Demetrious Johnson and Joseph Benavidez engaged in an entertaining battle to crown the UFC Flyweight championship. In the end, it was Johnson who emerged victorious, but it came with a bit of skepticism as he won via split decision.
Was the fight really close enough for a split decision, or should it have been Johnson across the board on the judge’s scorecards? As with all close fights, it depends on what and how you score different items in a fight. For example, do you credit Johnson with successfully evading the majority of Benavidez‘s strikes or award points for Benavidez being the aggressor?
Judging fights is always a debatable topic, but one that isn’t in the stat numbers involved with fights. A look deeper into the FightMetric numbers of the flyweight clash reveals the title contest wasn’t as close as you’d think.