Tag: Gianni Vazquez

‘I could’ve died’: Gianni Vazquez recounts the terrifying night a referee refused to stop the fight

Gianni Vazquez feels lucky to be alive after referee Frank Collazo refused to stop his Fury FC 76 bout – despite him being unconscious.

[autotag]Gianni Vazquez[/autotag] remembers the lights turning on and off, but his memory admittedly is distorted.

“To be honest, I cannot remember everything perfectly – how it happened,” Vazquez told MMA Junkie days after Fury FC 76.

The sounds are more vivid memories than the sights for Vazquez, who recalls a familiar voice screaming for referee Frank Collazo to stop the fight.

“I heard clearly the voice of Alex Morono,” Vazquez said. “I’m always watching the sport and Fury FC fights or whatever, so I recognized his voice right away. He’s like, ‘Hey, Frank, what are you doing? Stop it. Stop.’ So then I kind of wake up and I see a little bit with my eyes, the referee. His face is on my face almost. Then I kind of passed out again.”

With an arena full of screaming fans, promotion officials and coaches, Collazo was undeterred as Edgar Chairez continued to choke an unconscious Vazquez, waiting for the feeling of a tap.

When the tap never came, Chairez switched to an armbar, which freed up blood and oxygen to reunite with Vazquez’s brain.

“I started feeling a lot of pain on my arm, so I wake up,” Vazquez said. “My body kind of feels like a noodle. It didn’t react. So I started tapping with my leg. I started tapping with my feet. Then, I was kind of coming in and out, so I kind of went back to sleep a little bit, like one second or two seconds, probably. Then, I wake up and I started feeling more and more pain in my arm. Little by little, I tried to fight with my hand to tap with the hand and they stopped it.”

The struggle was longer than Vazquez’s mind can account for. The switch in and out of consciousness makes the whole thing a little fuzzy. It wasn’t until he got to the hospital after the fight and rewatched his bout that he realized the magnitude of the situation – and how lucky he was to not be worse off.

“I saw the video and was like, ‘Oh, goddamn. That was a long time this f*cking guy didn’t stop the fight.’ I guess it was a pretty long time when I was out there,” Vazquez said.

The reaction was mirrored by dozens of fighters, coaches and reporters, as well as thousands of viewers around the world, who voiced outrage on social media when the video surfaced.

Vazquez suffered tears in his elbow and shoulder and is frightened by the repeated oxygen cutoff to his brain. He has tried to keep his emotions in check since the incident, but the injuries he says he sustained have made it difficult to put the night behind him.

“I do a lot of personal training,” Vazquez said. “I have to hold mitts for people. I have to teach classes. I do personal training of boxing, some jiu-jitsu stuff, some wrestling stuff. I have my good friend from Represent. They’re one of my biggest supporters. They do stuff and I come here and help them out. … They’re super nice and my biggest supporters, so I’m going to be here with one arm working. But I’m working Monday through Sunday. I don’t have days off from working. So right now, it’s frustrating for me, because I’m not going to work in I don’t know how long.”

Since the incident occurred, the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation (TDLR) has yet to publicly sanction Collazo for the mishap, though it did acknowledge to MMA Junkie that it was aware of the incident.

Collazo has not refereed a boxing, MMA or muay thai event in Texas since the incident, but did serve as a judge the day after the incident for UFC on ESPN 43 in San Antonio.

According to Vazquez, no one from the commission took accountability on fight night – or since the incident. Outside of an inspector scolding Vazquez’s coach Colin Oyama for attempting to stop the fight and a brief message weeks later that the commission would be discussing the matter, Vazquez hasn’t heard anything else from TDLR.

“I was just really surprised, like, ‘Goddamn, man.’ It’s literally like nothing happened,” Vazquez said. “It’s another day, another guy, and another job to do. That’s how I felt. That’s what they see, how they see. It’s just so many fighters. I guess I was just one more. That’s why they put the guy back to work without giving any investigation or any type of punishment or some stuff like that. It’s just like, ‘Man, we’re going to keep working. We’ve got another event and other people. I guess the guy didn’t die, so let’s get back to work.'”

https://www.instagram.com/p/CrWfYYFLzRU/

Does Vazquez have ill will toward Collazo, the man he thinks is responsible for fairly significant injuries and that many around the world are criticizing for a dangerous mistake?

