Khabib Nurmagomedov was enraged to learn that one judge had scored last Saturday’s lightweight title fight a draw heading into the final round.
The legendary former champion was in the corner for Islam Makhachev as he made a record-equalling third world title defence against Dustin Poirier at UFC 302 over the weekend. After a dominant four rounds, the Russian submitted his rival to cement his name in the history books.
But there was controversy throughout the night with judging decisions, and Makhachev was almost caught out in the main event. He seemingly controlled all but one of the rounds, but one judge had the bout all even heading into the fifth.
Khabib Nurmagomedov rages over controversial UFC 302 judging
In a video posted by Red Corner MMA, Khabib Nurmagomedov can be seen running into his old friend and fellow former champion Daniel Cormier backstage. The pair share a laugh, before noting that there was a potentially shocking judging decision incoming.
Cormier noted that Poirier had come ready for takedown defence, to which Nurmagomedov replied: “Yeah, he is much better.” But when the American notified him of how one judge had scored it 2-2, it led to a baffled reaction.
“What? 2-2? How?” Nurmagomedov asked, before noting that there had been a number of wild scorecards during the night.
“One judge, they gave a lot of fight crazy numbers,” he added. “Like 50-45 [in the co-main event between Sean Strickland and Paulo Costa]. Send me this guy’s name and location.”
UFC 302 scorecards left fighters ‘scared’ as bizarre judging almost causes chaos
The night was full of judging controversy, starting in the first fight of the night between flyweights Andre Lima and Mitch Raposo. The Brazilian dominated proceedings, but only won by split decision after one judge scored two rounds against him.
Later in the evening, Sean Strickland comfortably defeated Paulo Costa in a boring five round decision. But when they got to the scorecards, one judge had it in his opponent’s favour, meaning that he only narrowly took the victory.
Speaking with media after his win, Lima said: “I knew I had won all three rounds. 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.”
Strickland was similarly concerned, saying after his win: “You know, man, the judges are crazy guys. I don’t think they watch fights. I don’t think they know fighting. So, you never know. If you leave it in the hands of the judges, it’s, you know, only the gods know.”
Dana White tears into UFC 302 judges after Paulo Costa vs Sean Strickland scorecard
Promotional boss Dana White was another outspoken critic of the judging on Saturday night, particularly as it related to Costa and Strickland. He was enraged by the split decision, and declared that the judge who gave it to the Brazilian should never work a UFC show again.
“It was f***ing nuts is what it was,” White said of the scorecard during his post-fight press conference. “It was insane. That guy should never (judge) a big fight again, they should kick him back down to the minor leagues and let him work on his judging,” Dana White said at the post-fight press conference.
“It’s unbelievable, how anybody who isn’t an absolute f***ing lunatic could call that fight a split decision, I don’t even know what to say about it, it’s insane, that guy shouldn’t be judging big fights.”