Miragliotta was all smiles throughout, as friends, fans and fighters kept coming up to him asking how his arm was doing. He should be back in action in several weeks.

(thanks to CageToday.com for the pic)

We are re-printing Lembo’s entire statement below in this post, but to summarize, Lembo states the following:

• He does not feel the name of the ABC is appropriate any longer, because it completely neglects MMA in its title.
• It’s up to each jurisdiction to go back and approve the ABC’s recommended changes.
• Unless each jurisdiction adopts the recommended changes, the concept of unified rules will basically evaporate.
• He does not approve process in which the new rules were adopted.
• He approves of a lot of the changes, just not the additional weight classes.
• He is concerned about some of the extremes taking place in MMA in regards to weight cutting, but he doesn’t believe creating more classes necessarily addresses the problem.

Why is this important? Because Lembo is one of the main people responsible today for the unified rules that currently exist in the sport. For him to speak out against weight classes and the due process used to change rules, speaks volumes.

Below is Mr. Lembo’s statement in its entirety:

“It should be noted that the ABC meeting with regard to the unified rules are merely suggestions to the membership.

“The ABC should clarify its bylaws and its formal name since MMA is such a growing sport that it intends to address.

“Each jurisdiction must go back and individually adopt the changes and amendments.

“The document, with regard to professional mixed martial arts, has some items which would alter the longstanding unified rules developed in New
Jersey.

“Unless each jurisdiction adopts them, we will no longer have unified rules.

“Unified rules, in my opinion, are crucial to the growth of MMA.

“When New Jersey first drafted and later passed the unified rules, several months of meetings were held and observations were made at
events.

“These meetings included discussions with medical staff, promoters, matchmakers, managers, fighters, fight officials, media and fans.

“We also got the approval of other jurisdictions in advance in order to ensure a unified document.

“I fully support the clarifications and explanations of the existing unified rules in the new document.

“I do also support the rule deletions and smothering addition.

“However, I have decided that I do not support the weight class changes.

“With regard to weight classes, Nevada, California and Florida were not represented at the meeting.

“Further, very minimal discussion was held on the topic. I did not hear medical evidence to support the rule changes as Mr. Garcia and I had
requested. I did not see any thoughts or comments from promoters or fighters.

“I also know that Ohio has concerns with regard to changing the weight classes.

“Major MMA jurisdctions like Nevada, California, Ohio, Florida, Quebec and New Jersey need to have an involved role when contemplating serious
MMA rule changes.

“Unless everyone is on board, the ridiculous result would be having different weight classes in different jurisdictions for the same
fighters in the same sport.

“Changing weight classes is a substantial change that needs further discussion and exploration, in my opinion.

“There needs to be more discussion and involvement of more parties prior to contemplating such a drastic rule change.

“I am not convinced that weight classes are a crucial problem within the sport and I am not yet sure that the addition of so many more weight
classes is warranted.

“I am concerned about unhealthy weight cutting but I do not think that simply adding more classes solves that.

“Any drastic changes to the unified rules need to be carefully contemplated.

“If I was going to explore an area to possibly overhaul in the current rule set, it would be the scoring system. That, in my mind, warrants attention. That concerns me much more than the current weight classes.

“The weight classes will not be proposed for change in New Jersey at this time.

“Nick Lembo, NJSACB”

I am making that e-mail available here, but I wanted to add that 5 Oz. of Pain contacted both Kaitlin Young and Scott Smith to get their sides of the story. Young declined to comment on the record at this time while Smith was unavailable for comment.

Here is Wulkan’s e-mail:

“When we saw Kaitlin in the cage, we were concerned about an orbital fracture. Both she and her corner were grateful that the fight was stopped and actually thanked us for stopping the fight. When she first returned to the dressing room, she said she wasn’t sure why the fight was stopped, but after looking in the mirror, she was glad we did. That is almost a quote verbatim. She said she was overwhelmed and that Carano definitely got the better of her on this occasion. I don’t read the blogs [Editor's Note: Dr. Wulkan is referring to an alleged post by Kaitlin Young on FighterGirls.com, however, the post has yet to be verified as actually being authored by Young herself], but perhaps she was not well reviewed and this prompted the response you forwarded.

“We did not stop the fight because it looked ugly or because she was a woman, but because she had taken some major abuse, and because we were afraid she had a fracture. The risks of orbital fractures are well known to ringside physicians.

“Her response seems more like a vendetta for not being invited to the interviews . It’s a shame, because she presented herself very professionally both before and after the fight on fight night.

