On Saturday in Manila we saw another two questionable decisions rendered by the judges. Yao Zhikui convinced two judges to score his fight with Nolan Ticman in his favor in the show’s opener. Later on the same night, Philippe Nover was given the nod against Yui Chul Nam leaving many fans scratching their heads, and Dana White steaming on twitter.
It is a problem that is synonymous with not just mixed martial arts, but all of combat sports. Judging in MMA shouldn’t really be subjective, but it is. You only have to look at the long history of boxing to know that we will be debating decisions for decades to come.
There are even those who don’t believe it is a problem. There are many fans who love the debate that rages every time judges turn in scorecards that we don’t agree with. Some actually like judges scoring incorrectly and commend them for punishing fighters with certain styles, insisting that it is for the good of the sport.
As someone who does not share those views, I was prompted to take a look back over every UFC fight that went to a decision from January 1st 2014, through to that card in Manila on Saturday.
Bear in mind, the fights noted as questionable decisions, are just that, questionable. This does not mean that every single one of them was scored badly by the judges, merely that there was some disagreement among media and fans alike as to the outcome.
For a decision to make the questionable list, there must be credible media scorecards available for comparison. Of those, the ratio in favor of the winner must be 5:3 or worse. Gian Villante’s split decision victory over Sean O’Connell at UFC Fight Night 43 in June of last year serves as the benchmark. Of the sources checked, five scored it in favor of the winner Villante, and three scored it for O’Connell.
In addition fights that were later deemed no contests due to failed drug tests, have still been included. While the official results of those fights were changed, the scorecards were handed in and remained relevant on the night.
In total there have been 326 fights go to a decision. 52 of those fights have made it onto our list based on the criteria above.
ONLY 7% OF DECISIONS IN CANADA MAKE THE LIST
Discarding individual countries who have less than ten fights going to a decision, Canada lead the way when it comes to decisions that lack controversy with just 7% deemed questionable. Of the 30 fights that have gone to the judges since January 1st 2014, only two of them made the list: Andrei Arlovski’s win over Brendan Schaub at UFC 174; Paul Felder’s win over Jason Saggo at UFC Fight Night 54.
NEARLY 1 in 4 DECISIONS IN ASIA QUESTIONABLE
Grouping the countries that have not hosted as many cards together, it is Asia who stand head and shoulders above the rest for the highest number of questionable decisions. Of the fights that went to decision on Asian soil, 23% of them were debatable. Over a similar number of fights that figure was just 13% for Europe and 7% for Canada. Both China (3 from 10) and the Philippines (2 from 7) stood at around the 30% mark which significantly effected Asia’s score.
NEVADA LEADING THE WAY IN THE UNITED STATES
Nevada is often referred to as the fight capital of the world. When its Athletic Commission makes moves within the sport of mixed martial arts, others often follow. When comparing them with the rest of the USA, they fall well below the average for questionable decisions. Just 12% of the fights that went to a decision in Nevada were debatable. By comparison, Texas’ score was 19%.
WHICH JUDGE COMES OUT WORST vs THE MEDIA
Perhaps most important, at least in the eyes of the people turning in scorecards online and giving their own opinion on how these fights should have been scored, are the situations where judges specifically disagreed with the general concensus. Below is a complete list of every judge who has scored ten or more decisions. Noted are the number of fights where the media disagreed with the fighter they had scored as the winner.
There should also be a special mention for Larry Landless who had a 100% hit ratio for scoring against the general media consensus. Landless was involved in just one fight that went to the cards, Tony Ferguson’s split decision win against Danny Castillo at UFC 177. It was Landless who turned in a 29-28 scorecard for Castillo.
AND WHAT ABOUT THE FIGHTERS
Former Cage Warriors Welterweight Champion Cathal Pendred has clearly been doing something to please the judges since joining the UFC. Two of his three bouts have gone to decision and both times the MMA media scored in favor of his opponent, yet judges awarded Pendred the fight.
At UFC Fight Night 53 the media voted in favor of Gasan Umalatov 7-4. Pendred was awarded a split decision by the judges. He followed that up in January with a unanimous decision victory over Sean Spencer at UFC Fight Night 59. On that night the media overwhelmingly voted in favor of Spencer, with all 16 of the sources we checked scoring the fight for him.
