MMA Fighting - Inside the Highlight: The Appalling Referee Mistake That Shocked the MMA World | Fury FC 76

Episode Date: April 6, 2023

Fury FC 76 produced a viral clip on March 24 that saw Gianni Vazquez go unconscious due to a beautiful triangle choke applied by Edgar Chairez in the main event, but that wasn't how the fight ended. Instead, the referee allowed the bout to continue and Chairez transitioned to an armbar, which woke Vazquez up, only for him to pass out a second time before eventually mustering up the strength to tap out. On the second installment of Inside the Highlight, MMA Fighting's Mike Heck sits down with both fighters, along with Fury FC President Eric Garcia, commentator and UFC welterweight Alex Morono, and veteran referee and Bellator color analyst John McCarthy to break down the frightening ending to the bout from all angles, their reactions to the moment, the referee allowing the fight to continue, the aftermath, and more. Follow Mike Heck: @MikeHeck_JR Subscribe: http://goo.gl/dYpsgH Check out our full video catalog: http://goo.gl/u8VvLi Visit our playlists: http://goo.gl/eFhsvM Like MMAF on Facebook: http://goo.gl/uhdg7Z Follow on Twitter: http://goo.gl/nOATUI Read More: http://www.mmafighting.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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This is tight. This is very, very tight. This is deep as they get. He's breathing like he's out. He's breathing like he's asleep. Look at his leg. He's out. He's out.

He's out. I think he's asleep. He's out. No. He's out. He's out. He's nuts. The triangle put him out for sure.

And then China switched off to the arm bar, and he woke up. By the end in and tap. No, you saw his legs shaking like that was in. The doctor was yelling across the cage. He has out stopped the fight. Wow. By now, you have probably seen this clip from the Fury FC-76 main event on March 24th,

2023, where Edgar Chires submitted Gianni Vasquez in the fourth round. And referee Frank Colazo watched on as multiple people screamed at him that Vasquez was out due to the initial triangle before Chira's transitioned to, a horrific arm bar that actually woke Vasquez up so he could tap out. As it turns out, Vasquez didn't go out once, he went out twice. In most sports, a refereeing moment like that leads to some sort of repercussion or punishment. But in MMA, and in this case, in the state of Texas, Colaza was allowed to judge fights at UFC San Antonio the next day, despite one of the all-time refereeing blunders. Vazquez continues to deal with the injuries that clearly could have been avoided,

injuries that could keep him out of action and out of work for several months, if not longer. And for Chires, a 27-year-old that got a massive win, he continues to swim in the negative current of the moment. On this podcast, we'll discuss the viral regional MMA moment that had the sports community scratching their heads and screaming in disgust. We will hear from both fighters involved, broadcasters, the promoter, and experts in the field. I am Mike Eckack from MMAfighting.com

and this is inside the highlight. I remember I was kind of like dreaming. To be honest, I was kind of dreaming. But I heard the voices of my coach yelling, stop the fight, stop the fight. I heard the voice of one of the commentators. I heard his voice clearly like saying like, like Frank, what are you doing?

Stop, stop. up and I was kind of like on my dream like kind of like like processing on my head like what's going on you know I was like what's going on you know like where I am like and then I start feeling pain on my arm which I wake up and I kind of wake up but you know when you sleep for like 10 hours and you barely wake up you kind of like still kind of open your eyes and kind of doesn't know where you are so I kind of open my eyes a little bit I look to the side and And I kind of feel pain, but I don't see clearly what's going on. But I remember I started tapping with my feet.

I started tapping with my feet and I kind of pass out again. And then in like one second I wake up again. And then I didn't have like a strain in my other hand. So I was kind of like little by little like doing this. And I started like now like clearly hearing my coach. Stop the fight because my coach goes crazy bro. And you can hear his voice. So it's super like hard to miss the voice of my coach calling O Yama when he's on the corner.

