KEY POINTS

  • Renato Moicano was beaten black and blue after his five-round fight against Rafael dos Anjos at UFC 272
  • Michael Bisping explains how important for MMA coaches to know when to stop a fight
  • Dos Anjos wanted the doctors to step in and stop the fight to avoid inflicting further damage to Moicano

A former UFC champion shared his honest take on the dangers of not stopping bloody fights.

UFC 272 generated quite a buzz due to the drama behind its main event--Colby Covington vs. Jorge Masvidal.

However, the co-main event bout between Rafael dos Anjos and Renato Moicano has also become a hot topic of discussion because of how brutal the fight was.

The lopsided bout between the two Brazilian fighters went the distance with Moicano ending up beaten black and blue.

Dos Anjos was declared the winner via unanimous decision.

Weighing on the subject, former UFC middleweight champion Michael Bisping pointed out after three rounds of being dominated by dos Anjos, Mocaino was clearly losing and on the receiving end of harrowing punishment.

More importantly, Bisping explained how important it is for coaches to know when to throw in the towel to spare fighters from taking too much damage.

According to the Brit, what happened to Moicano was a perfect example as he stressed that his coach should’ve put his ego aside and accepted defeat early on.

“In mixed martial arts, for whatever reason, we just don’t see it (corner stoppages),” Bisping said in a recent interview with The MMA Hour. “I know Jason Parillo threw the towel in when B.J. Penn fought Georges St-Pierre for the second time. There aren’t many other occasions I can think of where that happens. But in boxing, it’s a common thing. It happens a lot.”

“I think that a lot of coaches [in MMA] need to man up,” he continued. “You’re looking after your fighter. I think what it is, a lot of coaches attach their ego to the fighter because they go through it together. They want them to win, and then by winning, that is kind of like the coach winning as well. And if the fighter’s losing, that’s the coach losing.”

The UFC Hall of Famer added, “So what, you lose some here and there. Go home, feel sorry for yourself, heal up, and get back in the saddle. Doing that (not stopping the fight), you never know, there could be lifelong injuries.”

Michael Bisping Georges St-Pierre
UFC president Dana White stands in-between Georges St-Pierre and defending middleweight UFC champion Michael Bisping during the NHL game between the Montreal Canadiens and the Toronto Maple Leafs at the Bell Centre on Oct. 14, 2017 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Bisping will fight St-Pierre in the main event of UFC 217. Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images

Given the severity of Moicano’s condition from the surface alone, dos Anjos was quizzed to comment on the subject during his post-fight press conference.

As per the former UFC lightweight champion, he really hoped cageside physicians elected to call it off at one point.

However, it never happened and dos Anjos was left with no choice but to continue fighting.

“I really wanted the doctor to stop it but they did not but you know I gotta do what I gotta do,” dos Anjos revealed. “Unfortunately, I was you know, I was trying to finish the fight. But the guy is tough as a nail."

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