I also thought the stoppage in round 3 was much too quick. It's true Thompson had taken by my count four unanswered shots and was a bit staggered, but he seemed able to defend himself and did not seem badly hurt.
I usually would never question a referee's erring on the side of protecting a fighter, but here what the referee seemed to be protecting was EliteXC's investment in Kimbo, not Thompson's safety. The stoppage is especially hard to explain when you consider that the referee let Thompson pound Kimbo without much of an answer for what seemed like at least a minute at the end of the second round...
BTW a poster on another discussion board claimed that in round one or two the ref stood up the fighters when Thompson had Kimbo in side control. I thought I saw that happen too -- does anyone else remember it that way?
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