“As a follow up, Drago [editor's note: Pete Sell] told me that Smith said he still was seeing double and triple 15-20 minutes after returning to the locker room. His corner was grateful we made the call we did. I want to know who told the press we didn’t pick up the foot injury at the time it happened. That’s just not precise reporting. I’m glad you cleared that up. I think it’s amazing that Smith himself, although initially disappointed, currently has no problem with the decision; he knows we’re professional and we have both their short term and long term interests at heart. At no time did we hear a complaint from Smith’s corner, so why are the blogs so insistent that an injustice was served? Besides, the rematch will prove to be a war, especially with two healthy fighters.”

Lembo granted FiveOuncesOfPain.com an interview earlier this evening in which he openly explained the commission’s position on the decision to stop several fights before they had reached a conclusion. His comments were illuminating and could cause people to view the stoppages in a different light.

Below is the transcript of the interview.

Sam Caplan: There’s been a lot of criticism from the hardcore MMA fanbase in regards to Saturday’s show. A lot of people aren’t happy with some how some of the fights turned out. I wanted to talk about some of the stoppages and hear the position of the commission as to whether the stoppages were early. I wanted to start out with the Gina Carano vs. Kaitlin Young stoppage. Can you tell us why that fight was stopped?

Nick Lembo: The referee called over the doctor, I believe at the end of the second round, and Dr. Wulkan — Dr. Sherry Wulkan — who is a long-time MMA and kickboxing doctor, who trains herself, she felt there was a possibility of an orbital fracture. Of course, that could not be determined on the spot; there was no machine that could be used to examine the injury at that point. However, she was concerned about the laceration and the hematoma that was forming under Kaitlin’s eye, and she was concerned that it would affect her ability to see and the ability to protect herself and see punches coming from that side. I asked her if Kaitlin was medically able to continue and she said no.

Sam Caplan: Did Dr. Wulkan speak with Kaitlin Young?

Nick Lembo: Dr. Wulkan asked Kaitlin where she was three times. The first time, Kaitlin did not respond. During the second and third attempts, the doctor indicated that Kaitlin’s response was garbled.

Sam Caplan: I wanted to talk about the stoppage behind the Robbie Lawler vs. Scott Smith fight and why Smith wasn’t given five minutes to recuperate after the foul.

Nick Lembo: There was necessary stoppage from a finger in the eye. The referee, Dan Miragliotta, went up to Scott and said he got poked in the eye and called an accidental foul, put the fighters in their neutral corners, and went over to Scott and said “Are you okay? You have up to five minutes.” At that point, Scott said “I can’t see out of my eye.” Then at that point Dan said to him “I’m going to call in the doctor to look at you. I’m telling you that if you tell the doctors that you can’t see, they are going to stop the fight.” Dr. Angela Gagliardi went in there first to examine Scott and she said that “He said he could not see.” And then she came back and told me that and I said, “Of course he can’t see, he just got poked in the eye.”

At that point, I called for Dr. Sherry Wulkan, who again, is a top MMA doctor for us and was working as the nearby cage entrance. And I called her in to say “Hey, this is a championship fight, I want you specifically to look at Scott because nobody wants a fighter that can’t continue medically to continue but you have the most experience with MMA.” She goes up to Scott and asks, “How’s your vision?” He goes, “I can’t see at all.” And she said to him “What do you mean you can’t see?” And he responded “I mean I can’t see.” Next, she said to him, “What does that mean? Is it blurry? Is it fuzzy?” And he goes, “I told you, I can’t see at all. I could get knocked out.” At that point in time she asked “Is your vision improving? After a poke in the eye, your vision should be improving by now.” And Scott said his vision wasn’t improving at all and said “I can’t see.”

With those statements combined with the fact that it was pretty apparent that he had a broken foot from throwing a kick, I turned to Dr. Wulkan and asked what her medical opinion was and she said “He should not continue because he stated his vision was not improving and by now, from a poke in his vision should be improving and I’ve given him every opportunity for him to tell me something other than I can’t see at all. And he has a broken foot and should not continue.” And the decision was made.

As far as having five minutes, it’s not guaranteed to you to have five minutes. It’s at the discretion of the chief ring official, who was the referee at the time, and then once he calls in the doctor, it’s the doctor’s discretion. That being said, I don’t know of any ringside physician that I’ve spoken to in this jurisdiction or commissioners in other jurisdictions, that have had fighters repeatedly say “I can’t see” — there is no way any commission is going to allow that fighter to continue. If Scott had said differently what he said, “My vision is improving” or “It’s just a little weird” or “Can you give me some time? It will clear up” or “It’s getting better,” then he would have been granted the time. But combined with the fact that he had a broken foot and he was repeatedly stating that he can’t see at all, there was no reason to allow that fight to continue.

I just wanted to add that it was a great fight. It was a fantastic fight and nobody wanted to see the fight end that way. I’m sure Scott didn’t want it to end that way (and) I’m sure Robbie didn’t want it to end that way. The fans didn’t want to see it end that way. But at that point, based on the conversations and the broken foot, our hands were tied.

