Jon Anik defends referee Jason Herzog over UFC Louisville stoppage: “He would’ve been knocked out!”

UFC play-by-play broadcaster Jon Anik empathizes with referee Jason Herzog after a controversial stoppage in the UFC Louisville main event.

Nassourdine Imavov defeated Jared Cannonier by fourth-round TKO at UFC Louisville last Saturday. He has now won back-to-back fights and continued his surge up the middleweight ranks.

While it was a great night for Imavov, it didn’t come without controversy. During a flurry of exchanges against the cage with Cannonier, Herzog stepped in to stop the fight, despite Cannonier holding his ground.

Cannonier immediately protested the stoppage, and Herzog was targeted by numerous pundits and fans on social media. After the event, Herzog promised he’d “reevaluate” his decision.

this gotta be the worst stoppage of the year pic.twitter.com/Idjk7XbDEH

— UFC Alien👽 (@UfcAlien) June 9, 2024

While he admits the stoppage might’ve been premature. Anik feels Imavov and Cannonier left Herzog with few options other than to step in and save Cannonier from taking additional damage.

Jon Anik weighs in on the UFC Louisville stoppage controversy

During a recent episode of The Anik & Florian Podcast, Anik weighed in on the head-scratching end to UFC Louisville.

“For me, it’s Marc Goddard, Jason Herzog…in that Top 3 [all-time referees],” Anik said. “If you were to ask me ‘Do you believe in 20 seconds, that Jared Cannonier would’ve been knocked out cold or concussed further?’, the answer would be yes. I believe referees are universally praised when they allow a fight to go long, and then something sensational happens. Either we get a 25-minute war because they didn’t stop the fight, or you get a knockout that has some virality…

“I was a little bit surprised to see Jason Herzog intervene here, but referees are always going to be criticized when they stop fights on the front end of potentially concussive damage,” Anik continued. “If anyone deserves the benefit of the doubt, it’s [Jason Herzog]…I think the result would’ve been a concussion for Jared Cannonier who had been drunk driving 30 seconds previously, and I just feel like he would’ve been knocked out!”

Cannonier claimed during Monday’s episode of The MMA Hour that the UFC is open to booking an immediate rematch with Imavov. As of this writing, the UFC matchmakers haven’t commented publically on the stoppage.