At the last Hero's card, it was a common belief that there were special rules in Sakuraba x Smirnovas. Basically, before the fight started, someone must have told the referees and judges that the fight cannot be stopped. As you know, Sminovas punched many holes in Sakuraba's head. Sakuraba kept fighting like on auto-pilot and finally got an arm jujigatame, but, at the end, his face and brain were not in good shape.
Of course, it makes sense to have special rules in a business sense. This was Sakuraba's first fight for Hero's, and he was hired to bring in ticket buyers and high TV ratings, especially since Yamamoto Kid is leaving the ring. It would not be a good investment if Sakuraba loses his debut in Hero's. That is why many observers were thinking that the person who told the referees and judges that the fight cannot be stopped is Tanigawa Sadaharu, the producer, or TBS.
The surprise is that the person who gave the special instructions is Maeda Akira, the supervisor. This information is from a staff member in one of the production teams. It is also very interesting that Maeda Akira got very upset after the fight, yelling, "Why don't you stop the fight? Do you want to kill Sakuraba?" Apparently, the referee was very confused by this, since he was just following Maeda's orders from earlier. However, for a long time, some people have known about Maeda's character being this way. He can have very drastic personality changes in a short time. He will say something completely opposite, or he forgets something he said before.
Maybe, though, it is not all because of Maeda. The referee, Okabayashi, is not a very good MMA referee. Sometimes he cannot tell that someone is finished, like in Tokoro x Ikeda. Ikeda was out for many seconds before Okabayashi stopped the fight. But Okabayashi was looking straight at the triangle choke! Other times, Okabayashi stops a fight too early, like Takaya x Jani Lax.
Anyway, I am too chicken to ask Maeda about the truth when I see him next time at one of his favorite bars on Red Cross Street.
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