UFC 254 Scorecards: Gaethje was leading after first round

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Before Khabib Nurmagomedov choked Justin Gaethje unconscious, ‘The Eagle’ was down on two out of three scorecards.

In the main event of UFC 254 Khabib Nurmagomedov earned a definitive victory over Justin Gaethje to defend his UFC lightweight title. To get the win ‘The Eagle’ used a triangle choke to put Gaethje to sleep in the second round. The 29-0 Dagestani then put his gloves down in the center of the cage and announced his retirement from the sport.

The first round of the contest was far more competitive. The five minute frame featured Nurmagomedov chasing Gaethje down with his jab, some flying knees and takedown attempts, resulting in an armbar attempt at the end of the round. Gaethje was able to avoid most of Nurmagomedov’s offense and was able to score a few hard hits when the champion stepped into range; snapping his head back with a punch and buckling him with a leg kick.

According to the official scorecards from the bout, Gaethje’s counter striking won him the first round with two of the three cageside judges siding with the American over Nurmagomedov. You can see those scorecards below, courtesy of our friend Shakiel Mahjouri of Fightful MMA.

Mahjouri also shared the scorecard for the co-main event: Robert Whittaker vs. Jared Cannonier. Whittaker won the bout by unanimous decision, which many believe makes perfect sense. However, some have questioned what the judges were watching with Cannonier being awarded round one by judge David Lethaby and round two by judges Derek Cleary and Sal D’Amato.

One of the event’s most interesting set of scorecards pertains to Da Un Jung vs. Sam Alvey, which ended in a split draw. The fight was a draw despite Alvey out-striking Jung over the course of the contest. UFC News shared the scorecards for this one. They show that Judge Ben Cartlidge scored the fight a draw thanks to a 10-8 score he awarded to Jung in the third. David Lethaby scored the fight for Alvey and Darryl Ransom sided with Jung, with those judges only disagreeing on the winner of the first round.

The only other fight that reached a decision was the exciting catchweight clash between Casey Kenney and Nathanial Wood, which Kenney won by unanimous decision. Those scorecards are presented below.

All the scorecards from UFC 254 can be viewed on the UFC’s official website.