Henry Cejudo tasted defeat for the third time in his comeback run last night, but not without a good slice of controversy.
The legendary two-weight world champion was poked in the eye by Song Yadong towards the end of the third round of their UFC Seattle main event. And after taking the full five minutes to get back to his senses, he was forced to call off the fight after losing vision in his eye.
However, legendary referee John McCarthy believes there may have been one key issue with the fight’s stoppage and eventual technical decision. After helping to establish MMA’s ruleset and overseeing some of the biggest fights in UFC history, nobody is a better advocate to speak on officiating issues.
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Henry Cejudo vs Song Yadong refereeing error explained
After the third round, Henry Cejudo could be heard repeatedly telling his corner that he could no longer see out of his left eye. As such, a ringside doctor was called into the octagon and referee Jason Herzog was left needing to stop the fight.
He insisted that the fourth round start for one second so that they could reach championship rounds, at which point a fight-ending foul sees the bout sent to the judges’s scorecards prematurely. However, McCarthy has issue with the three scores of 29-28×2 and 30-27.
“If the eye poke had happened in the second round it would have probably ended up as a no contest,” McCarthy explained to Josh Thomson on their Weighing In podcast. “Which I guess would have been better for Henry but it’s not better for the sport or for the UFC as a whole.
“The UFC can always bring this fight back if they want. But having no contests is not good for the promotion; you want people to move forward, you want to have a winner in the fight…
“The score should have been not 29-28 or 30-27. On the 30-27 for example, it should have been a 40-37 because the fourth round should have been scored 10-10 by all the judges. They didn’t get to see anything so it’s a 10-10 round but that’s what tells you that it went into the fourth round.
“This is what happens when you have states that don’t do a whole lot of MMA shows and stuff. You have people working at the thing who don’t even think about it. Sal D’Amato, one of the judges, knew that he had to fill out a card for the fourth round they just didn’t use it.
“It’s okay, it’s just a technicality but it’s wrong as far as the scores should have been 40-37 on one and a 39-38 on the other two.”
Henry Cejudo shows off gruesome injury after UFC Seattle stoppage
While fans were initially frustrated by Henry Cejudo’s decision to call the fight on Saturday night, he has now proven his case. He took to social media to share a photo of his left eye, which was clearly bloodshot and showing signs of damage.
Diplopia, soft tissue damage and corneal abrasion was the official analysis that he shared alongside a fairly gruesome picture. He also recorded a video message which he captioned: “Thank you to all of my fans and all of my haters.
“Well that’s not how I wanted the night to end for the fans, for Song, and definitely not for myself. We need to run this fight back ASAP!!!
“Dana White, I heard what you said but I encourage you to reconsider. All respect to Song, you are a warrior… but you did not win this fight and I did not lose. We have unfinished business. And I know that you agree. Run. It. Back.
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