White: Goddard ‘did a really, really bad job’ officiating Alvey vs. Crute

UFC president Dana White was not happy about how referee Marc Goddard officiated the main card opener between Sam Alvey and Jimmy Crute.

Another UFC fight card for the year 2019 has been marred by controversy because of the referee’s decision. It happened during the main card opener at UFC 234 between light heavyweights Sam Alvey and Jimmy Crute.

Alvey walked into a straight right hand and dropped to the canvas in the final two and a half minutes of round one, and thinking that the fight was over, Crute walked away. Alvey got back up on wobbly legs and initiated a scramble, but ended being turtled up and on the receiving end of punches.

As he was covering his head with his right arm, referee Marc Goddard stepped in to stop the fight, which for Alvey, came too early.

During his post-fight media scrum, UFC president Dana White was candid about his sentiments about the fight, particularly about Goddard’s officiating.

“The ref screwed that up, too,” White told reporters. “The ref jumped in there and (Crute) thought the ref was breaking it up. The ref did a really, really bad job. Real poor refereeing in that fight.

“When something like that happens, it could’ve caused Crute the fight, because if Alvey got back up – and then (Goddard) goes to stop it too soon, then he stops it too early, in my opinion. It happens sometimes, and it sucks for Sam.”

This was not the first time Goddard was involved in a controversial stoppage. In 2016, he was also criticized for his officiating during the preliminary welterweight fight between Mike Perry and Danny Roberts at UFC 204, for supposedly stopping the fight a little too late.

Alvey has some history with him too - his last fight against Antonio Rogerio Nogueira was reffed by Goddard and Alvey thought that was stopped too early as well.