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Questionable Judging at UFC Jacksonville on ESPN

by matmartial · Published May 17, 2020 · Updated September 22, 2020

UFC Defiant in the face of global pandemic

The UFC proudly, and some might say, defiantly produced its third night of mixed martial arts fights in eight days and again aired them on ESPN. The fights took place inside an empty arena in Jacksonville, Florida on May 16. Just like the prior two UFC events this past week, Saturday night’s action was fierce and exciting, and the show seemed to come off without a hitch.

But not if you ask insiders. MMA commentators and fans are roundly condemning the quality of the MMA judging in Jacksonville. That’s right. It wasn’t just Saturday’s event, but all three UFC events held there during the past eight days have been marred by questionable judging decisions.

These same fans are unlikely to forget the highly suspect judges’ score cards following an impressive showing by Dominick Reyes over Light Heavyweight Champion Jon Jones at UFC 247 in Houston, Texas back in February.

Alistair Overeem vs Walt Harris post fight analysis

The UFC’s May 16 Card boasted a lineup of 11 fights across six divisions. The Main Event was headlined by two heavyweight goliaths: Holland’s Alistair Overeem and American sweetheart Walt Harris. Harris gave Overeem all the trouble he could ever want in round one. The American busted up the Dutchman’s face, which immediately opened, blood pouring down his face and onto his shoulders and chest.

allistair overeem vs walt harris
ufc fight night results last night
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analysis — **UFC Heavyweight Allistair Overeem after his knockout loss to Jairzinho Rozenstruik.**

Immediately, an image of Overeem’s last fight flashed in my mind. In Washington D.C., in December, Overeem lost by devastating knock out to Jairzinho Rozenstruik. I can still see Alistair’s lip hanging off of his face after referee Dan Miragliotta stepped in and held Overeem back after he somehow miraculously jumped back to his feet after having been dropped to the canvass, unconscious, by one last devastating Rozenstruik straight right hand.

The judges were again unnecessary in the main event. This time it was Overeem who made sure of that with his fists, and his ability to control Harris on the ground.

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UFC Referees

The referee was again Dan Miragliotta. In the first round, when Overeem was badly hurt, Dan let the fight go on longer than I was actually comfortable with. And whenever a referee does that I can’t help but think of the first fight in Brazil between Heavyweight Champion Cain Velazquez vs Junior Dos Santos. I don’t know if I can ever forgive Referee Herb Dean for letting that fight go on for as long as it did. Not after Herb himself placed his own hand on Junior Dos Santos’ shoulder – a worse than half-assed attempt to intervene and do the sensible thing and STOP THAT FIGHT.

I was reminded later that Dan Miragliotta was the referee who allowed Shane Carwin to absolutely pummel an unconscious Frank Mir at UFC 111.

Fighting and the Human Condition

Don’t get me wrong. I love this sport. Not the beating and blood. It’s these costly reminders of the human condition. Man against man. And not some random act of violence. But trained man against trained man.

The fights are violent and painful, but even more challenging is what the fighter puts himself through to prepare for his moment of destiny, to fulfill an elemental and essential aspect of the human condition. To show what he is made of for all to see and learn from and be inspired.

To be strong so that others might also be strong. And as an unintended result, accidentally flirt with fleeting glory.

MMA Fighting Royalty: Alistair Overeem

On Saturday night, Dan Miragliotta had seen enough before the end of the second round. Harris was a real danger to Overeem, and had hurt him very badly. But Walt Harris made a mistake and lost his base.

Overeem took him down and didn’t let him back up, eventually, taking Harris’ back, flattening him out, and bashing repeated right hands into Harris’ right ear and the side of his head.

Overeem impressed me again. Not with his fighting skills (that should go without saying), but with his class as a man and a human being.

In a poignant moment after Miragliotta ended the beating, in an empty arena devoid of fans, the ESPN mic picked up Overeem telling a still face-down Harris, “Let’s train together.”

Fighting is in our DNA

There are always so many narratives coming in to an event like a UFC Fight Night. Far too many for me to cover, or for me, or any of us, to even know about. You see, fighting is important. It is something that we do. If we are to move forward, if we are to survive, we must fight.

Then what about the judging. Since we know that fighting is in our DNA and is an important aspect of the human condition, then fight judges must be important too.

