Worst Judging Decisions in UFC History: Top 10 Robberies

The Ultimate Fighter 12 Finale, Dec. 4, 2010, The Pearl at the Palms, Las Vegas. Split decision: Adalaide Byrd 29-28 Garcia, Tony Weeks 29-28 Garcia, Junichiro Kamijo 30-27 Phan. Phan landed 102 significant strikes at 44 percent. Garcia landed 64 at 22 percent, swinging wild hooks that mostly hit air and apparently looked good from ringside.

All five media scores on MMADecisions went to Phan, three of them 30-27. Sherdog named it the 2010 Robbery of the Year and the worst decision ever. Phan said he did not see how Garcia won any of the rounds, and that even cosmetically, if you throw a lot of punches you still have to hit the guy. Garcia later admitted he had worked his style into a judge-favoring position. Both got $30,000 for Fight of the Night, which is its own kind of punchline.

UFC Fight Night 42, June 7, 2014, Tingley Coliseum, Albuquerque. Split decision for the hometown fighter: Jeff Collins 30-27 Sanchez, Chris Tellez 29-28 Sanchez, Marcos Rosales 30-27 Pearson. Pearson outlanded Sanchez 51 to 33 in significant strikes, dropped him in round two and took him down. Sanchez landed at 24 percent.

Fourteen of 14 media scores went to Pearson, 13 of them 30-27. Dana White said Pearson got robbed, called a judge giving Sanchez the second round insanity, and paid Pearson his win bonus anyway. He added that whoever gave Sanchez all three rounds should never judge a fight again. Sherdog's 2014 Robbery of the Year.

UFC 104, Oct. 24, 2009, Staples Center, Los Angeles. Unanimous decision for the champion, 48-47 from Nelson Hamilton, Cecil Peoples and Marcos Rosales. Rua kicked Machida's legs and body for 25 minutes and landed 80 significant strikes to 35.

All five media scores went to Rua, one of them 50-45. Dana White said he thought Shogun won and that he did not see how the judges did not see what everybody else saw. Machida and Rua agreed to an immediate rematch the next day, and the belt changed hands when they ran it back.

UFC 167, Nov. 16, 2013, MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas. Split decision: Sal D'Amato 48-47 St-Pierre, Tony Weeks 48-47 St-Pierre, Glenn Trowbridge 48-47 Hendricks. Rounds two through five were scored the same on every card. Round one decided the fight, and Hendricks had out-controlled St-Pierre 5:27 to 2:52 over the fight while landing 142 total strikes to 125.

Sixteen of 16 media scores went to Hendricks. Dana White called the Nevada commission atrocious and said the governor needed to step in before they destroyed the sport the way they did boxing. Nevada's Keith Kizer answered that the last four rounds were scored unanimously and the first could have gone either way. That is the problem in one sentence.

UFC 282, Dec. 10, 2022, T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas. Unanimous decision, 29-28 from Douglas Crosby, Chris Lee and Ron McCarthy. Gordon landed 100 total strikes to 97 at a far higher rate, 58 percent to 40, took Pimblett down three times and controlled him for 6:28. Pimblett had 35 seconds of control and zero takedowns.

Twenty-three of 24 media scores went to Gordon, 11 of them 30-27. Gordon said everyone knew he was robbed. Dana White went after Gordon instead, calling his game plan horrible and saying he threw the fight away. Eighty-eight percent of fan scores on MMADecisions had Gordon.

UFC 75, Sept. 8, 2007, The O2 Arena, London. Split decision for the local fighter: Jeff Mullen 29-28 Bisping, Cecil Peoples 29-28 Bisping, Chris Watts 30-27 Hamill. Hamill landed 56 significant strikes to 47 at a better rate, 88 total to 65, and completed six of 12 takedowns with more than four minutes of control. Bisping had zero takedowns.

This one is the outlier on the list because the two media scores MMADecisions lists both had Bisping. The crowd and the fighters did not. Hamill said he thought he won, while giving Bisping credit for a fair fight. Bisping, asked about the decision, said of course he won and told the questioner where to go. Three quarters of fan scores had Hamill, and Sherdog put it in its all-time top 10.

UFC 195, Jan. 2, 2016, MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas. Split decision for the champion: Derek Cleary 48-47 Lawler, Chris Lee 48-47 Lawler, Tony Weeks 48-47 Condit. Round three was the swing round. Condit landed 176 significant strikes to 92, though at 35 percent against Lawler's 51, and Lawler scored the only knockdown.

Fifteen of 20 media scores had Condit, two had a draw, three had Lawler. Dana White said he scored it three rounds to two for Condit. Condit, who considered retirement afterward, said it was not his night. This is the most defensible decision in the top seven because Lawler's shots were heavier. It is still a decision most people who watched it got wrong in the champion's favor.

UFC 251, July 12, 2020, Fight Island, Abu Dhabi. Split decision for the champion: Mark Collett 48-47 Volkanovski, Clemens Werner 48-47 Volkanovski, David Lethaby 48-47 Holloway. All three judges gave Holloway rounds one and two. Volkanovski took rounds three through five on two cards, and round three was the one that split them.

Eighteen of 27 media scores had Holloway. Volkanovski outlanded him 137 to 102 in significant strikes over the fight and landed three takedowns, so the case for the champion exists. Dana White did not buy it. He said you cannot leave it to these guys, that there was bad judging, and asked the room whether anybody in the media had it for Volkanovski. The trilogy at UFC 276 settled it 50-45 three times.

UFC 247, Feb. 8, 2020, Toyota Center, Houston. Unanimous decision for the champion: Chris Lee 48-47 Jones, Marcos Rosales 48-47 Jones, Joe Soliz 49-46 Jones. Reyes won the first two rounds on every card and landed 116 significant strikes to 104. Jones landed at 62 percent to Reyes' 44 and got two of nine takedowns.

Fourteen of 21 media scores had Reyes 48-47. The card that still gets talked about is Soliz giving Jones four rounds, which almost nobody else watching could find. Reyes said he went out there and won the fight, and that he called it 3-2 in his post-fight interview before the cards were read.

UFC 291, July 29, 2023, Delta Center, Salt Lake City. Split decision: Derek Cleary 29-28 Pereira, Ron McCarthy 29-28 Pereira, Junichiro Kamijo 29-28 Blachowicz. Everyone gave Blachowicz round one, when he controlled Pereira on the mat for 4:50. Everyone gave Pereira round two. Round three decided it.

This is the honest number 10: 22 of 26 media scores had Pereira, so it is not a consensus robbery. It is here because the numbers are strange. Blachowicz took Pereira down three times, controlled him for 7:32 of a 15-minute fight and attempted two submissions. Pereira had six seconds of control and landed 70 significant strikes to 52, most of them at close range. Blachowicz posted that a bunch of thieves robbed him and that he would be back.