If you saw UFC's Fight For the Troops a few weeks ago, you no doubt remember the bizarre fight between Lightweights James Krause and Bobby Green. Green kicked Krause low twice in the first round prompting referee, Big John McCarthy to take a point from Green. Then late in the round Green throws another kick that instantly drops Krause. Some confusion ensues as Big John waves off the fight. Will this be a disqualification win for Krause? A No-Contest? McCarthy then rules the kick legal and awards Green the victory via TKO.
Even watching the replay, it's hard to tell where the kick landed -especially since kicks can often hit the cup before being deflected up or down. Now I don't think Bobby Green is a dirty fighter and he says he didn't feel the cup but the bottom line is James has little reason to lie. It's not like he was getting beat up or it was late in the fight and he decided he could use a point or some time to rest even if he were unscrupulous. And you can certainly tell if a kick hits your groin as opposed to your stomach. Also, I've never seen a fighter drop like that from a kick to the stomach -the liver or the chest, sure. But Big John had to make a call based on what he saw not what makes sense so it's understandable but unfortunate. Unfortunate for both fighters and the fans who wanted to see what had the potential to be a great fight. These are exactly the things that Diamond works so hard to prevent with Diamond Jocks.
Luckily, we have a strong ally in Joe Rogan who believes strongly in our product and while people always tweet that a fighter needs to get Diamonds when things like this happen (and thank you for that, by the way!), Joe actually went the extra mile and introduced Craig and James via e-mail and having seen the unfortunate way that fight played out we were glad to help.
Thanks to Joe Rogan and Diamond, James Krause is now PROTECTED!