Khabib and Bobby Green had hilarious reactions to the controversial split decision.
Sean O’Malley had the performance of his career Saturday at UFC 280, which got him near universal praise for putting up such a great fight against former champion Petr Yan. That being said, most of those people didn’t seem to think he actually won the fight, leading to a lot of outrage from fighters on social media as soon as the split decision was awarded to O’Malley.
One of the more interesting live reactions to the controversial decision was from Khabib Nurmagomedov, who was captured on camera seemingly going through a range of emotions from shock and confusion, to complete disbelief and then utter disappointment.
“Split?!” Khabib exclaimed as Bruce Buffer started to reveal the scorecards.
When it was announced that O’Malley took the victory, Khabib had a completely puzzled look.
“How? How? No, how? How is it possible, brother?” Khabib reacted. He spoke in Russian after, which supposedly translated to “I swear I gave him every round! It was close but he won every round.”
Khabib’s reaction was all of ours last night to Yan-O’Malley #UFC280 pic.twitter.com/Qcawsqme9h
— Spinnin Backfist (@SpinninBackfist) October 23, 2022
UFC lightweight Bobby Green also had a pretty hilarious reaction live. Immediately after the third round ended, he recorded himself and posted an Instagram Story congratulating O’Malley for putting up a good fight.
“Sean O’Malley, you fought with the best. You really shot for the stars, brother. I’m not here to kick you while you’re down, you fought a great fight,” Green said. “No knock, you did your thing, brother. I just wanted to see you test yourself, you did the shit. You ain’t ready to fight that in the division yet, but you’re up there. You’re close. You actually proved it this time. I respect you for going out there and trying.”
Best reaction yet from Bobby Green pic.twitter.com/IE9Gzh4z5o
— Shifting Left Hook (@PoirierEnjoyer) October 23, 2022
The very next Instagram story, was a video of Green reacting to the decision, laughing and screaming at his phone “Robbery! Robbery! Robbery!!”
“This shit is fixed,” Green also wrote.
It was a back-and-forth, close and competitive fight, so it’s not at all comparable to any of the worst robberies in the sport. For what it’s worth though, MMA Decisions compiled the scores of 26 media members and outlets, and every single one scored it for Yan.