No.

“I don’t judge him,” Vazquez said. “I don’t have any bad feelings about him, either. It’s just that we’re all humans and we all make mistakes. But what I believe is that he shouldn’t make this mistake again. What that means is that I don’t want him to be a referee anymore because I don’t want no one to take the chance of him making another mistake and him hurting another person. I don’t know the referee. I don’t know his life. But he will probably have another job, a regular job besides a referee. I hope it doesn’t affect him too much if he stops being a referee because it will affect other guys more if he keeps refereeing.”

While fighters often are required to sign waivers of understanding their health is at risk and they could be severely injured in a combat sport, a court may see negligent officiating as outside the legally binding boundaries.

With that in mind, Vazquez did not rule out legal action.

“I think I would like to do it,” Vazquez said. “First of all, because I don’t want anyone to deal with this stuff any more. … I don’t want it to happen to one guy and then (him) probably die. I don’t want this to happen to another person and (them) probably end up with brain damage. How many times do we see in boxing they get hit in the back of the head and then the referee don’t do nothing, the guy finishes the fight, and he’s OK. Then, after four days, five days, he dies. I don’t want this to be the case in MMA.

“… I think the right thing is to make someone realize what happened wasn’t right, then make him pay for it. It wasn’t right, man. Like I said, I’m not asking for nothing crazy. I’m just asking to get justice from this and to prevent other athletes from having these, too.”

https://www.instagram.com/p/CqNw-V7sHV2/

More than financial reparations, Vazquez wants accountability and to make sure nothing like this ever happens again. If a mistake isn’t recognized, Vazquez sees openings for it to repeat.

“Man, I could’ve died because the referee didn’t recognize,” Vazquez said. “This is crazy to me because, like I said, he had his face on my face. He was like this, looking at my face. So thank God I’m here – alive, with an injury. I don’t want no one to deal with this stuff I deal (with). I don’t want no one to pass for the same situation. It’s just tough it happened to me. But at the same time, it’s just good it happened to me and not other people.”

Watch the full interview with Vazquez below:

‘He could’ve lost his life’: Fury FC chief Eric Garcia calls for regulatory accountability after horrific end to fight

Fury FC promoter Eric Garcia has more questions than answers about Texas after he says a fighter could’ve died due to a referee mistake.

Eric Garcia has seen a lot in his 14 years as a fight promoter. There have been issues with early stoppages and bad scorecards, sure. But what Garcia saw at his own event, Fury FC 76 in San Antonio, was on a different level.

Referee Frank Collazo is a regular for events in southern parts of Texas, Garcia said. Up until Friday, Garcia said everything was as it should be.

“I’ve really never had an issue with him,” Garcia recently told MMA Junkie. “I’ve never had a problem with him. He’s a super nice guy. He’s easy to talk to. He’s normally in there doing his job.”

However, as Garcia watched his main-event title fight Friday play out between [autotag]Edgar Chairez[/autotag] and [autotag]Gianni Vazquez[/autotag], that was not the case. Garcia said he was just as stunned as anyone with the officiating (or lack thereof) from Collazo, who acted in a way that UFC president Dana White referred to as something that “doesn’t get any worse than that.”

Vazquez was choked unconscious with a triangle, but Collazo did not stop the fight. Chairez continued to squeeze, but eventually switched to an armbar. Vazquez laid there motionless for several moments before waking up with his arm torqued, and he eventually tapped, at which point a stoppage finally came.

“From where I was sitting, it looked like (Vazquez) started to go out,” Garcia said. “I could see him moving a little bit, so I’m like, ‘Maybe he’s not out.’ Then you kind of see him collapse. You know he’s out. So now I’m like, ‘OK, what’s going on?’ I’ve got Brandon Moreno sitting behind me. I’ve got Sean Shelby sitting behind me. (Manager) Jason House is sitting behind me. I’ve got my ring announcer right next to me. I’ve got my matchmaker Rich Burmaster on the camera stand shooting pictures.

