“Fire the Ref” – Questionable Refereeing at UFC Paris Has Fans Up in Arms as Chris Duncan Chokes Bolaji Oki to Sleep

UFC Fight Night Paris led by a cracking lightweight clash between Renato Moicano and Benoit Saint-Denis card has started off well. The very first fight to open the undercard has been memorable, which fans have strong feelings about. Unranked lightweights Bolaji Oki and Chris Duncan opened the proceedings into what was on paper a pretty even matchup.

However, the Scotsman was able to submit the Belgian fighter in the very first round. Even though Oki took Duncan down and took the top position, ‘The Problem’ used his excellent BJJ skills to turn the tables. The Scotsman managed to catch the ‘Zulu Warrior’ in a secure rear naked choke hold from the bottom. So secure was the choke in fact, that it put Oki to sleep, who chose to go out on his shield rather than submit.

What has incensed fans, however, is the referee’s conduct right before and immediately after Oki went to sleep. But somehow referee Loic Pora missed that ‘Zulu Warrior’, even though he was inches away from the Belgian’s face

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What’s your reaction?Fire the ref! Did Chris Duncan’s choke on Bolaji Oki cross the line? React!

Duncan let go of the hold once he realized his opponent had gone limp, hitting Oki with a few half-hearted punches just to make sure. The Scotsman immediately called the referee over, who saw that Oki had gone to sleep and called off the fight. To be fair to Duncan, even the commentators didn’t pick up on Oki being slept and even Duncan had to make sure.

The fans, however, were not in an understanding mood and took to social media to let their thoughts known.

Fans excoriate referee for Chris Duncan vs. Baloji Oki fiascoADVERTISEMENT

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What’s your perspective on:

Did the ref at UFC Paris drop the ball, or was Chris Duncan’s chokehold fair game?

Have an interesting take?One fan, unsurprisingly, wanted referee Loic Pora to never call a UFC fight again: “Fire the ref 😂” Another fan agreed with this sentiment wholeheartedly and dragged in the commentators for good measure: “That ref needs to go he was out for 5 seconds. The commentators too. They didn’t notice. They suck so bad.”

Another was couldn’t believe how the referee could have missed Oki losing consciousness despite being so close to the action: “Why are the refs even there? He was looking right at him smh”. Another fan speculated that maybe it was the one who went to sleep on his feet, and thus missed Oki going limp: “The ref may have been asleep.”

Another fan joked that the reason Oki went to sleep was because he must not have gotten enough sleep, instead of the referee having missed Oki losing consciousness: “Must have been up late 😴😴😴”

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One fan, however, came to Pora’s defense, and pointed out that literally nobody- not even the commentators realized Oki was out: “Nobody knew tbf”. Another felt that Pora got so engrossed in the fight that he didn’t realize he was supposed to referee the fight: “Ref forgot he was reffing lmao”

What are your thoughts on the whole affair?