Not much attention gets paid to the 3rd man in the ring unless he isnt doing his job properly (Joe Cortez or the vast majority of German Refs) but who is the best Ref in the sport today? im expecting a lot of people to say Steve Smoger but for me it has to be Earl Brown, out of all the fights Ive seen him officiate he has always been unbiased and fair to both fighters (Lucas Mathysse V Zab Judah being the most fresh off the top of my head) Any other takers?
Jack Reis. He let's fighters fight when one hand's free. Decisive with warnings. never upstages the fighters. Always cool 'n take-charge in chaos.
I think Smoger and Bayless are the best in terms of maintaining order in the ring, but Smoger is often just looking to cop a feel on a vulnerable fighter, and Bayless often feels sorry for hurt fighters and extends counts. I will say though, in Smogers latest kissing bandito episode, rather than frenching the downed fighter, Peterson, he instead went straight away after Mathysee.
Bayless for this bear. On a further note... Seem's like a good place to ask. Wtf is going on with the forum? There doesn't seem to be a lounge so i can't ask there. Where has it gone? Why can't we post pictures or have avatars?? And why is there no quick reply box at the bottom? Also if you hover over a thread title it no longer shows you partial part of the original post. This permanent or the forum going through upgrade? Thanks.
Bayless, Smoger, and Weeks have conistently been the best over the past decade. Earl Brown and Robert Byrd both have also been consistently very good. Jay Nady gets a lot of hate, but I don't think he's too bad.
Benjy Esteves is good. Drakulich is as well...although last time I saw him, he might have had a bit of an off day. Who is the older big burly guy that used to fight heavyweight? He's another good ref.