The world of MMA and the world of the UFC are fascinating communities full of so many dynamic relationships that they are sure to capture the imagination for a large segment of the population for a long, long time. As long as our DNA remains constant.

UFC Judges vs UFC Referees

Withing these worlds, a sharp contrast reveals an intriguing difference between MMA judges and MMA referees.

MMA referees have become famous celebrities in their own right. I believe that every single UFC commentator from Joe Rogan to Jon Anik have, more than once, lauded praise upon referees like John McCarthy, Herb Dean, Jason Herzog, and many others. Rogan and his colleagues repeated call some of these refs “the best in the business.”

MMA referees have Twitter pages and Instagram pages. Some refs have podcasts. Some refs, like Herb Dean and Big John McCarthy have websites on which they sell classes to apparently teach you to become an MMA referee, or even an MMA judge.

By contrast, even the most ardent MMA or UFC fan would be hard pressed to name even a couple of judges.

So why, then, do the judges routinely let us down? They seem to operate in relative anonymity, with admittedly certain notable exceptions.

UFC on ESPN: Jacksonville Florida MMA Judges

Bad Decisions

I counted two decisions, two bad decisions out of six decisions on an 11 fight card, that were the wrong decisions. 100% wrong, bad, incorrect decisions. The bad decisions at UFC Jacksonville on May 16 were:

SOOOO CLOSE! 😬

🇧🇷 @ClaudiaGadelha_ gets the split decision at #UFCFL. pic.twitter.com/Md4yRcfizG
— UFC (@ufc) May 17, 2020

After dropping a split decision to Dan Ige at UFC on ESPN, on Saturday, in Jacksonville, Florida, Barboza’s manager Alex Davis told MMA Fighting’s Guilherme Cruz that they are planning to appeal the judges’ call.

Barboza’s loss to Ige comes eight months after his previous fight, a split decision loss to Paul Felder at UFC 242 in Abu Dhabi. Following the decision loss to Felder, Barboza’s team filed an appeal with the UFC who were handling regulation for that event, but the decision was upheld.

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Edson Barboza vs Dan Ige post fight analysis

In a statement after the fight, Davis said the issue goes much further than the decision rendered in Barboza’s fight. He cited decisions in Claudia Gadelha vs. Angela Hill and Yadong Song vs. Marlon Vera, three fights with questionable decisions all on the same card on ESPN in Jacksonville, as examples of the ongoing problem with MMA judging.

“We’re going to appeal on the call,” Davis said. “We’re from Florida; I have a very good relationship with [Florida State Boxing Commission chief] Patrick Cunningham, who’s a very constructive guy. We’ll definitely appeal on a question of principle. It has to be done.

“But the problem is much bigger than that. This is something that just keeps on happening in the sport. The day after tomorrow, everybody’s forgot about it, except for the person that was on the wrong side of these decisions. We’ve got to do something about this. It just keeps on happening. In my mind, Barboza won the first and second rounds clearly. I don’t understand how the judges picked Ige. And what we need to understand is, how are they coming up with the decisions? We just don’t know. Unfortunately, Edson is going to be 1-4 in his last five fights, and two were decisions. What does that do to his career and his paycheck? The problem is something the whole MMA community has to face. We have to come up with a better system so fighters and their careers don’t get hurt.”

On Saturday, two judges scored the fight 29-28 in favor of Ige, with Barboza picking up a lone 29-28. 13 of the 16 media members who scored the fight gave it to Barboza.

On Sunday, Davis released another statement in which he indicated that he spoke to Cunningham and was told that an appeal can only be filed under extraordinary circumstances, such as a “suspicion of fraud” or “use of illegal substances.” With no grounds to file a complaint of that nature, Davis will not go forward with an appeal.

UFC Score Card: Appealing the UFC Judges’ Decision

The text of Davis’s statement:

“I spoke with Patrick Cunningham this morning, the chief of the Florida State Boxing Commission, and he was very cordial, he listened to what I had to say, but, by law, he can’t have appeals filed unless it’s under suspicion of fraud or use of illegal substance. I’m not accusing anyone of fraud, let alone accusing Dan Ige of it — he’s a great fighter and fought really well. Even though I think the decision was completely wrong, I can’t file this appeal.”

Can’t even lodge a complaint about the UFC judging? Can’t even file an appeal of the judges’ score cards at a sanctioned MMA event?

It shocks the conscious to learn that with so much on the line there is no accountability in for MMA judges in the UFC.