UFC veteran referee Marc Goddard recently appeared on Mike Perry’s Overdogs podcast, and during the conversation, he revealed why he has requested to never officiate a bout involving British champion Leon Edwards.
Goddard explained that he had previously coached Edwards when the martial artist was just starting out in MMA as an amateur. Because of this prior relationship, Goddard said he has deliberately avoided reffing any of Edwards’ UFC bouts, wanting to avoid any potential conflict of interest or perception of bias.
“Leon Edwards, you’ve never saw me referee Leon Edwards uh in the UFC and you never will,” Goddard told Perry. “Why because I was Leon Edwards first coach MMA way way way back when when he was just an amateur.”
Goddard went on to say that even though Edwards has gone on to become a UFC welterweight champion, he still doesn’t want to be in a position of officiating one of his fights. “I just don’t want any hassle and I don’t want to be put in a predicament where I’m making a call that could go against him,” Goddard explained.
The veteran ref stressed the importance of impartiality when overseeing high-stakes MMA matchups. He said he’s careful to remove himself from situations where his past connections to fighters could create the appearance of favoritism.
“Common sense and experience tells you that if there was a a past indiscretion with a fighter or or something that they weren’t happy with there’s always other refs there so we just I’ll just say to the you know I’m not going to do that fight you can have um,” Goddard said.
Overall, Goddard’s comments provide an interesting behind-the-scenes look at the measures top MMA referees take to maintain objectivity and avoid potential conflicts of interest, even when it comes to high-profile fighters they may have history with.
