"I was pissed off when I heard that!" - Darren Till slams judges for Israel Adesanya vs Jan Blachowicz scorecards at UFC 259
UFC middleweight Darren Till is among those who do not agree with the UFC 259 main event scorecard.
While it has been widely accepted that Jan Blachowicz won the fight, many have found the scorecard of the bout to be injudicious.
Speaking to ESPN's Ariel Helwani on his MMA Show, Darren Till expressed his discontent regarding the scoring, revealing that he was "pissed off":
"I had maybe three rounds for Jan and two for Izzy. It was about that. But the 10-8? Where the f**k did that come from?... I am sick of this s**t in MMA... A 10-8 is when you beat the guy for the whole round, the guy is out on his feet, you're on top just punching and smashing him, that's a 10-8. No other circumstances is a 10-8. These judges practically just gave an 10-8... I was so pissed off when I heard that, I was really pissed off."
After the official scorecards of the UFC 259 main event were made public, it was revealed that two of the three judges had given a 10-8 score in favor of Jan Blachowicz for the fifth and final round of the bout. As a result, the final scorecard came in at 49-45, 49-46, and 49-45.
Ahead of UFC 259, Israel Adesanya had named Darren Till as one of the few middleweight fights that interests him right now. Darren Till also addressed the callout in the interview, saying it felt good to be called out by the champion.
UFC President Dana White: The scoring was insane
UFC President Dana White is also among those who have questioned the scoring. At the UFC 259 post-event press conference, Dana White openly criticized the judges' scores, calling them "insane":
"The scoring was insane/ These guys are giving out 10-8 rounds like f***ing... there were two rounds in that fight that they gave a 10-8. When I came up in the fight business, a 10-8 was an a**-whupping. You got your a** whupped. You didn’t do s**t in that round and got beat down if it was a 10-8."
"This 10-8 s**t is out of control right now. So hopefully, we can get this fixed. They’re going to screw up a lot of fights, they’re handing out 10-8s like that. There was no 10-8 in that fight."
MMA fans and pundits around the world have spoken up against the 10-8 scoring of the fifth round. Such a score is only meant for cases where one fighter completely dominates and demolishes his or her opponent for the entire round.