The referee's job is a hard one. Not stepping in at the exact right time often results in scrutinization from fans or fighters. While it's harsh to expect perfection from referees at all times, it's necessary. Fighter safety is of the utmost importance and is the primary reason for the referee's presence.

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Stoppages are often contended differently by fans. While the MMA community might argue over a stoppage, at least it's not universally early or late. The incompetent referees have been sifted out, and major promotions like UFC will often have the same group of adept officials to do the job. With that being said; everyone has a bad day at work sometimes.

10 Khabib Nurmagomedov Vs Thiago Tavares

Khabib Nurmagomedov's third UFC fight saw him taking on Thiago Tavares. While Khabib was yet the well-rounded fighter that fans know today, he still posed threats beyond his wrestling. A leaping lead uppercut floored Tavares and some brutal follow-up shots ensued.

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Khabib landed some relatively lighter shots as Tavares went to underhook a leg of Nurmagomedov. This left the stunned Thiago open for Khabib's resolving blows. Switching from elbows to hammerfists, Nurmagomedov landed north of 10 inessential but heavy shots. Khabib walked away from the fight as the winner, but Dan Miragliotta shouldn't have let the beating go on for so long. Dana White was very unhappy with Miraglitta's officiating.

9 Valentina Shevchenko Vs Priscila Cachoeira

"There are layers to this" is often exclaimed in the fight game, but the amount of levels really showed when UFC newcomer Priscila Cachoeira somehow made her debut against Valentina Shevchenko. This bout really shows how deep the talent pool is in the UFC. While Priscila is entered as a high-level fighter, the space between her and Valentina was obvious.

One of the harder to watch fights in the UFC, Shevchenko showed her pedigree at Cachoeira's expense. Referee Mario Yamasaki let this beating go on for far too long. 230 strikes to 3, Priscila was defeated long before the fight was over.

8 Chad George Vs Mark Vorgeas

Bellator 136 hosted Chad George's incredible victory over Mark Vorgeas. Chad won by way of Von Flue choke. This choke is very deceptive in its attack, as it's a submission to counter a submission held too long.

Chad went to side control and Mark held onto the guillotine choke albeit void once Chad passed to the side he was on. George used a combination of his and Vorgeas' shoulders to eliminate the blood flow to the brain and Mark was out. Chad felt this and told the referee that his opponent was out. The referee argued that Mark wasn't out, although he clearly was. Thankfully, Chad didn't land any unnecessary blows, but the fight still should've been stopped rather than argued about.

7 Luke Rockhold Vs Chris Weidman

Chris Weidman's undefeated record and title reign came to a screeching halt at the hands, kicks, and elbows of Luke Rockhold. This was a competitive fight that tilted heavily in the favor of Luke after Chris decided to throw a very risky kick, one that completely changed his career's trajectory.

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Rockhold took Weidman down off of the failed wheel kick attempt, secured mount position and unleashed heavy ground and pound on Weidman's face. There were far too many shots, and this fight could've been stopped 30 seconds or 20 strikes earlier, but Herb Dean let it go to the end of the round. The fight was stopped shortly into the next round, as Chris wasn't able to recover in between rounds.

6 C.B. Dollaway Vs Khalid Murtazaliez

An absolute blunder on Herb Dean's part was the astonishing amount of damage Dollaway was allowed to take when fighting Mustazaliez. This beating was particularly hard to watch because of the way C.B. isn't even fighting for a remotely effective position, rather is just laying on his stomach.

The commentators were in awe at Dean's lack of officiating here. Herb isn't the type to make these mistakes often, but it seems that his missteps have been rather large ones.

5 Chris Weidman Vs Mark Munoz

Chris Weidman showed how well-rounded he was against Mark Munoz. One of the most beautiful counters ever was birthed when Chris dropped Mark. Munoz lunged in with a looping hook and was met with Weidman's elbow.

Chris followed Mark on the way down with some extra strikes to make sure of the finish. Munoz was unconscious and couldn't defend himself. However, the referee allowed a good amount of unnecessary strikes land.

4 Matt Brown Vs Pete Sell

Fighters' instincts are usually to fight until the referee concludes the action. That wasn't the case here, as Matt Brown was the fighter and essentially the referee also. Pete Sell proved to be too tough for his own good and Brown didn't want to do more harm than necessary.

Matt put Pete down very quickly, and it seemed like the fight was stopped as the referee, Yves Lavigne, rushed in and made contact to stop Brown from moving forward. Yves changed his mind though, and told Matt to keep fighting. Brown was very vocal and kept asking for the fight to be stopped, which happened eventually.

3 Joseph Benavidez vs Deiveson Figueiredo 2

Joseph Benavidez is a fan favorite and one of the best fighters to never win UFC gold. 0-4 in UFC title attempts, the final grasp was against Deiveson Figueiredo. These two previously met, but that match is painted in controversy, as Figueiredo missed weight and a headbutt seemed to interfere with the fight severely.

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There was no controversy the second time around as far as the winner goes. Multiple knockdowns and heavy ground and pound cleared the air on who was walking away as champion. Joseph gave up his back and was fully extended in what is one of the most painful to watch UFC submissions. Benavidez's eyes rolled up, and he was clearly out, but the ref let it go a little later than it should've. Although it wasn't necessarily damaging, it was a haunting sight.

2 Asha Roka Vs Hannah Kampf

Incompetent officiating is quite an unsettling sight. When Hannah Kampf fought Asha Roka, she didn't have the referee to save her, rather her corner and UFC vet, Dennis Hallman. A poor takedown attempt left Hannah's neck vulnerable and Asha seized the opportunity.

A guillotine choke that lasted entirely too long put Kampf out pretty quickly. Hannah was clearly out, but her body would twitch intermittently, which was the only sign of life in the fighter. Dennis saw enough and not only threw in the towel, but scaled the fence to go rescue Kampf himself.

1 Francisco Trinaldo Vs Jai Herbert

Maybe not the worst stoppage that the MMA world has seen but one that sparked a good deal of controversy. The UFC did Jai Herbert no favors when giving him the task of Francisco Trinaldo as his debuting fight for the organization. Jai actually did incredible, up until a powerful shot put him out.

Commentators Dan Hardy and Paul Felder both showed disgust when Herb Dean didn't stop the fight right away. Paul and Dan both being fighters, and Trinaldo hesitant to throw another shot; it seemed that every fighter in that room knew that the fight was over. Herb did not, however. Extra shots landed, and Dan Hardy screamed "Stop the fight!" before Herb stepped in. Not much ado about nothing, these shots were very obviously unnecessary. Herb and Dan exchanged words after, perhaps being the cause of Hardy's departure from the company.