UFC referee Herb Dean was branded a "liability" after appearing to stop a heavyweight fight before changing his mind.
Marcos Rogerio de Lima took on Ben Rothwell in Las Vegas last night and rocked his opponent in the opening seconds.
The Brazilian followed up for a barrage of shots and Dean then began to put his arms around him before pulling out as Rothwell fell to the canvas.
De Lima then questioned whether Dean had stopped the fight and the official claimed he had, and officially waved it off.
But fans and fighters were quick to criticise the referee who was once regarded as the best in the promotion.
Former welterweight contender Dan Hardy said: "This dude is a liability..." and current bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling added: "That was SO BAD! How is the commission still allowing terrible referring?
"It’s not an easy job, but dude, you can’t play hot potato with stopping fights like that. Because he looked at you?? Crazy man."
And UFC president Dana White later added: "Herb needs to stop touching guys unless the fight’s over. He goes in and grabs him by the waist and decides, 'Oops...'
"The good thing about this one was, that fight should’ve been stopped when he stopped it.
"When they played it back in slow motion, he’s kind of like dancing, like he doesn’t know what to do, whether he’s going to jump in or not jump in.
"I like him personally, he’s a nice guy. He’s got to stop touching people until he’s ready to stop the fight."
De Lima recorded his second successive victory and his third in his last four fights while suffered his second defeat in his last three bouts.
In the main event, Max Holloway and Yair Rodriguez combined to land 389 significant strikes in a thrilling featherweight clash.
Holloway was given the nod by all three judges as he staked his claim for a third fight with 145lb champion Alexander Volkanovski.
Hawaiian Holloway has lost two razor-thin decisions to his rival but looks set to complete the trilogy next year.
There was British disappointment earlier on the card however as Marc Diakiese was choked out by Rafael Alves.
Diakiese has now lost twice in succession as well as dropping five of his last seven as he fights for his future in the UFC.