“I stand up and I start screaming, like, ‘Hey, the fight is over. It’s over. Stop. Stop. Stop. Stop the fight.’ Nothing. Brandon is screaming. Rich is on the camera stand screaming saying, ‘Hey, it’s over, stop it,’ trying to get Frank’s attention. Nothing. At that point, I run from the table I’m sitting at, and I try to run over to where the cage door is, because I was going to try to get up the stairs and say, ‘Hey, it’s over.’ By that time, Gianni had came to and he tapped, and Frank stopped the fight.”

Fury FC promoter Eric Garcia (middle) squares off Fury FC 76 main event fighters Edgar Chairez (left) and Gianni Vazquez (right) prior to their fight.

Left in the dark

With the fight on UFC Fight Pass, it didn’t take long for the sequence to go viral and spark tremendous outrage from the MMA community. Multiple clips posted on social media of the incident surpassed 1 million views. From the moment it happened, Garcia said he’s been left with more questions than answers.

“I was like, ‘Frank, what the f*ck happened? What’s going on? This kid was asleep,'” Garcia said of the moment he got in the cage post-fight. “He’s like, ‘He wasn’t asleep.’ I said, ‘He was out, man. He went out.’ He’s like, ‘He wasn’t out. I had my eyes on him the whole time. He wasn’t out.’ I don’t know what he saw, but it certainly wasn’t what we saw.”

The answer in the cage, according to Garcia, is really the only one he’s gotten since Fury FC captured perhaps the most amount of national headlines in the promotion’s history – for the wrong reasons. Outside of a statement Garcia describes as similar to the one the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation issued Saturday to MMA Junkie, he said he’s largely been left in the dark as to what, if any, accountability processes are underway from the state’s athletic commission.

“I just hope there are some sort of repercussions that the state can put in place that says, ‘Hey, if you’re the referee involved, there are going to be some repercussions for this. You’re going to have to sit out for a certain amount of time. You’re going to have to go through these training courses again. You’re going to have to do something that shows you’re capable of not letting it happen again,'” Garcia said. “He could’ve lost his life, and what would’ve happened then?”

Seemingly every time a major MMA event occurs in Texas, a regulatory issue is spotlighted, whether it’s refereeing or judging. Often times local officials are used for major events, as was the case for UFC on ESPN 43 in San Antonio. One day after Fury FC 76, Collazo (despite Friday’s incident) and fellow official Joel Ojeda were judges in rotation.

This, in particular, is an example of what Garcia thinks needs to be reviewed.

“I don’t know what the protocol is for that,” Garcia said. “Should that have happened? What’s the protocol from the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation when something happens with one of their officials the night before? Should the officials work two days in a row? Will they be on the up-and-up after being up, watching five hours of fights the night before? Are they going to be as sharp as they would’ve been had they not had to work the day before? There’s a lot of things that are questionable.”

That’s … not how it works?

Referee Frank Collazo (left) raises the hand of Fury FC 76 main event winner Edgar Chairez (right).

Texas has built an international reputation as the state of commission controversy when high-level MMA shows roll across its borders, from questionable judging, to wins overturned due to marijuana, and beyond.

For Garcia, he’s had working problems throughout the years, but last Friday’s incident seemingly shined a light on how the TDLR’s accountability and communication leaves something to be desired.

“I see complaints open up and things happen, and then I never hear anything else about it,” Garcia said. “It’s going to have to be something that they stay on, and people are going to have to demand answers. Otherwise, it’s going to be swept under the rug. I don’t think it should be. I think it’s definitely a concern.”

Additionally, Garcia offered a differing take from a claim the TDLR made in it’s official statement, in which it said the commission works with promoters to choose each card’s official. Garcia disputes this, though he said he wishes the system was as TDLR described.