Dustin Ortiz serves as living proof that karma is real. Ortiz started 2014 dropping a decision that few agreed with to John Moraga at UFC Fight Night 35. While all 9 media sources scored in Ortiz’ favor, two of the judges disagreed and Moraga won a split decision. Ortiz year would quickly improve. In fights against both Ray Borg at UFC on Fox 11 and Justin Scoggins at The Ultimate Fighter 19 Finale, media scored in favor of Ortiz’ opponents. Both times Ortiz was given the nod by split decision.
Josh Thomson was the only fighter throughout the period to be on the wrong end of two questionable decisions. In January of 2014 he failed to please two of the judges scoring his fight with Benson Henderson. Media sources had scored 13-3 in Thomson’s favor. Thomson would be involved in another close fight in July against Bobby Green, once more coming up short with a split decision loss. The fight was so close that four media sources scored it a draw, and the rest scored 6-5 in Green’s favor.
AND THE AWARD FOR MOST CONTENTIOUS SHOW GOES TO…
The show with the most questionable judging took place in San Antonio, Texas on June 28 last year. UFC Fight Night 44, headlined by Cub Swanson vs Jeremy Stephens, saw 7 fights go to a decision. Three of those provided questionable results.
Ricardo Lamas was awarded a unanimous decision victory over Hacran Dias, with two 30-27 scorecards and one 29-28. Five of the 11 media sources checked scored the fight for Dias.
Nine of 11 sources checked scored Antonio Braga Neto as the winner over Clint Hester, however two of the judges disagreed. Aladin Martinez and Joe Soliz both scored the bout 29-28 as Hester took a questionable split decision victory.
On the same card Joe Ellenberger picked up a split decision win over James Moontsari in a fight that not one single source believed he won. Eight had scored the fight for Moontsari, three had it as a draw, and not one had Ellenberger as the winner.
THE FULL FIGHT LIST
The full list of fights, with judges and media scorecards are detailed below. Be sure to look out for future updates to the list as the year progresses.
John Moraga def. Dustin Ortiz (29-28, 29-28, 28-29 – Media 0-9) – UFC Fight Night 35
Benson Henderson def. Josh Thomson (49-46, 48-47, 47-48 – Media 3-13) – UFC on Fox 10
Alan Patrick def. John Makdessi (29-28, 29-28, 30-27 – Media 0-10 with one draw) – UFC 169
Iuri Alcantara def. Wilson Reis (30-27, 30-27, 28-29 – Media 6-5 with one draw) – UFC Fight Night 36
Rodrigo Damm def. Ivan Jorge (29-28, 29-28, 29-28 – Media 5-6 with one draw) – UFC Fight Night 36
Alexis Davis def. Jessica Eye (29-28, 29-28, 28-29 – Media 9-8) – UFC 170
Lipeng Zhang def. Wang Sai (29-28, 29-28, 27-30 – Media 1-9) – TUF China Finale
Kelvin Gastelum def. Rick Story (30-27, 29-28, 28-29 – Media 4-7 with one draw) – UFC 171
Hans Stringer def. Francimar Barroso (29-28, 29-28, 28-29 – Media 3-9 with one draw) – UFC Fight Night 38
Jim Alers def. Alan Omer (29-28, 29-28, 28-29 – Media 5-5) – UFC Fight Night 39
Dustin Ortiz def. Ray Borg (29-28, 29-28, 28-29 – Media 4-10 with one draw) – UFC on Fox 11
Miesha Tate def. Liz Carmouche (29-28, 29-28, 29-28 – Media 8-5) – UFC on Fox 11
Robbie Peralta def. Rony Jason (29-28, 30-27, 27-30 – Media 6-4) – TUF Brazil 3 Finale
Sean Strickland def. Luke Barnatt (30-27, 29-28, 28-29 – Media 0-11) – UFC Fight Night 41
Ed Herman def. Rafael Natal (30-27, 29-28, 29-28 – Media 5-5 with two draws) – UFC Fight Night 40
