Dana White bashes "atrocious" UFC 307 judging, referee makes startling confession about Alex Pereira, and more: MMA News Roundup
Dana White had some select words for the judging at UFC 307 on Saturday. The night's event also saw veteran referee Marc Goddard make a surprising statement about Alex Pereira.
Keep up with the weekend's top combat news updates with Sportskeeda MMA.
Dana White slams UFC 307 judging
With several fights on the UFC 307 card having a split decision outcome, the quality of judging in the event faced some serious scrutiny from the fans and MMA media.
The two fights whose results saw the most backlash were Jose Aldo vs. Mario Bautista and Raquel Pennington vs. Julianna Pena. A majority of the fanbase did not agree with the decisions, including top UFC stars.
Conor McGregor went off at the "dirt decision" after the judges ruled in favor of Bautista. Pena's reclamation of the women's bantamweight title was also plagued with similar criticism.
When asked to comment on the matter during the UFC 307 press conference, Dana White said:
"The judging tonight was atrocious, I felt like I was at a boxing match in Ireland tonight."
Watch Dana White's comments below (03:00):
Marc Goddard says Alex Pereira's punching power is "ungodly"
Alex Pereira made his third successful title defense at UFC 307, knocking Khalil Rountree Jr. out in the fourth round and proving his critics wrong, all at 37 years of age.
While Rountree Jr. showed immense heart and grit, 'Poatan's' 'hands of stone' were too much for him. 'The War Horse' was left severely bruised in the face by the time 'Poatan' was done. The fact that Pereira was on antibiotics and suffering from several injuries during the fight camp makes the win even more impressive.
While looking back on the fight after the main event, Joe Rogan revealed what referee Marc Goddard told him when he was inside the octagon interviewing the two combatants. Rogan said:
"I was in the octagon after the fight, and Marc Goddard came up to me and he said, 'I've been doing this for 20 years.' And he goes, 'The way he hits people - the sound - it's like nothing I've ever heard before.' He said, 'It's ungodly.' That's what he kept saying... Ungodly."
Conor McGregor wins huge last-minute bet
Conor McGregor remained busy on X as the main card of UFC 307 unfolded in Salt Lake City on Saturday night.
Although most of his tweets are deleted now, the Irishman did stake a million dollars on the main event just moments before Alex Pereira and Khalil Rountree Jr. touched gloves. He bet on the fight finishing in a knockout but did not pick a side.
Pereira knocking Rountree Jr. out in the fourth round made McGregor richer by $200,000.