Sam Caplan: I wanted to move on and discuss the questions some fans have about the Kimbo Slice vs. James Thomspon fight.

Nick Lembo: The questions, being what?

Sam Caplan: The first question being that we quoted someone earlier today as counting 22 unanswered elbows delivered by Thompson when he had Kimbo’s arm trapped in a crucifix position.

Nick Lembo: I think you mean that a fan in the crowd stated that? I can only say that it was exactly right in front of me from my seat at the cage and Dan (Miragliotta) was right over the action and there was no damage from those strikes whatsoever. Those blows were very, very gentle. They were taps, they weren’t doing any damage and there was no reason to stop the fight at that point.

Sam Caplan: The other question pertaining to that fight was the stoppage itself. The feeling by some people, and I guess it’s my feeling too, was that James Thompson could have possibly continued.

Nick Lembo: Well, I say it’s kind of funny because you’re damned if you do; damned if you don’t. Before the fight I received calls from the press and gave interviews to publications like Full Contact Fighter, where I am on record being criticised for allowing the fight to happen because people were telling me that James Thompson had no business being in the cage with Kimbo. And now it’s being criticised that the fight was stopped prematurely because it was such a competitive fight. At the end of the second round, Dan came up to me and said “Both fighters are completely exhausted.” And he didn’t think they were going to complete the next round and basically he stood them up because, again, there was no damage and he thought whoever connected with some decent punches standing that the fight was going to end. At that point, I immediately went into see him and asked him why did you stop the fight? And he said “Thompson’s eyes looked odd. His head went back and he dropped his hands.” And then we he swatted at Dan, I asked him “Do you want me to recommend a suspension for James?” And he said, “Nick, I don’t even think he knew who I was at that point.” And once he regrouped, he immediately apologized.

That being said, both fighters were exhausted. Kimbo was helped to the dressing room and was tended to by a doctor in his dressing room. He was completely exhausted and Thompson was taken from the press conference by the paramedics and our ringside physician to the local hospital for observation based on their examination of him. So both fighters were completely exhausted and at that point it could have went the other way.

And I’ve read some columns that have said, “Oh, it was an obvious fix” and to that, I just say that’s pretty incredulous to me because James could have won that fight at any second and to let Kimbo be on the close edge of losing that fight, that’s a heck of a way to fix a fight. The outcome in my mind and most people’s minds, Thompson was definitely winning the fight on the scorecards and anyone could have been knocked out at any second.

Sam Caplan: You just mentioned that some critics have introduced the baseless accusation that a fix was involved and you also have a lot of people new to the sport who seem to think that the referees are employed by EliteXC. Can you take us through the process about how referees are assigned to fights and who employs them?

Nick Lembo: Anybody that has followed New Jersey mixed martial arts from the beginning, going back to the old BAMMA Fight Nights in South Plainfield, back around 2000, know that Dan and Kevin (Mulhall) have been a staple as referees in New Jersey. Our third referee is Yves Lavinge; we’ve also used Jeff Blatnick once; and we’ve also used Kimberly Winslow a couple of times. But if we need two referees, the first choice is Dan Miragliotta and the second choice is Kevin Mulhall. They’ve worked every show that has come to New Jersey; from the small shows to the big shows. Kevin and Dan have even worked other shows in other jurisdictions, most recently the IFL at the Mohegan; Dan has worked several UFCs and he’s on his way in the next 48 hours to London to work the next UFC.

In my mind, Dan Miragliotta is the best referee in the world and when the next big show comes to New Jersey, I have no problems giving Dan the biggest match on that card too. And I would ask that people look at his whole body of work. If you think it was a quick stoppage or a premature stoppage, I’m not going to argue that; you’re entitled to your opinion. But to say that there is anything more than that is patently false. CBS and EliteXC had actually suggested other referees for that particular bout and they were denied and they did not even know who Dan Miragliotta was. I picked Dan Miragliotta and had no pressure from CBS or EliteXC; like I said, that’s not even who they had officially suggested (editor’s note: FiveOuncesOfPain.com learned from a source unrelated to the NJACB over the weekend that EliteXC and CBS officials had tried to secure John McCarthy as an official for the fight) and they weren’t familiar with him.

The referees are assigned by the Athletic Control Board in New Jersey. They are not assigned by the promoter. They have no interest or relationship with the promoter. Like I said, these two guys that worked that show have been around the block and they’ve worked every show to come to New Jersey from UFCs, the IFLs, to Bodogs, to MFCs, Ring of Combats, you name it and they’ll continue to work. There was nothing different; the unified rules were applied and they called the fights how they saw it. There was no pressure or influence from any outside source.

