Controversial judging was one of the major stories coming out of UFC Fight Night: McGregor versus Siver. Donald Cerrone was involved in one of the decisions which left many upset with the abilities of commission selected judges.
His fight against Benson Henderson was a compelling matchup, but few will remember the action rather than the dialogue surrounding whether or not the judges selected the correct winner. Digging deeper into the fight will uncover that while the fight was close, Cerrone did not do enough to have his hand raised in victory.
Doug Crosby, Sal D’Amato and Mike Mena were the three judges during this co-main event. They scored the fight 29-28 for “Cowboy.” Marc Raimondi of MMA Fighting sent out a tweet of an image with the official scorecards from the bout. Crosby and D’Amato awarded Cerrone the first two rounds of the fight, while Mena gave him the last two.
Looking at the statistics provided by FightMetric, the appearance is that Henderson was the more effective fighter of the two. Henderson landed 86 of 155 significant strikes compared to 57 of 125 for Cerrone. While Henderson has been known as a wrestler of sorts throughout his MMA career, it was Cerrone who attempted seven takedowns, being awarded one.
Breaking those numbers down round by round also shows that Henderson out-struck Cerrone in every round of the contest. The third round was very tight between the two, as Henderson landed 29 of 50 total strikes compared to Cerrone‘s 22 of 44.
One may question the validity of these statistics to determine a winner based upon where those strikes were landing. Sixty-one percent of Henderson’s strikes were landed to Cerrone‘s legs. He implemented a lead thrust kick to Cerrone‘s front leg that landed multiple times throughout the fight. Only 15 percent of his strikes were thrown to Donald’s head. Cerrone, on the other hand, evenly distributed his strikes across Henderson’s frame during the bout.
The outcry from the MMA media across platforms such as Twitter was immediate. Individuals such as MMA journalist James Lynch expressed their disbelief for the decision being awarded to Cerrone.
The unified rules that are used to govern mixed martial arts call for bouts to be judged upon effective striking, grappling, control of the ring/fighting area, effective aggressiveness and defense (via UFC.com). Those factors create an air of subjective judgement which make it difficult to create a black and white case for fights that are as close as this contest. The numbers show that Henderson landed more strikes, but Cerrone was the fighter who was moving forward toward his opponent throughout most of the bout.
Still, that movement should not negate the fact that Henderson was more effective in the fight. He was more accurate with a higher volume of attempted strikes. Plus he effectively defended much of Cerrone‘s offense and takedown attempts. Both of these aspects are firmly within the realm of MMA’s unified rules.
Controversial decisions are going to happen in mixed martial arts. So much so that “Robbery of the Year” has become a staple among awards provided by media outlets covering the sport. UFC Fight Night: McGregor versus Siver gave the fight community two examples. Donald Cerrone found himself on the right end of a questionable decision that will be debated for weeks to come.
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