So I clearly heard his voice like stop the fight and then I kind of open my eyes more. I feel a lot of pain on my arm and I start tapping and then they stopped the fight. So you went out, you essentially went out twice then, right? Is that what you're trying to say? Yeah, I feel like I was out twice. I was out twice. That is the voice of Gianni Vasquez, the 28-year-old mixed. martial artist who was on the receiving end of the viral clip. There he was. Sitting on a Zoom chat with

me just days after the moment, cast on his arm that looked bigger than his entire body, a man with a ton of questions and very few answers, but yet there was a smile on his face at times and a lot of hope in his heart. On the other end, Edgar Chires has been facing countless backlash from fans since the incident took place, with direct messages on social media saying that he purposely tried to hurt Vasquez or that he was a dirty fighter, amongst other things. In addition to how the fight ended, the one time Dana White's Contender Series competitor missed weight for the first time ahead of the bout, which only adds to the backlash. Despite the way things played out, Chiras is happy to get a victory, although it doesn't

necessarily feel like he won a fight, but he felt it is important to get his side of the story out there as well. I remember perfectly well, have he had been there where I thought

he was actually faking it maybe so I could let go because the referee wasn't doing anything about it

so there was a moment when I felt trembling so it kind of scared me a little bit so that's why I decided

to switch into the arm bar and I was telling the ref I think he's out the ref was just standing there like in a days

I was confused but I still did not want to let go of the move because again I felt that at any moment he could get up, get me in a position, knock me out, and then I lose. But I did notice that top part of the move, top part of his body wasn't moving, but his feet were.

So it did scare me. I felt bad. But for the life of me, I cannot understand what that ref was thinking, why he didn't step in sooner. Anyone sitting close to the action who watched on TV, saw the clip on social media, or watched live on UFC Fight Pass, could clearly see Vasquez, unconscious in the triangle. The egregious nature of the clip even got UFC president Dana White to publicly comment on the situation. Vasquez alleges the number of people who could see it in the arena went beyond the cage side area,

something he says he learned on his painful and confusing ride to a local hospital where he saw the viral clip for the very first time. I was watching and I was like, God damn, like literally like I felt like I pass out in two seconds. And I was just like thinking about it because I was like, man, like I see the referee. He was on my face. I'm like, how like I kind of like, you know, even in the video, you notice everybody's screaming. The guys from the ambulance, when they take me to the hospital, they told me in the ambulance, men, we noticed right away when you pass out and we were screaming to stop the fight. The ambulance people is like, but we notice right away when you pass out and we try to stop it.

We tried to scream and everything, but nobody listened. And then so I'm up there watching the video about it and I'm like, man, like I pass out in his face like twice. I don't know how he didn't notice. And I'm like, thank God the guy switched the triangle from the amber because I might be dead right now. He wouldn't switch it, you know? He wouldn't switch it for the Amber. It might be dead or I might be with like a vegetable, you know. It might be like brain damage.

But, you know, thank God I'm here. I'm still alive. And then, you know, like, we can talk about it, I guess. Hearing how thankful Vasquez was that the transition happened, made Chairas seem like a bit of weight was lifted off of his shoulders. Chiras wants to make it extremely clear to anybody who doubt. that the goal was not to hurt Vasquez. It was to get the victory and try to take another step

towards getting to the UFC. It's also Chyres' hope that Vasquez recuperates and that both fighters will find their way to the biggest stage the sport has to offer. No, well, that's great that he feels that way. It makes me feel good. I know that I didn't do it with ill intent. We're just two Mexican warriors

that were fighting for a very, important fight for both of our careers. You know, it's funny because, and ironic, because everybody says, oh, I want to kill my opponent. I want to kill my opponent. But deep down, you don't want to hurt him. You know, it's just part of the job. It happens. It was unfortunate. I'm also glad I let it go because, again, I felt him go to sleep. So that's why I was a limit transition to the arm bar, but I did doubt myself? I doubted myself saying, did I make a mistake? What if in that split second, I would have made a mistake? He would have reversed. And then I end up on the losing end. At the end of the day. It was unfortunate. I'm glad I got the victory. And, you know, I hope that he

