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Chris Curtis’ head coach explains difficulty with ‘egomaniac’ referee Mark Smith: ‘We’re now preventing two individuals’

January 15, 2025 8:45 am ET Eric Nicksick went off on referee Mark Smith for his handling of Chris Curtis’ loss at UFC Fight Night 249. Curtis (31-12 MMA, 5-4 UFC) was dropped by a Roman Kopylov (13-3 MMA, 5-3 UFC) head kick with just one second left in their middleweight fight this past Saturday

Chris Curtis’ head coach explains difficulty with ‘egomaniac’ referee Mark Smith: ‘We’re now preventing two individuals’


Eric Nicksick went off on referee Mark Smith for his dealing with of Chris Curtis’ loss at UFC Struggle Night time 249.

Curtis (31-12 MMA, 5-4 UFC) was dropped by a Roman Kopylov (13-3 MMA, 5-3 UFC) head kick with only one second left of their middleweight battle this previous Saturday on the UFC Apex, prompting Smith to waive the fight off.

Curtis instantly protested the stoppage, however his head coach Nicksick is irked by different issues that occurred in the course of the battle – which he warned Smith about prior.

“Before everything, we have to take accountability on our finish,” Nicksick stated on his “Versus Us” podcast. “We must always have by no means been in that place. When you don’t need Mark to make that decision, then don’t get head kicked. Don’t be in that place or that state of affairs to make him make that kind of choice.

“Now, the stoppage was questionable. We’re all agreeing to that, nevertheless it wasn’t the stoppage that I’m mad about. It was the truth that previous to the battle, the referee is available in and asks, ‘Do you’ve got any questions or issues?’ Chris Curtis went on and stated, ‘This man will discover methods to stall. What are you going to do if and when he does stall? How are you going to deal with that?’

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“We laid out the sport plan on how we’re going to assault and method. … We have been instructed one thing completely different than the way in which he dealt with it within the battle. That’s what I’m pissed off about. You by no means get three timeouts in a f*cking battle. So, No. 1, he spit his mouthpiece out. That wasn’t too unhealthy. All proper: Groin strike. OK, time(out). Keep in mind when the momentum was the place: Chris was going downhill. You guys hear me yell, ‘Oregon … no huddle … hold that f*cking offense on the sector and hold the strain,’ proper? Then the attention poke, and I calmly stated to Mark, ‘Hey, that’s two infractions in a row on this spherical. The place’s the purpose?’”

Nicksick revealed that he goes approach again with Smith, who used to ref a number of the sparring periods at Xtreme Couture. His frustration with Smith’s stoppage of Curtis’ battle was audible on the printed.

“For no matter motive it’s, I really feel like each time I see Mark, we’re preventing in opposition to two individuals, not one,” Nicksick stated. “That’s my feeling. … That’s how I really feel once I see that dude come within the again. Once I see (Jason) Herzog, I’m like, ‘Nice, this dude’s going to provide us a good shake.’ (Mike) Beltran, he’s going to provide us a good shake.’ Once I see Mark Smith, I’m like, ‘How is that this man going to discover a solution to f*ck us over, some how, a way?’”

Nicksick has had a difficulty with Smith’s reffing for years, he stated, and hopes he can request him to not officiate any of Xtreme Couture’s fights transferring ahead.

“I’m going to seek out all that out, one hundred pc – it’s simply too far gone,” Nicksick stated. “I do know this man too properly, anecdotally, by way of all of my experiences with him, and on a private degree of what I’ve seen with different individuals and different fights.

“There’s no approach that this man can’t maintain a grudge or bias. There’s simply no approach. I do know him too properly. He fraternizes with different gyms, groups, fighters, coaches and every thing else, so the traces have been blurred. I believe he’s an egomaniac. I imply, I’ve by no means heard a ref ask individuals to vote for him for the ‘MMA Ref of the Yr.’”

For extra on the cardboard, go to MMA Junkie’s occasion hub for UFC Fight Night 249.

Make sure to go to the MMA Junkie Instagram web page and YouTube channel to debate this and extra content material with followers of combined martial arts.

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