Joe Ellenberger def. James Moontsari (29-28, 29-28, 28-29 – Media 0-8 with three draws) – UFC Fight Night 44
Clint Hester def. Antonio Braga Neto (29-28, 29-28, 28-29 – Media 2-9) – UFC Fight Night 44
Ricardo Lamas def. Hacran Dias (30-27, 29-28, 30-27 – Media 6-5) – UFC Fight Night 44
Gian Villante def. Sean O’Connell (29-28, 29-28, 28-29 – Media 5-3) – UFC Fight Night 43
Andrei Arlovski def. Brendan Schaub (29-28, 29-28, 28-29 – Media 1-13 with one draw) – UFC 174
Diego Sanchez def. Ross Pearson (30-27, 29-28, 27-30 – Media 0-14) – UFC Fight Night 42
Bobby Green def. Josh Thomson (29-28, 29-28, 28-29 – Media 6-5 with four draws) – UFC on Fox 12
Dustin Ortiz def. Justin Scoggins (29-28, 29-28, 28-29 – Media 4-6 with one draw) – TUF 19 Finale
Sarah Moras def. Alexis Dufresne (29-28, 29-28, 30-27 – Media 3-8) – TUF 19 Finale
Russell Doane def. Marcus Brimage (30-27, 29-28, 28-29 – Media 1-11) – UFC 175
Tony Ferguson def. Danny Castillo (29-28, 29-28, 28-29 – Media 10-6 with one draw) – UFC 177
Neil Magny def. Alex Garcia (30-27, 30-27, 29-28 – Media 6-5) – UFC Fight Night 49
Royston Wee def. Yao Zhikui (29-28, 29-28, 27-30 – Media 3-3 with one draw) – UFC Fight Night 48
Milana Dudieva def. Elizabeth Phillips (30-27, 29-28, 28-29 – Media 1-6) – UFC Fight Night 48
Brian Ebersole def. John Howard (29-28, 29-28, 28-29 – Media 5-6) – UFC 178
Kiichi Kunimoto def. Richard Walsh (29-28, 29-28, 28-29 – Media 0-10) – UFC Fight Night 52
Iuri Alcantara def. Russell Doane (29-28, 29-28, 29-28 – Media 7-5) – UFC Fight Night 51
Rafael Natal def. Chris Camozzi (29-28, 29-28, 28-29 – Media 2-9 with two draws) – UFC Fight Night 50
Paul Felder def. Jason Saggo (29-28, 29-28, 28-29 – Media 4-7) – UFC Fight Night 54
Cathal Pendred def. Gasan Umalatov (29-28, 29-28, 28-29 – Media 4-7) – UFC Fight Night 53
Chico Camus def. Brad Pickett (29-28, 29-28, 27-30 – Media 6-7) – UFC Fight Night 57
Marco Beltran def. Marlon Vera (29-28, 29-28, 29-28 – Media 1-9) – UFC 180
Claudio Silva def. Leon Edwards (29-28, 29-28, 28-29 – Media 2-9 with one draw) – UFC Fight Night 56
Warlley Alves def. Alan Jouban (29-28, 29-28, 29-28 – Media 1-12) – UFC Fight Night 56
Joanna Jedrzejczyk def. Claudia Gadelha (29-28, 29-28, 28-29 – Media 2-12) – UFC on Fox 13
Robbie Lawler def. Johnny Hendricks (49-46, 48-47, 47-48 – Media 3-12 with one draw) – UFC 181
Ryan Bader def. Phil Davis (29-28, 29-28, 28-29 – Media 7-5 with one draw) – UFC on Fox 14
Cathal Pendred def. Sean Spencer (30-27, 30-27, 29-28 – Media 0-16) – UFC Fight Night 59
Donald Cerrone def. Benson Henderson (29-28, 29-28, 29-28 – Media 2-12) – UFC Fight Night 59
Douglas Silva de Andrade def. Cody Gibson (30-27, 29-28, 29-28 – Media 6-6) – UFC Fight Night 61
Chris Dempsey def. Eddie Gordon (29-28, 29-28, 28-29 – Media 3-13) – UFC on Fox 15
Sergio Moraes def. Mickael Lebout (29-28, 29-28, 29-28 – Media 5-7 with one draw) – UFC Fight Night 64
Liz Carmouche def. Lauren Murphy (29-28, 29-28, 29-28 – Media 3-10) – UFC Fight Night 63
Al Iaquinta def. Jorge Masvidal (29-28, 29-28, 27-30 – Media 2-13) – UFC Fight Night 63
Kyle Noke def. Jonavin Webb (29-28, 29-28, 27-30 – Media 2-9) – UFC Fight Night 65
Yao Zhikui def. Nolan Ticman (29-28, 29-28, 28-29 – Media 1-8 with one draw) – UFC Fight Night 66
Philippe Nover def. Yui Chul Nam (29-28, 29-28, 28-29 – Media 1-11) – UFC Fight Night 66
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