The recent bout at Fury FC 76 has garnered widespread attention for all the wrong reasons. Fans and pundits alike were left wide eyed after MMA referee Frank Collazo failed to stop a bout, even when one of the participants went to sleep during.
The incident took place during a Fury FC 76 match between Edgar Chairez and Gianni Vazquez in Texas. Chairez had his opponent in a triangle, causing him to go out, but Referee Collazo failed to recognize that Vazquez was out and allowed the action to continue.
Despite the commentary team screaming at Collazo to stop the bout, Chairez then switched to an armbar, and it would be another ten seconds before Vazquez came back to tap out, leaving many questioning Collazo’s competence as a referee.
UFC boss Dana White also expressed his surprise at the refereeing blunder at Fury FC.
Ariel Helwani called out the fail as one of the worst moments in the history of MMA, stating, “The ref’s name is Frank Collazo, and I don’t wanna pour it on him, but how are you not seeing the guy on his back is completely out?”
” This is criminal. This is truly a travesty.”
Now Vazquez shared his experience of what transpired telling Mike Heck:
“I start tapping with my feet and I pass out again,” Vazquez says.
“I was out twice.”
“So I’m up there [at the hospital] watching the video and I’m like, ‘Man, I passed out in his face twice. I don’t know how he didn’t notice.’ And I’m like, ‘Thank God the guy switched the triangle to the armbar, because I might be dead right now if he didn’t switch it. If he wouldn’t switch it, I might be dead or I might be like a vegetable. It might be like brain damage.
“But thank God I’m here, I’m still alive, and we can talk about it, I guess.”