recuperates. He gets back on the winning track and hopefully, you know, him and I will see each other in the UFC. Fury FC promoter Eric Garcia, color commentator and UFC Welterweight Alex Marono, and many others in the arena, including UFC flyway champion Brandon Moreno, were screaming at Frank Colazo Cage Side trying to get his attention. It didn't work. And the result could have been catastrophic. But what makes things even scarier is the fact that Garcia alleges that Colazo, who has refereed many of the promotions bouts over the years, didn't understand the outrage once the bout was finally stopped. The minute Frank stops the fight and they open that cage door, I went in the cage. And I asked Frank, I said, man, what's going on? Was he asleep? And he's like,

no, he wasn't out. I was looking at him the whole time. He wasn't out. I said, man, I think he was asleep. And he was like, no, he wasn't, man. He was fine. So I don't, I don't know. Like, it was, that's the first time I've ever experienced that in 13 years as a promoter. You know, I've been putting shows on in Texas since 2010. And that's the first time something to that extent has happened that really made me reevaluate and be like, man, this kid could have lost his life in there, you know, and it's not a game, you know, and the number one job. And the number one of the referee is to protect the fighter. Marona was heard over and over again in the viral clips screaming at Colazo.

The soon-to-be-18 fight UFC veteran has also been training for nearly two decades, is a black belt and jujitsu, along with his countless experience as a coach, trainer, in a corner. So he was well aware of what he was seeing inside the cage that night in San Antonio, Texas. What really got it was his ribs were doing like the autopilot unconscious breathing. real labored inhales, real labored exhales. And then his foot was like, not seizing, but like stiff and rigid, very unnatural movement. So it was like, telltale sign after tailtale sign of like when a guy's asleep, you know.

And then what's most wild is I've been put out two times on demonstrations. And when you get choked unconscious, you wake up and it's really peaceful. And then it's confusing and then it's embarrassing. and to like get put asleep and then and then the guy transitioned to an arm bar and like while that arm is just getting hyper extended the guy wakes up not knowing what's going on realizing it then like props to uh Gianni for trying to fight then he like genuinely tried to defend the arm bar and then ended up tapping so like to get put out with a triangle only to wake up in an arm bar is real nightmare fuel man I mean it was I've been doing this 16

years consistently. I've watched thousands of fights. I have never seen anything quite like that. So the moment it was slapped on, I was like, damn, this triangle is going to get the tap within a few seconds. And the guy end up going to sleep within a couple seconds. And then I also want to preface, I actually like Frank Colazo. That's the first time I've ever seen to make a mistake. I've watched him ref a lot of fights. And I actually thought he was one of the good reps. But like, this was the mistake of all mistakes. Longtime veteran referee, Bellator MMA color commentator and trainer of officials, Big John McCarthy, couldn't have been more frustrated seeing the clip for the first time.

It's one thing to make mistakes, which McCarthy openly admits he has made many during his long career, but there are levels to the mistakes that you can make as a referee. And according to McCarthy, Colazo is at a level, no official ever wants to be at. What happens is, look, there's pressure. You know, and it's no different than the judging. If you're not in that seat and your score doesn't count,

it's easy to sit back and go, well, I think so and so. I think so. But judges truly, they care. And so to referees. They care about doing it right. And they don't want to make a mistake. And what happened to Colazo in that moment is you can see he's indecisive because he doesn't know. Now, that's not okay because it's your responsibility to know.