“In 14 years, I’ve never been able to say, ‘These are the referees that I want. These are the judges that I want. These are the timekeepers that I want,'” Garcia said. “I find out who is reffing my event the day before the show at weigh-ins when they hand me the payroll sheet that says, ‘Hey, these are the guys you’re paying tomorrow.’ I’ve never been in the selection process or been able to say, ‘Hey, I’d like to have this referee or that referee.’ I would think that they do that so there is no bias or anything, so they don’t think the promotion is fixing fights and working with certain referees. So I’d assume there’s a reason for that. I don’t know why they mentioned that or why they said that. That’s untrue.

“There have been times where I’ve seen referees on the sheet and told them, ‘Hey, this isn’t the best referee. I really don’t want this guy reffing the main event’ or yadda, yadda. Their response sometimes is, ‘Well, it’s too late. These are the guys that are assigned. These are the guys that are in rotation. These are the guys that are going to ref.’ If they’re saying that, did the UFC get to pick those judges? Or did those judges get assigned? I’d like to know from that end, if the UFC was allowed to have the guys who judged the main event, if those were their choices. Or did the state just assign them?”

Concern for the fighter

Image via Fury FC (Richard Burmaster)

Garcia doesn’t know what will happen with the commission or Collazo, nor  can he predict if any protocols will change because of the Fury FC 76 incident.

While he tries to put himself in the shoes of Collazo and commissioners, Garcia also attempts to view things through the lens of the person he thinks is most affected. Vazquez suffered ligament damage and a potential fracture as a result of the final armbar. How this will affect him long term has not yet been determined.

“I just hope Gianni has a speedy recovery,” Garcia said. “I’m going to stay in contact with him and his team and make sure they get everything that they need from us to make sure he doesn’t have any issues moving forward with medical bills or anything like that. It’s really unfortunate he got the sh*ttiest end of the stick. No matter what people say about Frank Collazo, Gianni is the one who got the worst part.

“You can dog the ref. You can dog the promotion. You can dog TDLR. For us, all those words and everything will go away, but Gianni got physically injured. I don’t know where his mental state is. If that was me, I’d hate to keep seeing myself on a video getting my arm ripped off. At the end of the day, he’s the concern right now.”

Gianni Vazquez reveals damage suffered from Texas referee stopping Fury FC 76 fight late

Gianni Vazquez, the MMA fighter on the wrong end of a Texas referee mishap at Fury FC 76, reveals he suffered damage from the non-stoppage.

[autotag]Gianni Vazquez[/autotag], the fighter who was choked unconscious and then submitted with an armbar Friday in Texas, has suffered arm injuries as a result of the sequence.

The bout headlined Fury FC 76 in San Antonio and was officiated by referee Frank Collazo, who did not stop the contest when opponent [autotag]Edgar Chairez[/autotag] put Vazquez to sleep with a triangle choke. After an elongated period of squeeze and with Vazquez not tapping, Chairez eventually switched to an armbar and torqued. Eventually, Vazquez regained consciousness and tapped – but apparently not before damage was done.

“This is the fight game and is not a game,” Vazquez wrote Saturday on Instagram. “I say if you want to beat me you better gotta put me out cause if not is going to be a long night. I make a mistake and it cost me the fight that I feel I was winning. My opponent took advantage of that and with some stupid referee that didn’t stop the fight when I was out now I have to deal with a potential fracture on my arm and some ligaments damaged too.”

https://www.instagram.com/p/CqNw-V7sHV2/

The officiating mishap went viral Friday and garnered a lot of attention and comments from members from the fight community around the world. Even UFC president Dana White discussed the sequence at a UFC on ESPN 43 post-fight news conference.

“That’s the kind of stuff that I really, really don’t like, if a guy gets choked unconscious and you don’t know he’s unconscious,” White said. “Everybody has a bad night. Everybody makes mistakes. But if a guy gets choked unconscious and then they pull him into an armbar, I mean, it doesn’t get any worse than that. (Josh Burkman vs. Jon Fitch) was the one I went after Mazzagatti so bad about. … Mazzagatti had no clue. You shouldn’t be reffing if that happens, in my opinion.”

Former UFC women’s strawweight champion [autotag]Carla Esparza[/autotag], a teammate of Vazquez’s from Team Oyama, was in attendance for the bout. Esparza, too, criticized the way the situation was handled.

