CABMMA rules Leandro Silva vs. Drew Dober a no-contest

Finally, some justice for Drew Dober.

Despite earlier reports to the contrary, Dober's bogus submission loss to Leandro Silva at UFC Fight Night 62 has been overturned to a no-contest by the Brazilian MMA Athletic Commission (CABMMA).

During the second round of their bout, Silva was trying in vain to finish Dober with a guillotine choke, while Dober, in no real danger in Silva's half-guard, worked to escape. While sliding his head out of the choke, referee Eduardo Herdy inexplicably called for a stop to the fight, and Silva was awarded the submission victory.

The CABMMA initially said there was nothing they could do about Herdy's decision, so their change of heart comes as a bit of a surprise.

MMAFighting.com provided the CABMMA's full statement, excerpted below:

The Brazilian MMA Athletic Commission (CABMMA) has done a relevant research and analysis of precedents involving government and independent regulatory bodies to decide on how to proceed in Leandro Silva-Andrew Dober's case. There was no international jurisprudence found and record of overturned result based on an incorrect judgment call of the referee, when specifically not related to misinterpretation of the rule.

After receiving a detailed technical report from Mr. Eduardo Herdy, referee in charge of the bout mentioned in the case, which in the end clearly states that his stoppage was to preserve the fighter's integrity, being that his highest responsibility when it comes to the duty of a referee, he has admitted his professional mistake and is willingly in favor to forgo his authority in the bout.

Due to the factors involved and after receiving Mr. Andrew Dober's formal appeal, CABMMA has defined a fourth provision regarding the change of decision after contest or exhibition, which follows below. "The Executive Committee may, on an exceptional basis, revert a decision to "no contest" if it determines that a good faith judgment call of a referee was mistaken and therefore considered a self-evident error. Such decision may be taken provided (i) an appeal is filed with the commission within 72 hours of the relevant bout, (ii) the appeal is accompanied by a video (or link thereto) of the bout showing the challenged judgment call, (iii) upon request by the Executive Committee, the relevant referee presents a written justification of his judgment call and (iv) after analysis of the relevant video and justification , the Executive Committee determines that the judgment call was in good faith but considered a self-evident error." ...

Regarding Mr. Eduardo Herdy, CABMMA is thankful for his professionalism in recognizing this error, helping the entity evolve in its regulatory affairs in Brazil by seeking the development of higher standards and demonstrating his commitment as an official referee of the sport.