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The Texas Department of Licensure and Regulation defends the controversial judging of UFC 247.
Multiple fights at UFC 247 raised eyebrows and voices for its inconsistent judging, but the Texas commission is standing behind its judges.
UFC light-heavyweight champion Jon Jones won a unanimous decision against challenger Dominick Reyes. Many fans and most media members had the fight 3-2 for Reyes, but some believe Jones cinched it 3-2. Judges Chris Lee and Marco Rosales each scored the fight 3-2 for Jones. What really has people up-in-arms is how Joe Solis scored it 4-1 for Jones.
The Texas Department of Licensure and Regulation addressed the controversy in a statement to MMA Junkie on Monday.
“As in all athletic events, athletes, teams, judges, fans and media representatives can – and often do – have differing opinions about what happened in a combative sports match,” commission spokesperson Tela Mange said. “TDLR applauds the passion everyone is exhibiting about this sport. Comments have been made about the selection of the judges and the referees. In selecting ringside officials, TDLR takes into consideration recommendations made by UFC. As with all events, TDLR works closely with UFC and other promoters to ensure the quality and experience of referees and judges to protect the health and safety of the fighters.”
During the preliminary fight between Lauren Murphy and Andrea Lee — another controversial decision — Joe Rogan and Dominick Cruz accused one of the judges of looking down at either the floor or his phone.
“Claims have been made that a judge was not paying attention to the fight and was looking down at the floor,” Mange said. “One of the advances that UFC has made in the past several years has been to provide small video monitors below the floor level of the Octagon for each judge to more closely monitor matches.”
There were even more egregious scorecards at UFC 247 in Houston. Andre Ewell was awarded a very unlikely 30-27 in a split decision win over Jonathan Martinez. Additionally, judge Solis somehow awarded round one of Trevin Giles vs. James Krause to Giles despite Krause having back control for four minutes of the round and nearly sinking in a rear-naked choke on more than one occasion.
I’m sure the UFC, or Rogan, will respond to this at some point.