"The ref [Mario Yamasaki] was going, ‘Eh, is [Couture] OK?’ Mario was trying to give him time [to recover]. There’s a fine line between that and [allowing] too many punches. When I saw Randy go back down, I thought we had crossed that line."-Dana White
I do not agree with Dana White's assessment of the stoppage. I think White is speaking more so from being a 'friend' of Couture more than anything here. I mean the referee is in a damn if you do damn if you don't type of position here. The reality of it is Yamasaki let Couture take enough of a beating so that there was absolutely no doubt as to who won the fight. You could also call it giving the champion every chance to survive the onslaught and regain his composure. In fact, with all of the variables that went into this fight the UFC did not need a questionable stoppage. They needed a definitive winner in the eye of the casual fan, especially considering Lesnar's background in the WWE. In fact, I don't think we have heard Couture complain about the stoppage at all as this is what he had to say:
"The rules of engagement allow you to punch your opponent when you're on the ground, and nothing Brock did on the ground was that dramatic. I don't have a stitch on my face, all my bruises are gone, I wasn't unconscious. I was doing my best to recover. . . . Mario did exactly what he should have"
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