And if you don't know, then you shouldn't be in. that spot. And that's just as basic as it could get because you have a human life in your hands at that moment. And you are the true instrument, although it's being applied by somebody else, you're being the true instrument in allowing this to get to a point where you could take somebody's life. You could permanently injure them for the rest of their life. And what happens is it's no different than it is for firemen, police officers. officers, people in stressful situations, they tend to, they do this, get what we call tunnel vision, and they focus in on one thing. And usually it's the face. And I call it, you're looking at the

micro, you have to look at the macro. You have to look at the body. The body will tell you when the person goes out because it starts to relax in certain ways. That if you're looking at the entire body, you're not just looking at the face, you're going to see it. But when you panic and you're unsure and you focus in, that's when you start to have the problem of what he had. We're all going to make mistakes, but not that kind of mistake. And this is the difference. When we sit there and you'll talk to a lot of athletic commissions,

and they'll sit there and they'll, well, you know, everyone makes mistakes. Whoa, stop. We do make, we do have guys making mistakes. but they're not mistakes that are going to physically damage somebody. While some blame can be attributed to Colazo for how things transpired, McCarthy isn't giving 100% of it to the Texas official. He is, however, placing a small portion of the blame on Chyres for not having the wherewithal to know that the fight should have been over in the triangle choke,

citing the Josh Berkman versus John Fitch World Series of Fighting Matchup from WSOF3 in June 2013, where Birkman put Fitch to sleep in a guillotine choke, and referee Steve Mazzagati didn't stop the fight. So Berkman decided to stop it himself. I trained for years, okay? I've been choked out too many times, and I've choked too many people out.

And Mike, there's not been one time. It may not be that I knew the second they went out in feeling it. But when you're choking someone and you know, and all of a sudden you'll feel them. You can tell, they're out. you know Josh Thompson is my you know podcast partner you know Josh have you ever ever not known when someone was out after you know not once you know and you're looking you go okay at that level maybe you're so excited I'll give it to you a little bit but everything that happened with that fight be it even the even the opponent come on man you had to know as you were squeezing in that triangle you can feel it His body relaxes. He becomes nothing but a noodle.

You know, he's limp. You can't feel that? I look at that, even that part. It's like, just doesn't make sense to me. Marono, having been in a similar situation as Chyres in the past, where he was losing a fight on the cards until a big moment happened, doesn't put the blame on the fighter. And neither does Garcia, noting that he can't put himself in Chiraz's mindset.

So I had a fight once that I was losing pretty bad. Just on the scorecards. the guy did no damage. He was just laying on a brain. But in the third round, I clipped him with the punch. And he was asleep when the punch landed. But I didn't know that. And he hit the ground, and I hammer fisted him hard. And I would have kept hammer fisting him until the refs stopped, even knowing he was out because I didn't want anything to happen to potentially,

like, not take the win away, but like, let him recover. Now, even when I, so what's funny, when I thought Berkman, I had him in a guillotine and I had rock, him right before and I just knew the guillotine was so tight and it was like a classic grip high elbow his arm was trapped I didn't even like super crank it I had it and I looked at her and I wasn't going to say anything but I was waiting until he told me to let go. Maybe Chiris didn't know the triangle put him to sleep um but like like personally when I'm in camp every decision of every day is dictated towards preparing for the fight so I can win

So like if I have a submission and I think they're asleep, but I don't know, I'm not going to let it go. I'll probably tell them up like, hey, he's asleep. And then I'll, you know, tighten it up as I'm saying that and then wait for that command to let him go. I don't know what Edgar was seeing or what he was feeling. Obviously, the adrenaline's pumping. You know, he's got this kid in a choke. The referee's not stopping it, you know, and maybe he felt like, damn, I'm not able to put this kid to sleep. he switches to the arm bar thinking that Gianni, there's a lot of guys that you put him in a choke

and they can hold on, they can sustain it. You know, maybe Edgar didn't know how much time was left. Vasquez also doesn't have ill will towards Chiraz. And in fact, Vasquez admits that if he were in the same offensive position, maybe things would play out in a similar way. For Chiraz, he can't say he's totally immune to people passing any blame to him as he's trying to accomplish his dreams. But he's learned at this point, he just needs to accept it.

No, well, yes, I've received, of actually, I don't take it personal. The comments, I am bothered how it all went down. I wish it wouldn't have happened, but I'm not a dirty fighter. I had no ill intent.

