Dana White wants to ban UFC judge Dave Tirelli over dissenting score in Sean Strickland vs. Paulo Costa split decision
Dana White is furious with judge Dave Tirelli's controversial scoring for Sean Strickland vs. Paulo Costa at UFC 302.
Former middleweight champion Strickland largely dominated 'Borrachinha' during the co-main event of the pay-per-view. However, 'Tarzan' was granted a split-decision win instead of a unanimous one.
The differing judge on the panel was Tirelli, who ruled the fight 46-49 in Costa's favor, while the other two officials scored the bout 50-45 and 49-46 for the American.
Given that Strickland outlanded Costa during the contest and even scored multiple knockdowns over the Brazilian, such a lopsided scorecard in favor of 'Borrachinha' invited a slew of criticism.
White was enraged with the dissenting judge's scoring. During the post-fight press conference, the UFC CEO called for Tirelli to be banned from scoring big mixed martial arts events in the future:
"There were some weirdos [who] were f*****g nuts, that's what it was. Insane. That guy should never ref a big fight again. They should kick him back to the minor leagues and let him work on his judging. It's unbelievable. I mean, how anybody who isn't an absolute f*****g lunatic could call that fight a split decision. I don't even know what to say about that, it's insane."
Check out Dana White's comments below:
Strickland improved his MMA record to 29-6 with his win over Costa. 'Tarzan' now wants to fight for the title in his next octagon outing. Since he lost the title to Dricus du Plessis in a controversial split decision, 'Tarzan' might very well get his wish.
Additionally, UFC 302 has turned quite lucrative for the promotion. According to White, the event broke the arena record by raking in a live gate of $7.25 million with 17,834 fans in attendance.