Referee Mark Smith did his job as he waved off the Roman Kopylov-Chris Curtis bout with just a second left on the clock

LAS VEGAS -- The seconds were winding down quickly, and so was Roman Kopylov's gas tank. The talented middleweight striker split the first two rounds of his bout with Chris "Action Man" Curtis Saturday on the main card of UFC Vegas 101 at Apex, and he seemed to have a clear advantage in the third as the timekeeper's clapper called out that there were 10 seconds remaining in the fight.

Kopylov was taking deep breaths and gasping for air after a fast-paced and entertaining fight. 

Then, with a handful of seconds remaining, Kopylov threw a left kick that landed on the side of Curtis' face. Curtis wobbled, as he had done several times in the bout, and went down. Referee Mark Smith was in perfect position and was looking into Curtis' eyes. After landing the kick, Kopylov turned his back and walked toward his corner.

Smith opted to call a halt to the bout with a second left, giving Kopylov a KO victory. It's all but certain that Kopylov would have won the third and taken a 29-28 call, but Smith's decision created an interesting question: What is the referee's responsibility at that stage?

If Smith had not stopped the fight, Curtis would have at least had a chance to win, even though it was unlikely. Allowing Curtis to finish after such a hard-fought and spirited battle would have at least allowed him to possibly get a pay-off for his hard work.

But the referee is there to protect the fighters, and Curtis clearly wasn't in position to continue.

Those who question Smith's stoppage would point out that Smith knew there was less than 10 seconds left in the fight and that he could see that Kopylov was in no position to inflict any more damage. Curtis was irate and shouted several times in the Octagon, upset at the stoppage.

Those who believe Smith did the right thing would point out that Smith was in perfect position, was looking into Curtis' eyes and that his job is to protect the fighters and not worry about who wins or loses.

UFC CEO Dana White backed Smith's call.

"Good stoppage," White said via text. "He wasn’t gonna win that fight no matter what and he was hurt like 4 times in that fight and obviously the ref didn’t know there was 1 second left. Chris was hurt bad in my opinion."

It was a fantastic fight that had plenty of heavy contact. Kopylov's jab was consistently popping on Curtis' nose, but Curtis showed plenty of grit and courage fighting his way back into it in the second round. 

Kopylov took over and largely controlled the third, and thus the prevailing opinion among those at Octagonside on Saturday that he'd have won had the final second ticked off.

But did Curtis, after spilling his blood and fighting his heart out, at least deserve the chance to see if he could have somehow won a decision? It would have taken an all-time bad job by the judges in the third for Curtis to win, but then, we have all seen that more than once in this sport.

It's easy to see both sides, but in a sport in which fighter safety must be emphasized, it can't be just words. It has to be taken into practice.

And while Smith could have let the time expire without Curtis taking another blow, he did his job by protecting a fighter who needed him.