And for the people that say that I did it on purpose, all I can say is I'm sorry that you feel that way, but there was no ill will when I was doing it. I was just doing my job. Because I think if he were in that situation, he might have done the same and waited for the referee time first. Marshall's buyers travel far and wide,

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Summer Fridays, Rare Beauty, Way, Ciphora Collection, and other part of As far as far as the aftermath standard and mini, regrouped for a better quality of price. On link on Sifora.com or in magazine. As far as the aftermath and where we go from here, one of the big questions I've received in regard to this situation is if Texas can't or won't choose to punish Colazo,

can something be done from a legal standpoint? After all, Vasquez isn't a full-time fighter that is paid to train. He supplements his income by coaching, mostly private sessions with clients, where he will practice and teach jiu-jitsu to students, hold pads, and other implementations that are done on a one-on-one basis. With a badly injured arm and likely a long period of healing and rehabilitation, Vasquez may not be able to make the money he needs to support his household.

Because the question was brought up so many times, I had to ask McCarthy about it. You know, there is a certain amount of responsibility that you take as a fighter stepping into a kid. You know the dangers that are there for you, and there's dangers. There's no doubt about it. You know, MMA is a violent sport. I'm not going to sit here and lie about it.

You know, the ability to be hurt in it, knocked out, you know, having a limb, you know, damage by either hyper extension or break, you know, it's there. And you inherently know that is part of the sport. But there are also things to address those things that happen. And one of the things is that referee is response. for your health and safety within certain parameters. The parameters of if you get choked and you go unconscious, it's his responsibility to be able to see it and stop the fight.

How often do you see it? Mike, we see it all the time. I stopped hundreds of fights upon the fighter passing out. You know, when we would go in the back and talk to fighters, you would talk to them all the time and say, look, if you get put in a submission, I will let you work your way out of the submission. Okay, now amateurs, I would do it different, but when it was professionals, they're a professional, they're getting paid, you know, and, but you would tell them,

don't let it get to the point where I see damage. If I see, you get put in an arm bar, I see it hyper-extend and dislocate the fights over. I'm telling you right now. Now, I've seen, you know, Ronda Rousey, dislocated Misha Taitzar, referee didn't stop it. And you look and you go, what are you doing? That right there, at that point, tells you legally, yeah, I think they can go after you. You have a referee that you're being choked and they don't end up stopping the fight. And you get choked to the point where it damaged you.

Are you liable? You're liable. And there's no doubt about it. It can be where you could be sued. And most people, they sat on a jury and they look at that. And then they're going to have somebody that knows what they're talking about, get up on the stand and say, he's out right now. You can see him go out.

It's not hard. It's not hard to see. And time's going to be going. And we've had these, you know, so many times throughout the past, we've had these same type of situations. But we did not have one that was. Honestly, as bad as this. As many others were, Garcia was shocked at the revelation that Colazo would be allowed to judge bouts at the following day's UFC San Antonio event in the midst of the chaos surrounding his main event.

The TDLR issued a statement to MMA fighting the day after the incident that read, quote, TDLR is aware of concerns about the officiating in one of last night's fights. All TDLR officials receive ongoing training and we monitor each fight for consistency in officiating. Fight officials for each competition are always selected in conjunction with promoters. Garcia took exception to that final sentence and flat out denied that he as a promoter has any say whatsoever in the selection of officials. That's not true. You know, I like, obviously I love Texas. I do events here all the time.

I get along with every inspector. You know, they come, they run the event for us great. You know, everything's sanctioned. and whatever, but there's never been an opportunity for me to say, hey, these are the refs I want, and I get those refs. It's never, it's never happened like that. I find out who's refing and judging and timekeeping and doing everything at my event on weighing day.

