Texas Commission Releases Statement on Officiating Gaffe at Fury FC 76

Ridiculous scene at Fury FC. Edgar Cháirez puts Gianni Vazquez to sleep with a triangle, and the ref simply doesn't stop it. Cháirez ends up armbarring an unconscious Vazquez who wakes up in the submission. #Furyfc76 pic.twitter.com/AgcwI2i3ss

— caposa (@Grabaka_Hitman) March 25, 2023

Fury Fighting Championship 76 played host to a potentially scary scene on Friday night.

In the evening’s main event, Edgar Chairez defeated Gianni Di Chiara Vazquez via armbar at the 2:04 mark of the fourth round in their flyweight bout in San Antonio, Texas. However, the fight should have ended earlier, as it appeared Vazquez was rendered unconscious by a triangle choke before waking up to tap out to the armbar.

While the event’s broadcast team recognized that Vazquez was out and frantically called for the stoppage, referee Frank Collazo allowed the bout to continue long after the initial choke had been applied. On a positive note, Vazquez appeared to be coherent when the result was announced in the cage shortly thereafter. The Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation, which oversaw Fury FC 76, has since released a statement on the bout.

“TDLR is aware of concerns about the officiating in one of last night’s fights,” the statement read. “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.”

Meanwhile, Fury FC officials also released a statement on the promotion’s Facebook page criticizing the referee’s awareness in the bout.

“It is the referee’s job to protect the fighter when the fighter cannot protect him or herself. In last night’s main event, the referee failed to do this,” the promotion stated. “While the job of a referee is one of the hardest to do in this sport, the need for proper and continued training would help to alleviate things like this incident.

“We do not hire, train, or select refs for our shows, but we would be more than willing to lead a revamp and overhaul of the reffing and judging selection and training process.”

According to the Sherdog.com database, Collazo has officiated 129 MMA bouts dating back to 2014.