Drew Dober always prefers to fight until the very end, so he actually agreed with the referee Mike Beltran`s decision to stop his recent fight at UFC Mexico.
In the co-main event, Dober was hit by a punch from Manuel Torres and fell to the ground. Dober immediately grabbed Torres`s leg, trying to take him down while recovering. Torres then started hitting Dober with hammer fists to the side of his head. Referee Beltran stopped the fight at 1:45 of the first round.
Right after the fight was stopped, Dober stood up and looked ready to continue. Many people criticized Beltran for letting Dober take too much damage, but some were also confused about the timing because Dober got back to his feet so quickly.
“I don’t disagree with the stoppage at all. It was a good call,” Dober told MMA Fighting about the fight. “The first or second hammer fist really stunned me. My body just wants to keep fighting, even when I’m not really there mentally. It’s like my body was still going, but my mind was gone.”
“The reason I was holding onto his leg was because I wasn`t conscious anymore. It was a good stoppage. My will to fight is just stronger than my mind in those moments.”
Since the fight, Dober has watched it several times and realized exactly when he was no longer in control. However, on the ground in the middle of the fight, it was harder to realize.
“When you want to finish a takedown, you should grip above your opponent’s knee,” Dober explained. “I was trying for a takedown, and after the first or second hammer fist, you can see my hand slip down below his knee to a low single leg grip. I never do that takedown, so it wasn`t a smart move.”
“If you rewatch the fight, the moment my grip goes below his knee, that’s when the fight should have been stopped.”
Even though Dober took several more hammer fists after he was already out of it, he doesn`t blame Beltran for stopping it late.
“For my own safety, it probably could have been stopped sooner, but I don’t blame the referee. He’s doing his job,” Dober said. “He told me in the locker room that he knows my fighting style. He knows I can take a lot of damage. He wants to give me every chance to improve my position.”
“The real reason for the slightly late stoppage is that my body just kept fighting even when my mind wasn`t there. I don’t blame anyone. Everyone was doing their job, including Manuel Torres. It’s just how it went.”
While fighter safety is the most important thing when a referee decides to stop a fight, Dober admits he prefers referees to give fighters every possible chance to recover.
There was no coming back in the UFC Mexico fight, but Dober is thankful that his toughness usually allows him to survive tough moments and then fight back.
“I chose a career that’s not good for my health,” Dober said. “In MMA, careers aren`t perfect. You’re going to get hit, and you have to recover. I think referees should be a little more hands-off and let the fighters work.”
A lot of the talk after the fight was about the stoppage. For Dober, he’s also disappointed that he lost his third fight in a row in the UFC.
What’s even more frustrating for Dober is that he couldn’t show all the work he put into preparing for the fight because it ended so quickly, in under two minutes.
“I’m upset that I only fought for about a minute and a half, but I wanted to see what I did wrong,” Dober said. “I watched the fight many times, and honestly, I was doing everything right. I worked on improving, my game plan, my movement, my feints. I was pushing him against the fence, taking risks. Everything was set up for a great fight. But there’s also some luck involved. He threw a 1-2 punch off the fence and landed it. I was definitely aware after the knockdown. We’re fighters, we get punched. There’s no such thing as a perfect fight.”
“I fell, tried for a takedown to get the fight going, and the first or second hammer fist to the side of my head ended it. What I learned is that I’m still good, I’m still skilled, and I’m ready for the next one. But Manuel Torres landed a perfect shot.”
Back home and resting, Dober takes his long-term health seriously and won’t rush back into fighting until he’s completely ready.
Dober mentioned he plans to see doctors this week to get checked out. Even though he feels okay, he’s being careful about his brain health after the knockout. Ideally, Dober hopes to fight again around August or September, if his doctors clear him.
“I’m not going to become a Dagestan wrestler. I know I’m going to get hit in the head when I fight,” Dober said. “It’s just part of my fighting style. So, I need to make sure my head is healthy and can handle the hits. I’m going to take some time off. I’m seeing a neurologist on Friday to check my head. I’m wearing blue-light glasses and using a hyperbaric chamber. I’m doing everything I can to make sure my brain heals properly before I fight again.”
“Health-wise, I feel fine. We just want to make sure we don’t cause any more damage in training.”
