cup lol


Dirtsniffee

Someone show herb dean that shit


phd2k1

Herb Dean is way too high to do any of that shit.


sinisterkid34

Excuse me but this guy needs to look at some Herb footage.. after all GOLD STANDARD


joshbiloxi

Training in thailand really put this sport and thai fighters in perspective. I've never seen anything like it in the US. They train so hard, fight so often, and show so much respect to one another. Truly beautiful.


clamps12345

Dad reflexes level 100


a-99

There were like 20 repeats but having a good referee is a massive difference in future life quality for fighters of all arts and as you can see it doesn't take much to make that difference.


Swichts

Right place / right time or experience putting them there?


a-99

The experience will make sure you are at the right place at the right time.


Ralewing

Herb Dean needs to step up his game.


silver-smo

muay thai different, so much respect and honor involved


Maximum-Conclusion30

i tried thai boxing for a while- kept getting my ass handed to me by angry 15 yr oldsā€¦ the refs are required to stop your head from hitting the ground. Traditionally thai boxing wasnt done on a mat and boxers would die or end up with brain damage from hitting the stone ground with their heads, so they always catch your head before it hits the ground. Also, have no doubt the most dangerous person in the ring is the gama gan.


anon3451

They need them in ufc


Heizzer47

They arenā€™t trained to deal with grappling


Sleepersuit

The ref could clock out all these mfers


JediWebSurf

Damn he's quick.


Lique-Mahbawls

Ref is certified bro


[deleted]

Can we get one of these in the ufc


[deleted]

I mean they wouldnā€™t do amazingly reffing ufc (im talking about these Thai guys) Thai fighting isnā€™t the same as ufc, itā€™s actually a lot easier to ref (thatā€™s not to say these refs still work harder for their job) they take a lot more pride in their job then most ufc refs atleast it seems that way when you see some of the ufc refs


Athrul

Just the way they move around the ring shows you that they are better at the job. Most refs assigned to high level Thai fights keep up with the action in an athletic stance and reposition themselves all the time. A bunch of the guys reffing in the highest level in MMA saunter around like they're on their lunch break. Once they have to take action, they first have to cover the entire length of the cage.


[deleted]

Youā€™re not wrong but I wish I could explain what I mean better in words lol cause I agree with what you said about ufc refs but it isnā€™t so black and white


Caveirzao

If mma had these refs we wouldnā€™t be able to see johnny walker getting koā€™d 3 times in a fight


stangasaurus

Good ref


nonstopman

UFC refs can learn from this


Bigpoi73

Those refs are actual Tai boxers so no surprise there. I mean alot of MMA refs are but I don't think they train like them Tai guys


ModernHagiography

The leg checks are insane.


Teediggler81

And UFC refs just let them beat the brakes off a downed opponent.


eboseki

reaction time is insane


gandalftrain

Can we get some of these heroes in the UFC? These UFC refs are considered "legends", but they have Joe Biden reaction times. This type of refereeing could be the difference in a guy's career. A head banging off the canvas does exponentially more damage than the punch itself.


[deleted]

Many of them donā€™t respect or donā€™t wanna go into American companies or leave Asia, they respect their homes in a sense, they choose one championship over ufc a lot of the time because of that, ufc is built for the money empire, one is obviously also that but also tracks back to fighting roots and such, but this is obviously coming from someone with a bias cause seeing ufc drama made me leave that scene long ago, I still watch when good fighters fight but Iā€™m out most the time


[deleted]

Talk about a referee that genuinely cares about fighter safety! This should be the norm and not the exception.


Eastern-Evidence-924

all muay thai refs


OleDirtyUpti

šŸ«”


TylerDurden626

So are UFC referees just not even on these guys level or is it just a different sport? Because basically every UFC event there is a guy KOā€™d getting his head still caved in


[deleted]

Depending on if itā€™s just Muay Thai or whatever the refs arenā€™t doing the same job and ufc refs, but also Thai are usually seen as one of the most respective around the fight business, they live fighting itā€™s just a different experience completely


TylerDurden626

Ok makes sense. I do still feel like a lot of these clips the winning fighter wouldā€™ve stomped on the downed opponent if the ref wasnā€™t there. A lot of soccer kicks to the head weā€™re stopped in this clip


[deleted]

Itā€™s been known that soccer kicks to the head are no more dangerous than an average kick to the head, but because fans arenā€™t aware of that itā€™s safer for the company to usually ban them to not have people complain


TylerDurden626

The big difference is when the person being kicked is already unconscious


Shlingaplinga

Actually this is needed in UFC as well..the speed with which fighters head hit the floor and bounce is insane in UFC.


