"Vegas insider decision," "Clear robbery" - Fans react as UFC Mexico prelims see three split decisions with controversial scorecards
Three fights on the UFC Mexico prelims resulted in split decision victories for the fighters. Fan reactions to the scorecards suggest that a large section of the MMA community strongly disagrees with the judging.
Chute Boxe Academy standout Felipe dos Santos won quite a few fans for bringing the fight to Manel Kape in his UFC debut in September 2023. Dos Santos scored his first UFC victory against Victor Altamirano at UFC Mexico via split decision.
Judges Mike Bell and Junichiro Kamijo scored two of the three rounds for Dos Santos while Judge Miguel Jimenez gave all three rounds to Altamirano. Many fans, fellow fighters, and journalists seem to agree with Jimenez.
According to UFC's official statistics, lightweight fighter Farez Ziam outstruck his opponent Claudio Puelles 58 to 17 in terms of total strikes landed and 31 to 4 in terms of significant strikes. Although Puelles succeeded in seven of the total 13 takedown attempts, he failed to launch meaningful offense on the ground.
While Ziam was declared the winner, one judge scored two out of the three rounds in Puelles' favor. MMA journalist Aaron Bronsteter highlighted the statistical difference in an X post:
Mateus Mendonca, who was on a two-fight losing skid, went into his UFC Mexico fight against Jesus Aguilar in an attempt to score his first UFC victory. According to the UFC's official statistics, Mendonca outstruck and out-grappled Aguilar in the three-round contest.
However, judges Horacio Lopez and Mike Bell scored the fight in Aguilar's favor, while Judge Eric Colon scored the fight in Mendoca's favor.
MMA journalist Alex Behumin gave a strong-worded reaction to the scoring while highlighting that a three-fight losing skid might end Mendonca's UFC tenure.
Catch fan reactions below:
