Should this tragic fight have been stopped earlier?

Debate is raging about whether the fateful bout between Charlie Ward and Joao Carvalho ought to have been brought to a close long before the referee jumped in.

Some say the fight should have ended earlier, while others maintain the official was simply doing his job in waiting for the defeated fighter to stop defending himself.

UFC featherweight champion Conor McGregor, who was in attendance, told MMA Connect TV after the fight that he "thought it could have been stopped a little earlier".

In MMA bouts, the referee is left to decide when a fighter has taken enough damage.

Of course nobody could have predicted the tragic outcome of the fight-ending blows from Ward, but it has caused an explosion of discussion on MMA and the brutal nature of the sport.

Mariusz Domasat, who was in charge of the fight that eventually caused Carvalho's death, maintains he made the right call.

"If you watch the fight you see clearly there was no reason to stop the fight earlier," Domasat told the Irish Daily Star.

"I stopped the fight when there was a reason to stop the fight, when the fighter wasn't willing to fight anymore, that's it.

"Everyone who has any idea about MMA knows the fight was stopped at the exact proper time.

"I am an experienced referee and part of the Irish Amateur Pankration Association of Safe MMA and I know what I am doing."