It’s not every day a cutman intervenes in a major fight and advises the referee to call off the bout.
Jacob “Stitch” Duran understands the weight of such a decision. Nate Diaz trusts him so much so that Duran’s presence at Saturday’s event was solely to work the corners Team Diaz. Even as uncomfortable as it was, he prioritized his fighter’s health and safety when he called off Diaz’s bout vs. Mike Perry.
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Diaz (21-14) was split open in multiple spots. The cut on the right side of his forehead was squirting blood. Duran gave it his best effort to stop the bleeding, but he’s a cutman, not a magician.
“He ended up with 15 staples, 20 stitches all together,” Duran said in an interview Monday with MMA Junkie Radio. “He was beat up. He was too strong for him. I always look at it as a judge, and at that point, he was getting his ass whooped. Mike was just too strong, too aggressive and he was working him. Then, Nate broke his finger right about here. He said, ‘I couldn’t do nothing.’ The cuts were so big here, it kept pulsating. It kept going and then his nose kept bleeding. It was the sign of maybe a broken nose. I told Nate, ‘I’m going to have the doctor stop the fight, man.’ I said, ‘It’s too much blood and you keep bleeding.’ The referee said, ‘Come on, let’s go.’ I said, ‘No, no, no. He’s not going out.'”
The crowd at Intuit Dome in Inglewood, Calif. didn’t love Duran’s decision, and they let him know with boos. Duran saw the detractors commenting on social media, as well.
Two days later, he’s as confident as ever he made the correct call. And what better reassurance than words of appreciation from Diaz himself.
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“Nate thanked me,” Duran said. “He said, ‘Thanks.’ I said, ‘Of course.’ I was there to take care of him. That was a proper move. The thing about it is he said he couldn’t see. That’s always No. 1. It wasn’t a hard decision to make. … He had blood everywhere. So it wasn’t that hard of a decision to make. My job is to protect the fighter. That’s exactly what I did with Nate. At the end, when we were saying goodbye, he gives me a hug, ‘I love you.’ His dad was there. He thanked me. So of course I did the right thing. No question about it.”
While fans want to see action and the co-main event of Netflix’s Ronda Rousey vs. Gina Carano bout ending in anticlimactic stoppage between Round 2 and Round 3 put an end to that potential, Duran said he’s received compliments from other industry experts – including a boxing legend.
“You know what’s cool?” Duran said. “I got a message from Marco Antonio Barrera from Guadalajara. He thanked me. He said great job. I got a lot of compliments from guys within the industry. They understand. My only job is to give that guy one more round and if he can’t go one more round, to take care of him. So I’m glad I was there for Nate.”
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Cutman explains why he stopped Nate Diaz fight on stool
