The controversial decision in the Ian McCall–Demetrious Johnson fight at UFC on FX 2 just got more controversial.
The fight was originally announced as a split decision victory for Johnson, which had the fans in Australia booing, as many thought McCall deserved to win. It was later reported that the scorecards had been misread and that Johnson had actually won by majority decision, as one of the judges ruled it a draw.
But it turned out that that was wrong, too: Actually, two judges ruled it a draw. It should have been ruled a majority draw, and the fighters should have had a sudden-victory round. Instead, they’ll have to rematch at a later date.
Because Johnson vs. McCall was a semifinal fight in the UFC’s flyweight tournament, the UFC actually had a plan in place for what to do in the case of a draw: There would be a fourth “sudden victory” round. But because the mistake wasn’t noticed until after the event was over, it was too late for another round. And so McCall and Johnson will have to fight again at a later date.
Craig Waller of the Department of Sport and Recreation in New South Wales, Australia, which is the commission overseeing this event, stood up at the UFC on FX 2 post-fight press conference and said the mistake was his and his alone.
“I take full responsibility for the error that occurred,” Waller said. “Unfortunately I misread one of the scorecards. The fight should have been a majority draw. I apologize to both fighters, to Dana (White) and to every fan of the UFC.”
“Things happen,” McCall said. “We’ll put on another show. I’m happy because I’m a little vindicated but we’ll do it again and that’s awesome.”