“You f**king suck!” MMA fighter GOES OFF on judge for controversial scoring at Fury FC event

Erroneous judging plagues Cameron Smotherman's controversial victory at Fury FC 89.

“You f**king suck!” MMA fighter GOES OFF on judge for controversial scoring at Fury FC event

Cameron Smotherman mocked a judge at Fury FC 89 (Image via: X)

MMA is a relatively newer sport compared to others. As such, the sport has its drawbacks. One such drawback is the erroneous judging. Most of the judges in MMA fights are boxing judges appointed by the Athletic Commission of the jurisdiction. Recently, something like that happened at a Fury FC 89, headlined by Nate Richardson and Michael Aswell.

In the third fight on the main card, Cameron Smotherman fought Ryan Kuse in a bantamweight fight. Smotherman, who fought in Dana White’s Contender Series, went into the fight as the favorite. Nonetheless, the fight went to a decision and Smotherman won via split decision. Two judges had it 29-28 for Smotherman, while the third had it 30-27 for Kuse. Smotherman did not like the 30-27 scorecard one bit.

To that judge who [judged the fight 30-27], you fu**ing suck. I hope you quit.
Cameron Smotherman at the Fury FC 89 post-fight interview
YouTube video

Judges Ricardo Delgado and John Kay had the 29-28 scorecard, while Judge Chance Williams had the 30-27 scorecard. Nonetheless, after the loss at the Contender Series, Smotherman made it two victories in a row at Fury FC.

FS Video

Aside from the appearance, Smotherman fought exclusively at Fury FC. He got the opportunity to fight at the Contender Series after a four-fight winning streak at Fury FC, the last two via finish. However, he could not get a UFC contract as Charalampos Grigoriou TKOed him in the first round.

Controversial judges’ scorecards in recent UFC fights

Even the best MMA promotion is not devoid of erroneous judging. At UFC 300, Arman Tsarukyan defeated Charles Oliveira by split decision. Judge Mike Bell scored the fight 29-28 for Oliveira, to the surprise of the MMA community. Tsarukyan later revealed that the judge apologized to him. Several weeks before, Nassourdine Imavov vs. Roman Dolidze also produced a controversial scorecard at UFC Vegas 84.

Alexa Grasso and Valentina Shevchenko at Noche UFC
Alexa Grasso and Valentina Shevchenko at Noche UFC(Image courtesy: IMAGO)

It was not the first time that Mike Bell made a bad decision. He had scored a 10-8 round for Alexa Grasso at the 2023 UFC Noche against Valentina Shevchenko. Therefore, the fight ended in a split draw and title defense for Grasso. Even UFC CEO Dana White criticized the judging, and Shevchenko blamed it on favoritism due to home-crowd advantage.

Recently, at UFC Mexico, there were controversial decisions in the prelims. Interestingly, both of them had Mike Bell as the common factor. However, this time, the MMA community sided with Bell as he had a 30-27 scorecard for Fares Ziam, but the other two judges had it 29-28 for Claudio Puelles. The other fight was between Victor Altamirano and Felipe Dos Santos. Bell and Junichiro Kumijo scored the fight 29-28 for Dos Santos, while Miguel Jimenez had a 30-27 for Altamirano.

Earlier in 2023, Cory Sandhagen fought Marlon Vera in the main event of UFC San Antonio. In a fight where Sandhagen outclassed Vera, two judges had it 50-45, 49-46 for Sandhagen, and the other had it 48-47 for Vera. Nevertheless, many have provided different solutions to correct the judging, but it is still a problem.

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