We couldn’t get through the first card of 2014 without our first controversial decision.
Dustin Ortiz manhandled John Moraga in the first round of their flyweight bout at UFC Fight Night 35, then scored two takedowns and delivered ground-and-pound offense in the third.
But two judges at the Gwinnett Center in suburban Atlanta found two rounds for Moraga, giving him a split decision. All three scores were 29-28.
Ortiz (12-5) controlled the first round against Moraga, who was making his first Octagon appearance since losing to champion Demetrious Johnson in July.
Moraga found his groove in the second round and clearly won it, dishing out a standup beating and then nearly finishing the fight with a choke on the ground. But Ortiz managed to survive.
While Moraga (14-2) scored in the standup early in the third round, Ortiz took over with a pair of takedowns over the final two minutes. Despite his positional control and offense from the top, though, the judges saw it Moraga’s way.
Moraga improved to 3-1 in the UFC.