Jason Da Silva-USA Today Sports
MMA judging needs to be fixed. While this was already the consensus of most MMA fans, it has never been more apparent than today, in the wake of a terrible decision at UFC on FX 8.
In the second fight of the main televised card, Evan Dunham took on Rafael Dos Anjos in a dynamic lightweight fight. Both fighters came into the fight riding waves of recent success. The stakes were high in this bout, as the winner was set to fight a top contender and soon be in striking range of a title shot.
While both fighters came out aggressively, Dunham clearly put greater pressure on Dos Anjos and peppered the native Brazilian with a series of significant strikes. By the time the third round came around, Dos Anjos’ face was battered and bloodied from Dunham’s relentless attack.
When the final horn sounded, it seemed certain that ring announcer Bruce Buffer would announce Dunham as the victor by way of unanimous decision. That unanimous decision, however, inexplicably went to Dos Anjos.
After the decision, a wave of angry MMA fans took to social media to voice their displeasure of the judges’ decision. UFC President Dana White followed suit and criticized the judges by way of his Twitter account.
Dos Anjos, on the other hand, was satisfied with the decision and offered no apologies for taking the victory.
In a post-fight interview with Fuel TV, Dos Anjos stated he was confident he would get the decision victory shortly before the judges’ scores were read. “Yeah, I was confident,” Dos Anjos said. “I won the second and the third round, so I was really confident.”
Most MMA fans watching the fight, however, felt the opposite.
