Author: admin

It was a banner weekend for Doug Crosby.

The longtime mixed martial arts (MMA) judge came under fire for not one, but two scorecards over the last few days, starting with the Danny Sabatello vs. Raufeon Stots main event at Bellator 289 in Uncasville and ending with the Paddy Pimblett vs. Jared Gordon co-headliner at UFC 282 in Las Vegas.

Crosby scored Sabatello-Stots 50-45 in favor of Sabatello (10-9 x5), which made history on Dec. 9 as the first 50-45 scorecard ever recorded for a loser in the MMADecisions.com database. Fellow judges Eric Colon and Bryan Miner scored the contest 48-47 for Stots, awarding “Supa” a split decision victory.

The commission was not impressed.

“One judge had Sabatello winning all five rounds, which is controversial,” Mohegan Athletic Department Director of Athletics Mike Mazzulli wrote (via MMA Fighting). “But ultimately Stots won the decision, which is the correct result. In an effort to make this a learning moment, I have informed all three judges we will be reviewing the fight together.”

Check out our Bellator 289 play-by-play, also scored in favor of Stots, right here.

“This is a very serious situation,” he wrote. “The Mohegan Tribe Athletic Department always looks out for the best interests of all fighters. In the past the Mohegan Tribe Athletic Department has sanctioned officials that are not performing to the level that is required. Such sanctions, when they occur, are not made public.”

Crosby then scored the Pimblett fight 29-28 in favor of “The Baddy” the following night, despite the fact that 23 of the 24 media outlets providing UFC 282 results and play-by-play scored the bout in favor of Gordon. Also turning in a “wrong” scorecard was MMA judge Ron McCarthy, son of veteran referee “Big” John McCarthy (more on that here).

Nevada Athletic Commission is unlikely to take any action.

MMA judging continues to be a hot-button topic and despite so many issues in the past, there doesn’t appear to be any urgency in overhauling the system, or at least providing a more comprehensive training and review process for the officials assigned. Until that happens, all we can do is recycle that tired old line about hands and judges.

Former champion Mauricio Rua wants to retire from the sport in his home country of Brazil.

Former UFC light heavyweight champion Mauricio Rua finally feels ready to hang up his gloves. Having dedicated 20 years of his life to mixed martial arts, the Brazilian has announced – in a conversation with Combate – that his upcoming bout at UFC 283 will be his last one.

Paired up against Ihor Potieria for the January card, Rua believes that the timing feels right to say goodbye, especially since the card will be taking place in his home country of Brazil. However, all the accomplishments ‘Shogun’ has gathered over the last two decades have also made him realize it was the right moment to retire.

“I feel happy about this fight. It’s going to be my farewell and I’m glad it’s going to be in my country, my home. I’m happy, I’m grateful to the UFC for being one of their oldest athletes. I’ve been with them for 15 years, there’s nobody else there who has been with them for that long. I’m grateful for everything. It’s really going to be Shogun’s MMA farewell. I’ve been fighting for 20 years. I started out really young. I’ve been fighting at a high level for many years. I’ve been fighting the best since 2005. I’m an accomplished guy and I thank God for everything I’ve conquered in my career. Because I’m so accomplished, this has made me stop at the right time.”

Although his opponent is 15 years his junior and has an impressive 18-3, Mauricio does not feel worried about the pairing ahead of their fight. In Rua’s opinion, it is the newcomer Potieria who will the most pressure, since he needs to show his worth to the promotion and make a statement when he takes on the veteran.

“I’ve studied him. He’s a southpaw. He’s tall. He likes muay thai. Of course I’m studying him, because that makes a big difference these days. I think the pressure is mostly on him. He has to win. Of course I’m focused on fighting my fight, on winning, but he’s just starting his UFC career. He’s on his way in, I’m on my way out. It’s my last fight, for sure. I’m not so hard on myself anymore. My obligation is just to do my best. That’s how I think.”

Currently on a two-fight losing skid, Shogun (27-13-1) has lost rematches to Ovince Saint Preux and Paul Craig in his most recent outings. The 41-year-old’s last win dates back to July 2020, when he scored a split decision win over Antonio Rogerio Nogueira in their trilogy bout.

Now, Rua is expected to take on Potieria at UFC 283, on January 21, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The card is scheduled to be headlined by a light heavyweight title fight for the division’s vacant belt, between former champion Glover Teixeira and contender Jamahal Hill.

Coach Eugene Bareman likes Israel Adeasanya’s chances in a rematch against Alex Pereira.

Israel Adesanya’s coach Eugene Bareman is already looking forward to a rematch with reigning UFC middleweight champion Alex Pereira. The City Kickboxing founder recently spoke with Submission Radio, saying they are “quietly confident” about another go-around, should it happen.

“We’re quietly confident. You gotta understand, we were winning that fight relatively comfortably,” he said. “We felt we were taking the rounds. But not comfortable enough – when you’re fighting somebody like that, whose game plan appears to be, it’s not a guy who builds his game plan around accumulation of damage.

“He’s a guy that builds his gameplan around mentally wearing down and trying to land one big shot. And he’s comfortable giving rounds and then not panicking because he gives away rounds and it’s part of a bigger picture for him.

“Setting up what he ultimately is looking for. And with a few adjustments, we can make some changes there and build on a lot of positive things that happened in that fight for us.”

“The Last Stylebender was stopped via TKO in round five, something he says was a bit premature. Bareman, however, does not have a problem with it at all.

“The body ultimately is not designed to take blunt force trauma like that. So, yeah. And people’s expectations of teams and families and friends and fighters, it’s ridiculous. It’s ridiculous, ‘cause every punch you receive to the head, unfortunately, what’s becoming more and more clear as time goes on, and we invest a lot more time and money into studying this, unfortunately, every punch we receive to the head, it looks like it does permanent damage and irreversible damage.

“So, we have to take this very seriously. And I’m not gonna disagree with you, there was a chance that Israel may have made some sort of recovery and carried on. But at the end of the day, I deemed it, and Marc Goddard had deemed that there was a greater chance that he may have been hurt even worse than he was.

“ So, that’s why I said I was happy with the stoppage. And at the end of the day, we lived to fight another day. Israel seems to be healthy, healthy and happy, and enthusiastic to get on with business. So yeah, I think it’s the right call.”

Adesanya is so far 0-3 against Pereira in both kickboxing and MMA. After UFC 281, his record dropped to 23-2.

“I feel like someone owes me a favor right now.”

The biggest news to break after Saturday’s UFC 282 event is the new vacant light heavyweight title fight between former champion Glover Teixeira and Jamahal Hill. The bout is expected to headline UFC 283, which takes place on January 21 in Rio de Janeiro in Brazil.

It’s a matchup that for the most part, makes no sense for most observers. Former title challenger Anthony Smith, for one, was booked to headline a UFC event against Hill in March.

“Lionheart” was part of the ESPN+ broadcast crew for UFC 282, and here was his reaction upon hearing the news.

“Uh, yeah that’s a problem. Yeah, that’s a big problem for me. Yeah, I don’t know,” Smith said (quotes via MMA Mania).

“It kind of leaves me with nobody, that’s the problem. Ankalaev just fought, Racik is injured, Blachowicz just fought, Jamahal Hill was left, Glover Teixeira was available and now he’s not…

“We’ll figure it out. I don’t know, the London card is coming up, I like London this time of year. I feel like someone owes me a favor right now, so … I don’t know. We’ll figure it out.”

The 34-year-old Smith (36-17), broke a three-fight win streak when he lost to Magomed Ankalaev at UFC 277 in July.