Referee misses tap, fighters stop, outcome changes. But who’s at fault for blunder?

Old video emerges of a controversial turn of events during a New England Fighting Championship bout in 2017.

The old fighting adage is to not stop fighting until the referee stops you.

That was a critical mistake made by both the referee and James Ploss during a 2017 fight against Caleb Austin at New England Fights 28: Invincible.

Ploss sank in a guillotine choke on Austin, who proceeded to tap – but the referee didn’t see it. Instead of continuing the choke, Ploss let go, assuming the fight was over. Austin capitalized and jumped into mount.

Austin worked for a rear-naked choke, and Ploss momentarily escaped and turned to his stomach. But Austin rained down punches and eventually got the stoppage for a TKO win. It was a complete reversal for Ploss, who should never have made the assumption the fight was over.

American Top Team coach Mike Brown pulled up the old footage, sparking up a discussion on who was at fault here.

So who was more at fault and deserves more blame? The referee for missing the tap to begin with, or the fighter for stopping before the referee said the bout was over? Give us your take in the poll below.

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[opinary poll=”who-needs-more-blame-when-a-ref-missed-a” customer=”mmajunkie”]

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