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Edson Barboza staged a rematch against Paul Felder in the UFC 242 pay-per-view (PPV) co-main event last weekend in Abu Dhabi, a do-over from their 2015 “Fight of the Night” in which the Brazilian captured a unanimous decision victory.
Like their first go-round, their three-round showdown featured plenty of back-and-forth action, but this time, the judges leaned in favor or Felder. Unfortunately, the bout was marred by a wacky scorecard that had both sides scratching their heads.
“We think that the fight was judged inaccurately,” Barboza’s manager Alex Davis told MMA Fighting. “The fact that one judge gave it 30-27 Junior and one have it 30-27 Felder is a big indicator of their confusion. We can’t let this happen. These fighters put a lot of effort and invest their time to get up there to do what they do so we have judges making these type of mistakes and not being reviewed.”
While Davis believes Barboza won the first two rounds, he would not contest a decision that landed 29-28 in favor of Felder. Howie Booth scored it 30-27 for the former with Maria Makemutova marking it 30-27 for the latter. David Lethaby had it 29-28 for the “Irish Dragon.”
The chances of having the decision overturned are slim, as Barboza would have to establish some form of incompetency or dereliction of duty. Being upset that a judge scored it differently than everyone else is simply not enough to overturn a ruling.
Which is why Dana White coined the phrase, “Never leave it in the hands of the judges.”