Despite dominating the proceedings from bell to bell, Andre Lima almost lost his undefeated record due to a bizarre scorecard.
Brazilian flyweight prospect Lima kicked off the action against Mitch Raposo at UFC 302 and won decisively in the eyes of most viewers. But as the scorecards were read, one judge went against the 30-27 that his peers concurred on, claiming that the American had actually won two rounds to go 29-28.
The result baffled viewers and commentators, with the general consensus being that he had done enough in all three rounds. And speaking after the fight, he admitted that the judging concerned him greatly.
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Andre Lima admits controversial UFC 302 scorecard left him ‘scared’
Lima was not interviewed after the fight in the octagon, but spoke to media in the Prudential Center after the fact. Speaking through a translator, he explained his thoughts on the decision and his concerns about its implication.
“I knew I had won all three rounds,” he explained after the fact. “So when Bruce Buffer started saying the name of the judges I was scared. I thought ‘no way they are going to give it to this son of a b**** but it was pretty clear for me and I think for everybody else.
“When they announced the second scorecard I looked to my manager and he was like ‘don’t worry about it’. Then they announced my win so I was able to relax a little bit more.”
Andre Lima explains massive weight miss for UFC 302 fight
A clear asterisk over the Brazilian’s win on Saturday night was his inability to come anywhere close to the flyweight limit for the fight. Fighters must tip the scale at 125lb for the division, although non-title bouts are given a 1lb exception, meaning he was allowed to come in at 126lb.
But Lima arrived at weigh-ins at 130lb, meaning he was forced to give up 30 per cent of his purse in order for the bout to go ahead. He admitted that the monumental miss, which could have been enough to cancel the fight, was a black mark over his night.
“I am very upset, as everybody was, with my weight miss,” he added. “It’s something that is not normal for me. I don’t quite know what happened, we had an error on my diet or it was the travel but I did all that I could.”
Lima looked considerably bigger than his opponent, who made weight early on Friday morning, in the cage during their exchanges. But he plans to stick around in the division instead of moving up to bantamweight, where he could tip the scales as high as 136lb.
“I was in the bath between 6am and 9am trying to make weight,” he explained. “I did my hardest and I am still thinking about staying at flyweight, if my coaches and my managers think it’s better for me to go to bantamweight I’ll do that easily as well.
“But I am ready to show everybody that flyweight is my division and next fight come here, make championship weight, get the bonus and show everybody that I belong here. So I’m very upset but willing to do whatever is best to make sure that never happens again.”