They hand me a sheet that says, hey, these are the refs, this is the payroll, this is what you got to pay, this is who you're paying. And if I, at that point is when I'm like, oh, shit, I don't really like this ref or, okay, I got some good refs. But whether I like them or not, these are the guys that are assigned and this is who I'm going to have to pay. Like, it's not a selection that I get to pick and say, hey, I don't want this guy. Can you get me someone else? It's too late.

This is who you got. These are the guys in rotation. These are the guys that are available. This is who's refing. A TDLR spokesperson was made aware of Garcia's comments and issued the following response to MMA fighting. Quote, in title and championship bouts, the executive director or his designee will consult with the sponsor. sponsoring or sanctioning bodies on the assignment of judges and referees and make assignments for such bouts. In sanction boxing title fights, WBA, WBC, etc., the sanctioning body asks that the referee for that match be accredited

through their organization. This is the norm for the industry, and we work with the sanctioning bodies to use their accredited officials. As you know, there are no official sanctioning bodies for MMA. Some of the larger MMA promoters, such as the UFC, do have world title designations. And we work them as we do with the boxing sanctioning bodies and allow their input when choosing officials. In non-title MMA in boxing fights, TDLR selects referees and judges using the criteria listed above. In non-title MMA and boxing fights, if the promoter asks, TDLR will tell the promoter which officials have been selected. Fighters are not told who is working their contest until fight time, even if they ask. The promoter will tell TDLR's lead event supervisor if they

have concerns about any of the officials and TDLR will try to accommodate the promoter if possible. As far as Colazo goes moving forward, acting in an official capacity for future Fury FC events, Garcia knows his hands are somewhat tied. There isn't much he can do. But if he sees Colazo's name on the sheet prior to one of his fight cards, there will be questions asked about what Colazo has done to improve upon the massive mistake he made at Fury FC 76. I'd want to see what he's he did after this happened. And if he went back to the drawing board and did some other training or, you know, I want, I want to see how I'd like to hear what he has to say about it honestly and what he saw.

This is not going to, especially by us, it's not going to be forgotten. You know, I know that moving forward, you know, we're going to make sure and talk to these reps before and say, hey, look, what happened at this event on this date cannot happen. And I make sure you're on top of shit. I want that to be in their minds before they go out there and they step in that cage and they rent for us. While McCarthy would be happy to speak with Colazo about learning from his mistake, should he contact the OG of MMA referees and admit his wrongdoings and show signs that

he wants to improve, Big John would be happy to walk him through things step by step. Go through each severe moment, seek out the correct responses, and potentially build a road back to where he was as a well-respected member of the Texas officiating community. Having said that, when asked whether or not, Colazo can bounce back from this, McCarthy has to be truthful about the situation. I'm being honest. I look at that and you don't. Not as simple as it gets, you're a fighter. He walks in to talk to you saying, hey, I'm your referee. What's the first thing you think? Uh-oh. You've got to have the fighter having at least a belief that you're going to be there for them if they get hurt.

How does he do that now? Free talk. Like McCarthy, Chiraez agrees that Colazo likely won't be able to bounce back from the situation. But I really hope that referee doesn't officiate anymore, at least not my fights. It was a big mistake on his part and it has to cost him in some way. He should have been, in my opinion, fired from his job. He shouldn't have been doing what he's doing. he shouldn't have been allowed to go to the UFC event the following day.

And for Vasquez, a man who, rightfully so, should be more angry than anybody else, a man trying to make his dreams come true and make it to the highest levels the sport has to offer, he says he doesn't have any ill will towards Colazo at all. In hopes, Colazo can learn from this moment, just like Vasquez continues to do each day. With the unknowns of his day-to-day life and his career staring him in the face, Vasquez chooses not to be angry, but to stay positive and focus on only the things that he can control. What would you say to the referee right now if he was standing in front of you? To be honest, to the referee, I don't, bro, like, I've been thinking about that, like, what I should say to the referee.