“1st his opponent missed weight by 2.5 lbs, then this ref puts his health and safety in jeopardy,” Esparza wrote on Facebook. “What we do is already so dangerous, but it’s the ref’s job to keep us safe. They really messed up big time, shame.”

A spokesperson for the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation (TDLR), the commission which oversaw the event, Saturday told MMA Junkie the commissioning body was “aware of concerns” pertaining to the incident. There was no mention of disciplinary action and Collazo was permitted to serve as a judge at Saturday’s UFC on ESPN 43 event in San Antonio.

Fury FC also issued a statement, in which it openly criticized TDLR for failing to keep their fighters safe. TDLR offered a differing take where it stated the commissions and promotions decide on officials together.

Texas commission, referee under fire after ‘stupidity’ leads to frightening scene with unconscious fighter

Gianni Vazquez’s coach never wants to see Frank Collazo referee again after his apparent gross incompetence at Fury FC 76.

The Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation, the state’s governing body that oversees combat sports, is under fire in the wake of apparent gross incompetence by a referee at Fury FC 76 in San Antonio.

The incident happened Friday during a competitive flyweight main event between Dana White’s Contender Series veteran [autotag]Edgar Chairez[/autotag] and [autotag]Gianni Vazquez[/autotag]. In the fourth round, Vazquez took down Chairez but quickly found himself trapped in a triangle choke. Chairez managed to lock it in even tighter and the unconscious Vazquez crashed down to the canvas after about 9 seconds.

Vazquez stopped moving, and it was clear to everyone – except apparently referee Frank Collazo – that he was unconscious. The commentary team of UFC welterweight Alex Morono, Michael Alexander, and Raheel Ramzanali began calling the finish, but Collazo didn’t intervene. He watched closely as chaos ensued, with the cageside broadcast team imploring him to stop the fight while Vazquez was still locked in the triangle choke.

“He’s breathing like he’s out. He’s breathing like he’s asleep. Look at his leg,” said one commentator.

Once Chairez (10-4) transitioned to an armbar, it was clear Vazquez (8-5) was out as he laid there motionless, but Collazo still let the fight go on.

“Frank, he’s out! He’s out!” exclaimed Morono.

“Frank! What. Oh my gosh,” Ramzanali yelled. “Frank, it’s done! Frank, it’s done! What are you doing? It’s done!”

It wasn’t until Vazquez finally regained consciousness and tapped out that Collazo stopped the fight.

‘The only thing these two commission guys deserve is to get fired’

On Saturday, Vazquez’s coach, Colin Oyama, issued a fiery statement condemning Collazo, as well as the TDLR inspector in his corner, whom Oyama said “refused to stop the fight even after he asked him to intervene” and after he threw a bottle into the cage.

Oyama said Vazquez suffered “possible fractures in his elbow joint” after they visited a local hospital.

“This ref needs to lose his job,” Oyama posted on Facebook. “And also the idiot inspector in my corner who refused to stop the fight even after I asked him to intervene and told him that my guy was out. Because of their stupidity of these two, my fighter may have possible fractures in his elbow joint according to the (emergency room) that we went to. It’s always funny how athletic commission are always warning us to act accordingly and show them the respect that they deserve. Respect? The only thing these two commission guys deserve is to get fired.

“I had to watch my kid get his arm snapped off while neither of you did a damn thing. Hell, I even threw a damn water bottle in there to try and stop the fight. Just because you work for the athletic commission doesn’t mean you are above reproach. You both need to be held accountable for your stupidity.”

Fury FC says Collazo failed to protect Vazquez

In statement issued on Facebook, Fury FC expressed disappointment toward Collazo and said he “failed to do” his job properly.

“It is the referee’s job to protect the fighter when the fighter cannot protect him or herself,” the statement read. “In last night’s main event, the referee failed to do this. While the job of a referee is one of the hardest to do in this sport, the need for proper and continued training would help to alleviate things like this incident.”

Fury FC added that it had no role in assigning Collazo.

