It took a while before UFC 315 got its first major judging controversy.
The cageside officials weren’t needed for much of the prelims in Quebec, Canada on Saturday night.
UFC 315 kicked off with Conor McGregor’s teammate getting KO’d in 64 seconds by Bekzat Almakhan.
Soon after, Bruno Silva was carried out on a stretcher after his faceplant KO loss against Marc-André Barriault before light heavyweight contenders Modestas Bukauskas and Ion Cuțelaba squared off at the Bell Centre.
Daniel Cormier slams ‘trash’ UFC 315 result
After 15 minutes of nip-and-tuck striking action, Bukauskas vs Cuțelaba went to the scorecards.
Daniel Cormier and Joe Rogan’s commentary replacement, Dominick Cruz, was confident that Cuțelaba had done enough to win the fight after outlanding his opponent during the first 10 minutes at UFC 315.
However, two of the judges disagreed with the UFC legends, who were left stunned by their scorecards.
Bukauskas, who trains with interim UFC heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall, walked away with a controversial split decision victory courtesy of 30-27, 29-28, 27-30 scorecards.
Cormier called the result ‘trash’ before focusing on the judge who saw every round for Bukauskas.
“That’s trash. That’s actually a very bad decision,” the former dual-weight UFC champion fumed.
“30-27 for Bukauskas? I thought Cuțelaba lost round three, but that was the only round I thought he lost.
“I don’t understand how they are watching two different fights.”
Cormier added: “Who is Pasquale Procopio?”
Cruz said: “They should put their face up there”
What’s next for Modestas Bukauskas?
Bukauskas is edging closer to the light heavyweight rankings during his second UFC stint.
The London-based Lithuanian bounced back from one of the worst mid-fight injuries in UFC history after eating a sickening sidekick to the knee from Khalil Rountree Jr in 2021.
That loss put Bukauskas on a three-fight losing streak and temporarily ended his run in MMA’s premier league.
Two Cage Warriors wins later, he was re-signed by the UFC and since then he’s gone 5-1 in the Octagon.
Now Bukauskas is on a three-fight winning run, he’ll be hoping to face a ranked opponent next time out.