Vyacheslav Kiselev Removed from Second Officiating Assignment at UFC 267

UFC has pulled referee Vyacheslav Kiselev from his other #UFC267 assignments due to his performance during the Zaleski dos Santos-Saint Denis fight. pic.twitter.com/lt04N8b6ax

— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) October 30, 2021

Vyacheslav Kiselev was originally scheduled to referee two bouts at UFC 267, but his negligence in his first assignment resulted in a shorter-than-expected night.

Kiselev was the third man in the cage for the preliminary welterweight bout between Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos and Benoit St. Denis. During a brutally lopsided second round, it appeared that St. Denis was out on his feet, and the UFC commentary team was in utter disbelief as Kiselev allowed the the Octagon newcomer to continue. Later, St. Denis informed Kiselev that he couldn’t see after an eye poke, but the referee restarted the bout without calling in a cageside physician to examine the Frenchman.

To his credit, St. Denis continued to fight back and ultimately made it to the final horn. That, however, did not clear Kiselev of responsibility for his earlier transgressions. As a result, Kiselev was pulled from his second officiating assignment, a light heavyweight clash between Magomed Ankalaev and Volkan Oezdemir. News of Kiselev’s removal was announced by Jon Anik during the UFC 267 broadcast. Marc Goddard ultimately picked up the refereeing duties for the Ankalaev-Oezdemir bout.

“Honestly, the worst performance I have seen from a referee in my life,” wrote Daniel Cormier, who was part of the broadcast team, via Twitter. “Honestly a hard job but man unreal. Makes you respect the good ones like [Jason Herzog, John McCarthy, Herb Dean] and many more. I hated watching that. I hope Benoit is heading to [the] hospital right now!”

Honestly the worst performance I have seen from a referee in my life. Honestly a hard job but man unreal. Makes you respect the good ones like @JasonHerzogMMA @JohnMcCarthyMMA @HerbDeanMMA and many more. I hated watching that I hope Benoit is heading to hospital right now !

— Daniel Cormier (@dc_mma) October 30, 2021

In addition to not stopping the bout when St. Denis was taking a potentially dangerous amount of punishment or after he admitted he couldn’t see out of one eye, Kiselev also deducted a point from dos Santos for landing a low blow in Round 3 without giving an initial warning.

“Holy hell…I just watched the worst job of officiating at a [UFC] event ever,” wrote veteran official John McCarthy on Twitter. “Please just don’t let him do another fight….ever.”

Holy Hell, @marcgoddard_uk @MarcRatnerUFC I just watched the worst job of officiating at an @UFC event ever!!! Please just don’t let him do another fight….. EVER!!!

— Big John McCarthy (@JohnMcCarthyMMA) October 30, 2021

#UFC267 pic.twitter.com/fqa7c1LYnW

— caposa (@Grabaka_Hitman) October 30, 2021