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In the aftermath of UFC 297 the main event scoring controversy has impacted nearly everyone in the MMA world. The backlash has been so bad it’s even hit Jon Anik and left him wondering if he wants to stay in MMA.
But it’s MMA gadfly Chael Sonnen with the really wild hot take from this weekend’s UFC PPV.
Chael Sonnen scored every round for du Plessis at UFC 297?
Sonnen is a former legendary former UFC title contender who’s just as well known for getting under people’s skin with his mouth.
“I don’t hide my bias. I try to be impartial [but] I’m a human being,” Sonnen said in a recent video uploaded to his YouTube Channel (transcript via MMA Fighting). “So when I have a bias, I disclose it to you guys. I disclose it and then I still try to be impartial. So I’m cheering for Sean. … We lost every round. We lost every round of the fight.”
Sonnen was willing to maybe give Strickland round 5.
“End of the fight comes, and the fifth round I give to Strickland,” Sonnen admitted. “Now, when I say I give to Strickland, I am making a prediction about what I believe the judges are going to do. … I tell you that because, when I tell you that Strickland won the fifth round, I’m not positive he did. It was very close. It was his best round. I don’t think he did, but he might have.”
“In my heart, I think it was 5-0. With a real bias towards Strickland, it was 5-0, and an absolute best case 4-1. And I think the crowd, for the most part, agreed with me. … It seemed like they had no problem with the scores. I was stunned when it was a split decision. And I’m not like most guys, ‘I just want a good, fair adjudication.’ I don’t. I want my guy to win. I don’t care if it’s by hook or crook. I don’t mind that at all.”
Fans and judges were split, but scoring was clear
Unlike Sonnen almost everyone else scoring fell into one of two camps, including official judges. Derek Cleary scored the fight 48-47 du Plessis, as did Eric Colon, with Sal D’Amato scoring the fight 48-47 for Strickland. Of the 23 media members to submit scores to MMA Decisions for the bout, 13 scored the fight for du Plessis, while 10 scored the bout for Strickland. All but one of those scores was a 48-47 for either fighter.
As displayed by the judges cards, the most common thought was that Strickland secured both the first and final rounds, in which he far out-landed du Plessis for both frames. However, the middle three rounds were nearly dead even for strikes landed, with du Plessis securing takedowns in both rounds 2 & 4. Round 3 seems to have been the key tossup round, with Strickland landing 31 significant strikes to du Plessis’ 29. Neither fighter had any control time. That was the only round that the dissenting judge disagreed on.
Sonnen is giving du Plessis every single round is definitely an outlier, but Chael’s not afraid to stand alone and call it like he sees it. And if you’re ever in a Las Vegas hotel and see Chael coming up the hallway, you probably don’t want to get too crucial with him about his opinions.