Few issues infuriate MMA followers greater than a battle being scored incorrectly, although the time period “theft” tends to be thrown round carelessly and is commonly steeped in bias. With Theft Overview, we’ll have a look again at controversial fights and decide whether or not the judges had been rightly criticized for his or her resolution or if pundits want to look at their very own knee-jerk reactions.
Who would have thought that PFL (and Bellator, type of? RIP) would carry us our first scoring controversy of the 12 months?
The PFL Dubai fundamental occasion between light-weight champion Usman Nurmagomedov and Paul Hughes was well-promoted, although based mostly on the chances, Nurmagomedov was the favourite and nonetheless anticipated to make straightforward work of his upstart challenger. It didn’t play out that means as Hughes proved to be greater than a match for Nurmagomedov, expertly clashing with him in all phases of the sport and doing greater than sufficient to win over the group if not the battle itself.
Nurmagomedov walked out with the bulk resolution win, a verdict not everybody agreed with. Notably, Conor McGregor believed it was an “easy win” for his fellow Irishman (a sentiment that predictably gave way to spite later on), and longtime Nurmagomedov household nemesis Dillon Danis tweeted, “Paul Hughes was robbed!” Utterly unbiased takes, clearly.
However the place there’s smoke, there’s additionally tons of of faceless social media customers crying “theft!” together with Danis, so we figured why not take this one to the lab for a uncommon non-UFC Theft Overview?
What was the official outcome?
Usman Nurmagomedov def. Paul Hughes by way of majority resolution.
How did the battle go?
The very first thing that jumps out watching the primary two rounds is the range of the placing food plan of each rivals. Positive, they had been attempting to knock one another’s blocks off, however they combined in loads of physique and leg strikes to nice impact. Nurmagomedov was shredding Hughes’ lead leg early and likewise discovered success spamming facet kicks to the physique. On the opposite facet, Hughes punished Nurmagomedov with physique punches inside throughout clinch sequences and he landed leg kicks of his personal that appeared like they had been bothering the champion on the finish of Spherical 2.
So far as energy pictures go, Nurmagomedov had a pointy counter proper working and likewise scored with a giant elbow on a separation, whereas Hughes’ left hook was cash and he additionally landed a change kick that wowed the group when it pushed an off-balance Nurmagomedov to the mat.
In Spherical 3, we had a pivotal second as Nurmagomedov caught Hughes with a brutal inside kick to the groin. It wasn’t the primary, and it was one too many for referee Mike Beltran, who had little alternative however to deduct Nurmagomedov some extent. That gave Nurmagomedov some floor to make up. Fortunately for him this was the place his wrestling began to shine. He couldn’t maintain Hughes down, however he had success holding on to Hughes, profitable scrambles, and stifling the Irishman’s offense.
The championship rounds had been shut, with Spherical 4 highlighted by an superior visible of Hughes with blood trickling down his face after an unintentional conflict of heads. As Nurmagomedov was being checked out by a ringside doctor, Hughes stood with a smirk on his face earlier than working the group up right into a frenzy. It wasn’t simply showmanship both, as he landed some nice pictures within the spherical with an uppercut on a ducking Nurmagomedov and a tough proper hand from vary.
The ultimate spherical noticed Nurmagomedov put renewed emphasis on his wrestling, maybe feeling he wanted to safe yet one more spherical to take the battle. Hughes refused to go down simply, even with Nurmagomedov clinging onto him with that trademark Dagestani grip till Hughes hit a beautiful change to just about take Nurmagomedov’s again. They returned to the placing and Nurmagomedov landed the very best sequence of the spherical, blasting Hughes with a 1-2 adopted by a knee up the center. Nurmagomedov tried to finish the spherical with a takedown, however Hughes hit one other change, and the battle wrapped up with them swinging as an alternative.
Sensible contest.
What did the judges say?
Sal D’Amato scored it 48-46 Nurmagomedov.
Eric Colon scored it 48-46 Nurmagomedov.
Hadi Ali scored it 47-47.
Scorecards had been all over right here, with rounds 2, 4, and 5 all disputed. D’Amato and Colon gave Spherical 2 to Nurmagomedov, D’Amato and Ali gave Spherical 4 to Hughes, and D’Amato and Ali gave Spherical 5 to Nurmagomedov.
What did the media say?
Eight media scores had been logged by MMA Decisions, with none having it for Hughes. Nonetheless, three did rating it a 47-47 draw, together with MMA Fighting’s own Jed Meshew, who gave rounds 1 and 5 to Nurmagomedov, and rounds 2 and 4 to Hughes, with the center spherical being a draw attributable to Nurmagomedov having the benefit however shedding some extent for the low blow.
What did the individuals say?
On MMA Selections, 25.4 % of voters really gave all 5 rounds to the champion (leading to a 49-45 rating with the deduction). Nonetheless, there have been loads of Hughes backers, too, with 20.4 % having it 48-46 for the challenger. Draw took 19.9 % of the vote.
This was an in depth battle!
How did I rating it?
I had it 47-47 by the tip, however rattling, virtually all of those rounds felt like toss-ups.
I give Nurmagomedov the sting in Spherical 1 and Hughes Spherical 2, but it surely’s not like both ran away with both of these frames. It was the precision of Nurmagomedov’s kicks and his sturdy protection that earned him the primary 10-9, with Hughes taking the second 10-9 on the power of his tempo and that step kick that caught Nurmagomedov slipping.
Spherical 3 is much less controversial than it appears at a look. Nurmagomedov clearly received it on my card, kicking it up a notch within the wrestling division and discovering methods to do injury on these separations. He deservedly misplaced some extent for repeated low blows, although, making this battle really up for grabs going into the championship rounds.
And you already know what? I can hardly separate them. Spherical 4 was 10-9 Hughes for me because of a phenomenal uppercut and constant stress, plus Nurmagomedov didn’t do a lot important injury within the spherical. After which I lean in the direction of the champ in Spherical 5 for touchdown arguably the very best strikes of the battle when he popped Hughes with a 1-2 adopted by a knee to the pinnacle.
So sure, 47-47. Draw!
Was it a theft?
Hardly.
I don’t see in any respect how one can persuade themselves that both fighter did sufficient to tremendously distance themselves from their opponent. That’s not a slam on them both, as a result of this battle dominated, it simply goes to indicate how on-point the matchmaking was and the way high-level Nurmagomedov and Hughes are. I’m satisfied both could be a official contender on the UFC roster in the event that they ever made that leap.
I agree, it sucks to see Hughes take a loss on his report when he did seemingly all the things in his energy to keep away from that final result, however even he mentioned afterwards he felt he left one thing within the tank.
It doesn’t matter what, we have to see these two run it again, ideally immediately.
The ultimate verdict
Not a theft. It doesn’t matter what McGregor and Danis should say about it.