It's nothing that I want to say to him, you know. I will put it this way in and I understand that we're all humans, we all make mistakes. the only thing I wish he wasn't there that night. But at the same time, I'm still alive. And then I just wish he wasn't there that night. I just want to this not happen to anyone. I don't want anyone to suffer the things that I'm suffering right now. And then I don't want anyone to get even worse, you know?

Because like I say, I couldn't. be dead right now. I couldn't be with brain damage right now. And I don't want no one to, to suffer that stuff. And I just hope that somehow, like, we can get some stuff figured out and then doing things better, you know, but I don't even have hard feelings against the referee, man. Like, you know, like, what happens, it happens. You just hope he learns from it and doesn't happen again. Yeah, I just hope that nothing like this happened to other person anymore. I just think that like nothing is going to change if I get angry, you know?

Nothing is going to change if I get angry. Nothing is going to change. It's just like the way it is. Like I say, I'm just glad that I'm here. I'm just glad they like, uh, uh, uh, didn't get worse and then I just hope they like everything goes well and with my arm I just hopefully like somehow we we can find a way to like you know like fix some things and then I use I just want to get able to I want to be able to work and then go back to my

life you know because like I say before you know I I I I I love the sport and I stayed that night, you know, I was, I'm chasing my dream and then I was done to, to die, you know? And then I say, I'm no, I'm not fucking taking any, any, any, any, any, any, any stuff like that. And then I, I fight with all my hurt and then I fight with everything I have that night. But unfortunately, it wasn't, it wasn't for me, you know, the reason I'm like this. It wasn't for me. You know, I take like a champ, I got cut in the triangle,

and then I pass out in the triangle, and I take it like a champ, you know, I make a mistake, and then they take advantage of that. But it wasn't for me that I have this arm like this, you know? That wasn't for me. Despite repeated requests, the TDLR declined to contact Colazo on MMA fighting's behalf. They did, however, issue one more statement on the incident. Quote, following each event, TDLR combative sports staff

discusses the performance of each official. If an issue is identified, TDLR staff will contact the official and discuss any inaccuracies or inconsistencies and assigned additional training as needed. Some of you may be asking, why do a feature on this topic? The new cycle changes so rapidly, there's new events, storylines, social media beefs, big sales and mergers. Why now with the time that is past?

My answer, because it's just too darn important. Stories like this just can't fade into the archives. It needs to be talked about because this should have never happened. And should never happen. Johnny Vasquez shouldn't have his arm in one of the biggest casts I've ever seen. Edgar Chiraes should be celebrating a win and figuring out his next move. And Fury FC should be moving forward with the next slew of events that could potentially catch the eyes of the mixed martial arts audience.

And on the other end, there needs to be accountability for the unbelievable nature of what transpired. Since the interview, multiple messages have not been returned in regards to Vasquez's MRI results. But it's my hope that he doesn't have to undergo surgery, miss an extended period of time competing, and get back to teaching private sessions so he can make money. For Edgar Chires, I hope he can get back on track with his weight management and work his way to an opportunity to accomplish his goals. And for Frank Colazo, I truly hope he understands the weight of the situation, that he does indeed go back to the drawing board, and that he does in fact reach out to the goal. to John McCarthy to walk through everything that went down and does everything in his power

should he continue on as a referee to make sure what happened at Fury FC 76 never happens again. I want to thank both Gianni Vasquez and Edgar Chires for sharing their sides of a very difficult situation. Fury FC President Eric Garcia, Alex Marono, and Big John McCarthy for giving their insight and reactions to the viral moment, along with MMA manias Adam Gien for his help with translating the conversation I have with Chiraz. I also want to shout out the MMA fighting team for giving me the space to put something like this together. It's a long process.

It's not easy to do, and I truly appreciate it. Especially Shaheen Alshaddy, deputy editor of MMAFighting.com, who continues to be my partner in crime and partner in creativity for these features. And to the MMA fighting listeners and readers for checking it out, thank you very much. I'm Mike Heck,

and this was inside the highlight here on the MMA Fighting Podcasting Network. To the Vox Media Podcast Network.