UFC lightweight vet Vinc Pichel is not happy with the judges after his controversial defeat at UFC Mexico City.
Vinc Pichel has been on the right end, and the wrong end, of several razor-thin decisions during his UFC tenure. After a close fight at UFC Mexico City, Pichel was extremely critical of the judges and felt he deserved the nod on the scorecards.
Lightweights Rafa Garcia and Pichel helped kick off the action at UFC Mexico City on Saturday night. The card didn’t disappoint, featuring some viral finishes and bizarre moments in and out of the Octagon.
Pichel and Garcia treated fans to a ‘Fight of the Night’ contender during the UFC Mexico City prelims, but not without a bit of controversy.
Vinc Pichel scolds UFC Mexico City judges after controversial loss
It was a back-and-forth battle between Garcia and Pichel. Garcia got off to a fast start against Pichel, but Pichel outlanded Garcia by a significant margin in Round 2.
In Round 3, Garcia and Pichel traded big blows, but the fight went the full three-round distance. After the fight, Garcia got the nod on all three judges’ scorecards to win a unanimous decision.
Two judges scored it a shutout for Garcia (30-27 x 2) while one gave him the nod by a score of 29-28. Two of the three judges didn’t give Pichel the second round despite landing significantly more volume.
It didn’t take long for Pichel to react on social media, and he’s not happy.
In a post-fight statement to X, Pichel claimed he deserved the nod at UFC Mexico City.
“Someone call the cops I’ve been robbed!
“Just goes to show you gotta get a finish to beat a Mexican in Mexico, even if he was born in the United States,” Pichel posted along with the side-by-side fight statistics.
Many of Pichel’s followers agreed that he should’ve gotten the nod on the scorecards. The 42-year-old Pichel was in desperate need of a win after back-to-back lopsided defeats to Ismael Bonfim and Mark Madsen.
Now, Pichel’s roster spot is potentially in limbo after UFC Mexico City, and he arguably deserved the nod on Saturday against Garcia.
UFC Mexico City prelims featured a rare blunder from legendary broadcaster
Garcia vs. Pichel wasn’t the only noteworthy event during the UFC Mexico City prelims. Octagon announcer Bruce Buffer had a rare blunder in announcing a fight’s winner, and a star was born in the form of a Cameroonian hopeful who earned a wild knockout.
UFC Mexico City delivered a fun night of fights despite Joe Pyfer vs. Kelvin Gastelum getting canceled on hours’ notice. Pyfer withdrew due to an illness he suffered from after Friday’s ceremonial weigh-in.
Austin Hubbard vs. MarQuel Medeiros, UFC Mexico City’s kickoff fight, also had some head-scratching judging on the scorecards. Medeiros walked away with a decision victory despite Hubbard’s late rally.
As for Pichel, he’s been a lightweight mainstay in the UFC since his promotional debut in January 2014. He’s fought the likes of Roosevelt Roberts, Jim Miller, and Anthony Njokuani during his career.