Thierry Sokoudjou pulled out of a two fight losing streak at the Dream.9 show with a stoppage against 353-pound Jan Nortje. But Sokoudjou’s win was tainted by his failure to obey the referee’s commands, as he continued delivering blows to the downed Nortje from side control despite the refs attempts to shield Nortje from more damage. To his credit Sokoudjou has maned-up and apologized for his conduct.
While Dream is a Japanese promotion, this type of thing is a real problem for MMA. People have a enough trouble with the groundfighting and submission aspects of MMA as it is. Seeing a fighter out-of-control (even for just a few seconds) and not obeying the referees commands will turn people off to the sport permanently. In my opinion, it is also a serious breach of the implicit covenant between fighters to respect submissions and referee stoppages. If MMA fighters want the recognition they deserve as professional athletes this type of behavior cannot be tolerated, period.
Sokoudjou seems like a decent guy, but at the very least he should be fined and disqualified from the tournament. I’ve attached the YouTube clip of the fight below.
