Veteran referee breaks down what fans don't understand about controversial Torres vs Dober stoppage

03/30/2025 10:52 AM

A controversial stoppage became a major talking point from this past Saturday’s action inside the Octagon.

The UFC returned to Arena CDMX in Mexico City on March 29 for a card headlined by a flyweight contest between Brandon Moreno and Steve Erceg.

In the co-main event, Mexico’s Manuel Torres stopped Drew Dober in brutal fashion to bounce back into the win column at lightweight and pocket a performance of the night bonus.

The fight lasted less than two minutes with some fans even calling for Dober to think about retirement after losing in each of his last three outings.

Though the American attempted to recover by grabbing his opponent’s legs, it only made him a sitting target for some devastating follow-up shots with many believing that the fight should have been stopped before the final barrage landed.

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Jon McCarthy highlights the impact of hammer fists when discussing controversial stoppage

During a recent episode of the Weighing In podcast, veteran referee turned commentator ‘Big’ John McCarthy gave his thoughts on the stoppage.

The iconic official first stepped inside the Octagon at UFC 2 in 1994 having played a major part in creating the Unified Rules of MMA before retiring from being a referee in 2018.

McCarthy wasn’t overly critical of Mike Beltran who was the third man inside the Octagon for the co-main event in Mexico City at 155-pounds.

He did acknowledge that the stoppage could have come earlier but explained why Beltran was forced into a difficult decision after it looked like Drew Dober might be able to recover until Manuel Torres started to reign down shots.

Those shots in particular are what McCarthy focused on as he pointed out how some people might take the impact and force of a hammer fist for granted without realizing how damaging they can truly be.

“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 and again, people think, ‘Oh a hammer fist’. 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 first 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.”

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‘Well, that sucked.’… Drew Dober reflects on his fourth knockout loss

Drew Dober has built a reputation for being a kill or be killed fighter inside the Octagon with 20 of his 27 pro wins coming via finish.

The down side to that is that Dober has been on the wrong end of this live by the sword approach in recent times with just one win in his last five outings.

On the day after his loss to Manuel Torres in Mexico, the 36-year-old fan favorite posted the following statement on X where he admitted making a mistake and praised his opponent for capitalizing on it.

“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.

It appears that Dober isn’t making any drastic decisions right now so his 26th appearance inside the Octagon will likely come later this year.