"You don't run the risk of losing" - Daniel Cormier slams recent UFC trend of unintentional illegal strikes leading to decisions

Former two-division UFC champion Daniel Cormier [Image courtesy - @dc_mma on Instagram]

The recently concluded UFC Vegas 51 event saw some confusing and debatable decisions in favor of fighters who seemingly hit their opponents with illegal strikes.

Former two-division UFC champion Daniel Cormier took to Twitter to slam the referee's decision-making and the existing rules that led to those decisions. Cormier insinuated that adjudging illegal strikes as unintentional isn't setting the right precedent for fighters. He wrote:

"So win 2 rounds, throw unintentional illegal strike and then hope the guy can’t continue. So that y’all go to judges right then. Sh*t you don’t run the risk of losing."

So win 2 rounds, throw unintentional illegal strike and then hope they guy can’t continue. So that y’all go to judges right then. Shit you don’t run the risk of losing

During the third round of the middleweight co-headliner between Caio Borralho and Gadzhi Omargadzhiev, the Brazilian fighter landed an illegal knee strike on his downed opponent. Although referee Dan Miragliotta deducted a point from Caio, the knee strike rendered Omargadzhiev unable to compete further, leading the referee to call it an 'accidental foul.'

The judges were then asked to score the fight for as long as it went on until the illegal strike, and all three judges scored it in favor of Borralho, who picked up a technical decision win.

A similar thing happened during a heavyweight encounter between Chris Barnett and Martin Buday. During the third round, Buday seemed to land an illegal elbow on the back of Barnett's head, which prompted the referee to end the contest.

However, Miragliotta deemed the illegal strike accidental in this case too, and the judges subsequently scored the fight in favor of Buday, who committed the fight-ending foul.

Aljamain Sterling calls for update in unified rules regarding unintentional illegal strikes following UFC Vegas 51

Aljamain Sterling, the first man in UFC history to become champion via DQ due to an illegal strike, has criticized the current rules allowing the referee to adjudge whether an illegal strike is intentional or otherwise. 'Funkmaster' claimed there'd be no consistency and more controversial decisions down the line if the rules aren't amended accordingly.

I like Borralho, but how do you get a win here? I’m super confused… sucks that the ref you have for the night pretty much dictates how a foul is interpreted. No consistency. Should be a NC at best. #UFCVegas51

The undisputed bantamweight champ urged for the Unified Rules of Mixed Martial Arts to be reviewed and updated.

It’s a flawed system. The unified rules need to be reviewed. Lots of updates need to happen. twitter.com/joeduff6/statu…

In his first fight with Petr Yan last year, 'No Mercy' hit Sterling with an illegal knee to the head, rendering him unfit to continue. The illegal strike was deemed intentional, and therefore Sterling was awarded the victory via DQ and crowned the bantamweight champion.