“We do not hire, train or select refs for our shows, but we would be more than willing to lead a revamp and overhaul of the reffing and judging selection and training process,” Fury FC said in its statement.

It’s unclear how many bouts Collazo officiated on Friday. Prior to Fury FC 76, Collazo officiated nine bouts at Fury FC 73 in January.

Commission statement

In a statement to MMA Junkie, TDLR spokesperson Tela Mange issued a statement that seemingly contradicts Fury FC’s claim that the commission alone chose Collazo to referee its main event.

“TDLR is aware of concerns about the officiating in one of last night’s fights. All TDLR officials receive ongoing training and we monitor each fight for consistency in officiating,” Mange said.

“Fight officials for each competition are always selected in conjunction with promoters.”

It remains to be seen what, if any, punishment could come down on Collazo.

The TDLR will be under the spotlight Saturday night as UFC on ESPN 43 takes place at AT&T Center in San Antonio.

UFC officials confirmed to MMA Junkie that Collazo will not referee any of the bouts but will serve as a judge for Andrea Lee vs. Maycee Barber and Daniel Pineda vs. Tucker Lutz.

MMA Junkie’s Matthew Wells and Nolan King contributed to this report.

‘He’s out! He’s out!’: Referee watches as choked-out fighter wakes up to tap from armbar

A referee failed to recognize when a fighter went unconscious, causing a wild scene in the main event of Fury FC 76.

A very bizarre scene unfolded to end Fury FC 76, as a referee severely failed in his duties to protect a fighter.

Dana White’s Contender Series veteran [autotag]Edgar Chairez[/autotag] and [autotag]Gianni Vazquez[/autotag] were in the fourth round of a competitive flyweight main event bout Friday evening at Boeing Center at Tech Port in San Antonio when referee Frank Collazo failed to recognize when a fighter went unconscious.

Vazquez (8-5) completed a takedown on Chairez (10-4), but soon found himself locked in a triangle choke at 3:43. Chairez adjusted to secure the position even further, which prompted Vazquez to attempt to stack his opponent, but even just a couple of seconds later, it was already too late. Chairez hooked the leg, and the unconscious Vazquez crashed down to the canvas about 9 seconds later.

Vazquez wasn’t moving, and the commentary team of UFC welterweight Alex Morono, Michael Alexander, and Raheel Ramzanali began calling the finish as the referee stood closely over the action.

“He’s breathing like he’s out. He’s breathing like he’s asleep. Look at his leg,” said one of the commentators as they began yelling over each other in what quickly turned into a chaotic moment.

Others sitting cageside could be heard screaming and pleading with the referee to stop the fight, as it was clear Vasquez was unresponsive.

Calls of “He’s out! He’s out!” were repeated. Collazo continued to just hover over the fighters, perhaps observing something that nobody else in the arena or watching at home on UFC Fight Pass saw in the moment.

The choke was still locked in as seconds ticked away. With the Collazo still not stopping the action, Chairez opted to transition to an armbar, releasing the triangle choke at 3:15.

“Frank, he’s out! He’s out!” exclaimed Morono.

“Frank! What. Oh my gosh,” said Ramzanali. “Frank, it’s done! Frank, it’s done! What are you doing? It’s done!”

After laying motionless on his back in the armbar for a few more seconds, Vazquez slowly began regaining consciousness. He began to move his left hand, and reached for his right arm which was trapped in the submission hold.

It would be close to another 10 seconds before he tapped out as the referee stood just inches away. The entire time multiple people cageside were screaming and pleading for Collazo to stop the fight.

The official time of the stoppage was 2:04, when Collazo finally stopped the bout.

Watch the incident unfold in the video below (via Twitter):

After being tended to by the ringside doctor and his cornermen, Vasquez returned to the middle of the cage for the reading of the official decision, and appeared to be moving fluidly, aware of the situation.

As a cherry on top of the debacle, the fumbling of events continued when the ring announcer called out the wrong name as the winner.

According to Sherdog, Collazo has refereed 129 fights since 2014, including bouts under the UFC and LFA banners, among other Texas-based promotions.