There has been widespread fan dissatisfaction with referee Kim Winslow performance in several recent bouts. Some have attributed the jeers to sexist unease with the third man in the cage being a woman, and in fact many of the criticisms voiced have a distinct and unfortunate mysoginistic bent.
However, it is far less usual for complaints to come from with the cage, and far less usual still for the winning fighter to voice concern, as did Mo Lawal after his ref stoppage victory over Lorenz Larkin last night. Mo feels was the stoppage was so late it is time Winslow learns what a late stoppage feels like.
“I’m going to put it like this: The commission, they need to do something with [Winslow],” Lawal said to MMAJunkie. “Let her take a fight or something and give her a bad ref.”
“She said backstage, ‘If I hear ‘Ow’ or ‘Ouch’ or ‘Ooh,’ I’m going to stop the fight,’” Lawal explained. “Man, this dude was cussing. I hit him, and he’s like, ‘Oh, [expletive].’ I was like, ‘Uh, ref?’
“I looked at her, so I kept on hitting him. I was like, ‘Man, she needs to stop this thing.’ I heard people in the crowd yelling, ‘Stop it!’ Then she jumps in all late.”
Lawal said Winslow explained post-fight that her call was based on a desire to give Larkin every possible chance to recover and that “If it takes for him to be asleep, that’s what it is.”
“She’s never taken a punch before, so it’s easy for her to say that,” Lawal said.
“Let [Winslow] fight ‘Cyborg,’ and let’s do a late stoppage with her. I watched her almost get Jan Finney killed by ‘Cyborg.’ I think maybe the tables need to be turned. Put me in there as a ref, and I’ll just do a terrible job like her.”
