‘I don’t want to do this anymore’: Max Rohskopf withdraws from UFC bout despite coach ignoring pleas

UFC fighter Max Rohskopf called off his own debut on Saturday night after two rounds – against the wishes of his coach Robert Drysdale, who was imploring him to continue. 

Rohskopf, 25, who was making his debut in the Octagon and was only drafted in for the fight 10 days ago, struggled in the opening two rounds against Andrew Hubbard in Las Vegas.

And during the break between rounds, Rohskopf repeatedly implored his trainer to ‘call it’, but Drysdale continued to motivate his fighter – until, in the end, Rohskopf got his wish by refusing to leave his stool. 

Max Rohskopf repeatedly asked his trainer Robert Drysdale to call off the fight on Saturday

But Drysdale ignored those requests and implored his fighter to continue with the bout

The Nevada Athletic Commission confirmed afterwards that they will investigate the incident, in which Drysdale has been criticised for ignoring the pleas of his fighter.  

In the end, given Rohskopf’s state of mind, the referee called off the fight to hand victory to Hubbard.  

Rohskopf struggled in the first two rounds of his UFC debut and did not want to continue

‘That’s something we will take a look at,’ NAC executive director Bob Bennett told ESPN. 

‘We might want to take disciplinary action on them. That doesn’t sound like they are looking out for a fighter. Obviously, he didn’t want to come out (and fight).’ 

After the fight, Rohskopf’s manager said his man ‘suffered from fatigue due to [a] short-notice weight cut and pre-existing turf toe.’ 

Andrew Hubbard was dominant against Rohskopf and was eventually awarded the victory

The 25-year-old was checked by a doctor after the fight – his first in the UFC

The situation comes after two recent UFC events that put the spotlight on the unwillingness of corners’ to stop fights.

Last month, Anthony Smith’s corner was questioned for letting his fight with Glover Teixeira go on too long, with referee Jason Herzog apologising for his role.

And more recently at UFC 250, Amanda Nunes beat Felicia Spencer over 25 minutes, which led to questions about whether the fight could also have been stopped sooner.