UFC Fight Night 48 took place this past Saturday in Macao and one of the major topics about the fight card in the aftermath of the event is the decision of UFC President Dana White to remove judge Howard Hughes after the second fight. 
The UFC acted as the regulatory body of the event due to there not being a commission in Macao and UFC Director of Regulatory Affairs Marc Ratner was not in attendance at the event, as he attended the Fight Night card in Tulsa.
Over the last twenty-four hours, respected mixed martial arts journalists Kevin Iole and Ben Fowlkes have published articles that stated that there needs to be a cause for concern with the promoter, White, removing a judge after not approving of his work during an event.
On Tuesday morning, the UFC release a statement on the situation and stated that there was a “breach of its independent regulatory protocol.” In addition, White and the UFC have apologized to Hughes for questioning his scorecards in the first two fights on the fight card that took place in Macao.
“After an internal review, the UFC organization announced today that a breach of its independent regulatory protocol occurred on Saturday night during UFC Fight Night Macao,” the statement said. “After the second fight of the night, UFC President Dana White requested that Howard Hughes, one of the event’s five assigned judges, be removed from working any further bouts. Pursuant to UFC’s protocol, neither White nor any other UFC executive possesses such authority. Nevertheless, protocol was breached and Hughes did not work further bouts on Saturday night.”
“The UFC organization has always been in support of government regulation and oversight. Additionally, the UFC has established a protocol when required to self-regulate events due to the lack of an official athletic commission, federation or other regulatory body. In those instances where UFC holds events in locations without a regulatory body, the UFC’s protocol dictates that the organization’s internal regulators will handle all commission functions independently and without interference by company executives or employees.”
“The UFC remains committed to maintaining the strictest regulatory environment for competition and vows that no similar breach of protocol will happen again. Both White and the UFC apologize to Mr. Hughes for calling his professional judgment into question. Hughes has judged more than 25 UFC fight cards and the UFC looks forward to him working on its events again in the future.”