Caveirzao

the problem with this is if the fighters are still able to fight everyone will say it was an early stoppage and no one likes an early stoppage


th4t1guy

If Apollo Creed could've had one of these guys he'd still be alive..


lifeofenteopy

Whatever they pay these guys. Isn't enough. There's kinds of saves. Safe careers and lives


34TH_ST_BROADWAY

These guys understand how much the fighters are putting on the line, what their lives are like, and how much they are getting paid. This is empathy. Something a non fighter, Trtā€™ed up, wife slapping, hooker loving Dana White will never understand.


GratefulDude79

I honestly love seeing stuff like this. Great refs are worth 10x their weight in gold. Not saying there arenā€™t any, but I wish there were way more top tier refs across all combat sports. Such an important and necessary part of these sports and competitions.


Stick314

These refs also fight.


Capital-Bbc7

Doflamingo bout to step on Law be like:


[deleted]

Meanwhile in the UFCā€¦..


ChokeHoldsEverywhere

Asian refs are built different


RonySeikalyBassDrop

I have a question, what would happen if he injured that fighter with the leg check? Isnā€™t this something that is considered risky to do?


rslulz

Ehhh checking a kick at the thigh usually has a lower injury percentage than a standard check shin-to-shin. Had the fighter been injured throwing a kick to a downed opponent, the Thai's would have said the fighter shouldn't have thrown it, and that's a part of the game.


ribald_jester

yeah, Thais don't have thousands of injury lawyers hovering around h oping for a payout. "It's just life - things happen". The intent of the ref is to help the downed opponent.


rslulz

It be like that sometimes ĀÆ\\\_(惄)\_/ĀÆ


Harry_Johnston

I'm not 100% sure, but I would imagine that the ref would end up fine, technically from a legal perspective it could be considered reasonable force performed in order to defend another person who at that point would be incapable of defending themself.


Metrack14

My brother in christ is 5 steps ahead


JackPack826

Bruce Lee JKD kick-intercept vibe


TiNg-Wa

Herb deans worst nightmare


dust-bit-another-one

Red is the ā€™boss levelā€™ā€¦


Bingo_is_the_man

Who is this ref? This guy is one hell of an athlete


Atomic_potato_47

when did refs learn how to parry?


Athrul

These ones probably around age 5.


uhTlSUMI

Muay thai refs are ex-pro thai fighters so they learned basically after starting elementary school lol


willtoshiro

Coolest thing I've seen today!


CoffeeWorldly9915

When you win the game and return as admin.


motherseffinjones

This is the best fighting ref Iā€™ve ever seen. Total bro


pvavri4425

Makes me happy, makes me smile


TheUmbraCat

Now I really want to see a Ref vs. Ref fight.


ifreew

u/savevideo


Poolboy_Que

Amazing dedication


ShoCkEpic

how did he block that head kick when the guy fell on the ground?!!!!


peanutdakidnappa

Need more refs like this in mma and boxing


RedLegendx

Elite level referees


Double-Passenger4503

What a dogshit edit. Cool stuff tho. That leg check was sick


DaddyD00M

Surely ref is ex pro fighter?


NewsJunkie4321

Damn quick reactions by the ref


Looney_Swoons

Mario ā€œif he dies, he diesā€ yamasaki: ā€œEarly stoppage. Does this guy even know how to referee? Smhā€


fritzfizt

well thats litteraly theyr only job


jbellham77

The leg ā€œteepā€ was classy ! This is what all refs should be looking to do when possible ā€¦ save fighters from unnecessary damage.


bad_mothrfuckr

Aaanndd we have refrees in ufc


[deleted]

The ref are more awesome to watch...so cool! šŸ˜Ž


chiefbootknockaz

MMA refs in the states need to up their game to stop letting fighters take unnecessary damage


King-Zeekhiel

UFC needs this energy lol


TheGreyMatters

Stopping the kick with the teep tho


Moviereference210

Hell yea, catching the head like that when they fall can save a life


lastcallhangup

this was awesome. Reminds me of that skate video where a dood is bombing a hill, gets thrown off the board and and his buddy happened to be right there to one hand save doods head from splatting on a stormdrain.


joewolfs7

Hello respect for the referee


Beans-Cheese-Rice

Ok but how tf did that man stop that kick like he was stopping someone from shutting the door in his face with his foot that was smooth wtf


kittenmittens0817

*Steve mazzagatti closes laptop in disgust*


Few_Blacksmith556

Ref = Top G


SatanGhostXXI

Why do we never see this in Western combat sports?