Adalaide Byrd who was known for her incredibly bad scores for Canelo vs GGG, was judging at UFC 222.
Adalaide Byrd took a break from judging after she came under fire for her indefensible scorecards at boxing’s Canelo Alvarez vs Gennady Golovkin match up. After working a few more smaller boxing events, the judge returned to score mixed martial arts bouts at UFC 222.
Commentator Jon Anik brought this up during the prelims, and it is where his broadcast partner in Joe Rogan had a laugh at Byrd’s expense.
Here’s the transcript:
Anik: I can tell you boys, that one of the three judges for this fight is one Adalaide Byrd. First time judging since that controversial August 2016 decision in GGG vs. ‘Canelo’ Alvarez, so don’t shoot the messenger.
Rogan: We just both had a heart attack. Oh God, she was driving a Ferrari for that fight.
Daniel Cormier: (laughs) Oh my goodness.
Rogan: She’s a nice lady though.
Cormier: She’s a great lady. The other day I saw her at The Ultimate Fighter… (laughs) She’s a very nice lady, let’s just leave it at that.
Rogan: She’s a very nice person. So is my mom, but I wouldn’t want her judging any fights.
Cormier: (Laughs) Oh my goodness, somebody get Joe Rogan! (Laughs) Somebody get Joe Rogan!
Rogan: My mom would be like, “Oh Canelo is handsome! I’ll give him the round.”
(They all laugh)
A few minutes deeper into the preliminary bout between Bryan Caraway and Cody Stamann, and the topic went to Byrd again, with Cormier joining in.
Cormier: Leaving an impression in the judges’ minds is especially important. Especially… with…
(They all laugh)
Rogan: Don’t say it! Don’t say it! (laughs) We’ve given that lady enough problems.
Watch Joe Rogan rip on controversial #boxing judge Adalaide Byrd at #UFC222 pic.twitter.com/xdSpupBx6G
— Ryan Harkness (@Ryan_Harkness) March 4, 2018
While the broadcast crew joked about her presence, Byrd was indeed involved in some very questionable scoring that night.
As MMA Decisions notes, Byrd worked three UFC fights on Saturday night that went to the scorecards, with all three of those bouts ending in split decisions. Most notably, she was the only judge to give a very questionable 29-28 score for Ashley Yoder. The correct fighter still ended up with the victory, but it was still a pretty suspect scorecard, with basically every single media outlet easily scoring it 29-28 the other way for Mackenzie Dern
Byrd, along with Sal D’Amato, also gave a 29-28 score to Cody Stammann, who ended up winning the split decision. Most outlets thought Bryan Caraway should’ve won that fight.