MMA fighter Brad Tavares has stated that he plans to ensure referee Mark Smith is not involved in any of his future fights due to a dispute over what he believes was a premature stoppage of his fight against Bruno Silva.
Brad Tavares has resolved his feelings following his previous defeat in the hands of Bruno Silva in April. The crushing loss still lingers in him but he is more channeled towards ensuring that he does not face a similar scenario in the future. His fight with Silva was between two aggressive middleweights, supposed to be a battle but Tavares was caught by a nasty right hand from Silva that sent him down to the canvas. Silva then delivered another punch as Tavares struggled to avoid more damage. Subsequently, the referee, Mark Smith raced in to stop the fight.
Tavares maintains that despite the nasty knockdown, he was fully conscious of the happenings. He argues that he was still defending himself and the fight was unfairly stopped before he got the chance to fight back. During an interview, he showed respect to Silva but insisted, “that fight was stopped way too early…I fell down but at no point in that was I out”. Tavares indicates that he had no moment of confusion in the fight but bespeaks dissatisfaction towards referee Mark Smith, whom he accused of not giving him the opportunity to fight. Mark Smith is a veteran referee, principally working in Nevada where Tavares resides.
Owing to this incident, Tavares plans to lodge complaints with the Nevada Athletic Commission or any other governing body where he competes to ensure Smith doesn’t referee in his future fights. Speaking about this, Tavares expressed, “I’ve known Mark for years. […] Let me get knocked out. I would rather that happen than you jump in and now we have this issue.” Consequently, he aims to prevent such scenarios by ensuring Smith isn’t allowed to officiate his fights. Tavares resonated disappointment in Smith’s officiating skills, arguing that he failed a crucial fight. Nevertheless, he will be fighting in UFC 292 in Boston, where he anticipates no issues relating to refereeing.
Tavares reiterated that he does not hold anything against Bruno Silva, insisting, “I’m not here to take anything away from Bruno. He did nothing wrong. He did exactly what he was supposed to do.” He highlighted that his grievances lie with the officiating of the fight, expressing that he has now moved on. Tavares hopes that future fights will be conducted more fairly, emphasizing, “I’m a tough guy, he knows that, everybody knows that so at least give me a chance to fight back. I believe he stopped it early and I believe that was the consensus all around.”