Sam Caplan: I quoted an article on 5 Oz. earlier today from Bernard Fernandez of the Philadelphia Daily News. Fernandez basically asserted that there was a different level of caution applied to stopping the fights in comparison to fights not televised on national television.

Nick Lembo: Well, I believe he used the word “apparently” when he said that. So that was just his opinion, which again he’s entitled to. And no disrespect to Bernard, he’s an award-winning caliber and long-time veteran boxing writer, but he’s very new to the sport of mixed martial arts and I just don’t think he’s as educated about the sport as some of the other writers. The referees did not receive any instructions to be extra cautious. Dan stopped the fight because he thought that Thompson was exhausted, had taken two good shots, and he didn’t like the way he reacted to them and that it was over. And the stoppage had nothing to do with the ear; that had no role in the decision to stop the fight.

I also just wanted to add that it is my preference to always talk about a fight that was stopped too early as opposed to a fight that was stopped too late

The article, which was a profile piece on UFC light heavyweight Houston Alexander, quoted Alexander’s trainer Mick Doyle as saying Alexander was not “mentally right” for his fight at UFC 78 against Thiago Silva. The indirect quote attributed to Doyle indicated that Alexander was not “mentally right” because a member from the New Jersey Athletic Control Board informed Alexander and Doyle before the fight that the bout was off because Alexander only has one kidney.

The exact passage referenced is as follows:

His trainer, Mick Doyle, concedes that Alexander could use work on his jiu-jitsu. But he said Alexander wasn’t right mentally that night and suspects it had something to do with the events in the dressing room an hour before he was to go out.

A member of the New Jersey Athletic Control Board walked into the room and told Alexander and Doyle the fight was off because Alexander only has one kidney.

Alexander had donated a kidney to one of his daughters several years earlier, but he’d always passed his pre-fight physicals with no problems. But New Jersey, fearful of a lawsuit should something untoward happen, opted at the last minute to prevent Alexander from fighting.

The reasoning was that with just one kidney, he wouldn’t have a backup if something happened to it. Manager Monte Cox, UFC president Dana White and Doyle were pleading Alexander’s case.

Lembo was not referenced in the Yahoo! story by name but expressed that he felt compelled to contact Five Ounces Of Pain because he first became aware of the accusation via a blog posting by senior writer Adam Morgan. While Lembo was not named specifically, he believes the accusation was directed at him because he states he was the only representative for the New Jersey State Athletic Control Board that attended UFC 78.

Lembo issued a categorical denial to the accusation.

“When I saw the story, it has a lot of misstatements and a lot of falsehoods and it’s clearly an incorrect and inaccurate story,” Lembo stated. “We were aware that Houston Alexander had one kidney, passed all of his pre-license medicals (and) he passed his pre-fight medical.

“The only issue with Houston Alexander, and I was the only representative there for the New Jersey State Athletic Control Board because that was after Larry Hazzard was removed from his position and the acting commissioner who replaced him was at a boxing match that was televised by HBO at the Borgata, so I’m the only one that could be involved in this story about the athletic commission.

“I see the quote here: ‘Manager Monte Cox, UFC president Dana White and Doyle were pleading Alexander’s case.’ I’ve known Monte Cox very well for years. I never spoke with Monte Cox with regard to this matter. I obviously know UFC president Dana White. Dana White did not try to convince me one way or the other. He did not get involved in this decision. And I don’t even know Mr. Doyle; I don’t believe I’ve even met Mr. Doyle.

“What happened was my concern over the one kidney. I wanted Mr. Alexander to speak to our ringside physician, who was on staff and assigned to that event, and I sent an inspector as a witness and asked Houston to sign a document after our physician explained to him he risks of fighting with one kidney and what would happen to Houston if he damaged that kidney or possibly destroyed that kidney.

“The risks were explained to him. The level of risks were explained to him. It was not described as a high level of risk. I believe it was described that it would take a ‘miracle level kick’ or a ‘one in the million shot’ to damage that kidney. However, he is an adult and he’s free to make that decision but I felt that I would be remiss if I let Houston fight without knowing if he was advised of the possible medical risks.

“He was given that document after presenting the risks to him and was asked to sign a document that he was informed of the risks, aware of the risks, understood them, accepted them, and that he chose to fight.

“The only person that night that could decide not to fight that night was Houston Alexander. He was approved to fight by the New Jersey State Athletic Control Board.”

Lembo also took great issue with the implication that his only motive for speaking with Alexander was to avert a potential lawsuit and asked for an opportunity to address that statement.

“It’s not an issue of we were fearful of a lawsuit should something untoward happen,” said Lembo. “It was a concern for the fighter that he is advised of the medical risks and the possibilities at stake and that he makes an informed decision.”

Monte Cox was contacted for comment by Five Ounces Of Pain in regards to this story but was unavailable.