John McCarthy believes that the fight between Manuel Torres and Drew Dober at UFC on ESPN 64 was stopped too late. Torres secured a Round 1 TKO victory over Dober after dropping him with a straight right and delivering a series of unanswered hammerfists in the co-main event at Arena CDMX in Mexico City.
There was controversy surrounding the stoppage, with many, including Torres, criticizing referee Mike Beltran for allowing Dober to take unnecessary damage by not intelligently defending himself. Veteran referee McCarthy admitted that it can be difficult to judge such situations but expressed his opinion that Beltran should have stopped the fight sooner.
McCarthy, speaking on his “Weighing In” podcast, stated, “The stoppage was a little slow when you look at it. It was good, but it was a little slow because of the uniqueness of what you watched off of the way he went down and then the way he just stayed in one spot eating 15 shots that were hard.”
He added, “Hammer fists have power. I just don’t know how to tell you man, don’t let someone get a free shot on the side of your noggin with a good hammer fist because we’ve done studies on all that stuff, and you’ll get people able to throw a hammer fist every bit as hard as someone throwing a straight shot.”
McCarthy suggested that Beltran should have trusted his initial instinct to stop the fight, saying, “He actually stepped in, and then was like, ‘Oh, got to give him more of a shot.’ It’s like: No, you should have stopped it there. You had the right read. But I understand why he didn’t.”
In response to his loss, Dober took to social media to share his thoughts, acknowledging the skill of Torres and joking about his past losses in Mexico City. Despite the defeat, Dober expressed positivity about his health and future plans.
“Well, that sucked. A beautifully timed one two by Manuel Torres. There’s not much to go off of other than, unfortunately, stepping in front of the rear hand of a long power puncher.
“As much as I love Mexico City, it’s given me two of my most embarrassing losses of my career, haha. But the food and people are still the best. I’m happy and healthy and excited to be a stay at home dad for a while.”
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