NJSACB's Nick Lembo discusses UFC 159's Gian Villante, Alan Belcher incidents

New Jersey State Athletic Control Board counsel Nick Lembo believes referee Kevin Mulhall was well within his rights to wave off this past weekend’s UFC 159 fight between Ovince St. Preux and Gian Villante. However, he also believes things could have very easily been handled in a different way.

“Technically, [Mulhall] was within the rules,” Lembo told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com). “When a fighter is repetitive that he cannot see, the referee is within his rights to stop the fight. But I would prefer that when a fighter is subject to an eye poke and the referee properly notices the foul – and assuming that they call it an accidental foul – if the fighter says that he can’t see, initially, that you call time.

“We have ringside physicians there, and if a medical evaluation is necessary, I would prefer that it be performed by the doctor and a decision be made at that point.”

St. Preux and Villante met on the preliminary card of this past weekend’s UFC 159 event, which took place in Newark, N.J. The NJSACB oversaw the event.

With St. Preux ahead on the cards in the third and final round (judges had the scores at 20-18, 19-19 and 20-18), he inadvertently poked Villante in the eye. Mulhall moved in to inspect the fighter, who admitted he couldn’t see. At that point, the referee waved off the fight, and judges awarded St. Preux a decision win.

While Mulhall technically made the proper decision according to the Unified Rules of MMA, Lembo believes everyone’s best interests may have been better served had the official chosen a different approach and points to Herb Dean’s handling of the same event’s Michael Bisping vs. Alan Belcher fight – which also ended early on an accidental eye poke – for an example of the preferred strategy.

“For a point of reference on the same show, I would look to how Herb Dean handled Bisping and Belcher in a similar situation with an eye poke,” Lembo said. “Ruled it accidental. Called time. Noted the foul. Put the fighters in neutral corners and then called in the ringside physician to evaluate the eye – then let the physician advise the referee whether or not to continue the fight or let the fighter have some more time because the fighter is not guaranteed five minutes, but the physician has up to five minutes for an accidental eye poke.”

Lembo, a longtime regulator in one of the country’s most-respected athletic commissions, seems to echo the sentiments of UFC executive and former Nevada State Athletic Commission Executive Director Marc Ratner, who on Monday recommended a similar procedure and also said he plans on approaching the Association of Boxing Commissions this summer in hopes of enacting an official change.

Lembo believes it’s a sound idea.

“I think for uniformity and consistency, it’s a good move,” Lembo said. “It will also make it easier for the referees because it will take these types of judgment calls out of their hands, in a sense, where OK, I noticed the eye poke, which is going to happen a lot with these fingerless gloves and fighter stances. So, now there’s a possible injury to a very vital area, the eye. We have up to five minutes. We have physicians right there. Utilize the physician and make a declaration that’s safest and best for the fight, health and safety-wise.

“What Kevin did, it’s always fine to err on the side of health and safety, but let the doctors make that call, and then I think you get a little more comfort and fairness in a Gian Villante situation. I think Gian would have been a little more at peace with what happened if the ringside physician came in and made the decision that Kevin did.”

Some MMA observers have followed the lead of UFC broadcaster Joe Rogan, who has openly campaigned for a redesigned MMA glove that might alleviate many of the eye pokes that seem to be increasingly prevalent in the sport. While there are a handful of prototype gloves on the market, Lembo said he’s not necessarily sold on any that he has seen.

“I don’t know how you’re going to redesign the gloves to encapsulate the fingers unless you make it more like some kind of boxing-style glove,” Lembo said. “I can’t fathom a glove design in my mind right now that’s not going to really limit grappling and really upset wrestlers and jiu-jitsu players.”

So Lembo stands behind his official but admits there may be a better way to handle the situation in future instances. However, he does want to make it clear that that Villante’s claim that the judges scores of the final round of the fight, which lasted just 33 seconds, somehow cost him the fight.

“A lot of people are under the impression that Villante lost the fight because the partial round was scored,” Lembo said. “You do score a partial round in the event of an accidental foul stoppage. In this case, it was only 33 seconds, I believe. But all three judges opted to score that round 10-10. So it’s not like that foul helped or hurt either fighter in the scoring of that round.”

The ABC’s annual conference is scheduled for July in San Antonio.

With Belcher’s ankles, tape the problem but Neoprene sleeves could have been used

Of course, on a night that featured Jon Jones‘ breaking his toe in the main event, a pair of technical decisions ended early on eye pokes and a TKO finish as a result of a broken finger, the St. Preux vs. Villante fight wasn’t the only odd moment of the night. In fact, Belcher was involved in not only his own eye-poke situation but also a pre-fight equipment issue.

As Belcher stepped into the cage for his co-main event fight with Bisping, NJSACB inspectors notices that “The Talent” had his ankles taped underneath a pair of Neoprene sleeves that covered the joint. The sleeves were removed and the tape cut in the seconds before the fight.

Lembo said the tape was the issue that had to be addressed.

“General ABC recommendation and New Jersey rules prohibit tape because it tends to unravel or shred or irritate the opponent or cause a problem,” Lembo said. “Obviously something with a brace or padding is not allowed. What’s allowed is Neoprene sleeves on the elbows, the knees or the ankles. However, without prior medical exception permission, you’re not allowed to tape the ankle.

“So it was explained he could wear the sleeves, but somehow that led to him taping the ankles and putting the sleeves over the ankles. When that was noticed, he had to cut the tape off.”

As it turns out, Belcher could have refitted the sleeves once the tape was removed. However, with time ticking away before the start of the fight, he ultimately ended up competing with nothing at all.

“I believe it was kind of rushed at that point,” Lembo said. “He could have kept the sleeves, but he had to take the tape off.”

For complete coverage of UFC 159, check out the UFC Events section of the site.

(Pictured: Nick Lembo and Dana White)