While last Saturday’s UFC Night offered some great moments, the judges have become the biggest talking point of the event. In the main event, Alexa Grasso and Valentina Shevchenko tied at two, which led Grasso to defend her title in their long-awaited rematch.
With no clear winner after a very close fight, Grasso and Shevchenko will likely meet again shortly in a trilogy fight after the inconclusive result. Although the fight itself delivered on all fronts, many believe Shevchenko was deprived of a split decision in her favour. Judge Mike Bell scored the fifth and final round 10-8 in favour of Grasso, resulting in a 47-47 verdict that led to a 2-2 tie.
Jon Anik denies that the fifth round was 10-8 for Alexa Grasso
Although it’s quite reasonable to see how Grasso could have won the round after taking Shevchenko’s back at the end, a 10-8 score was a highly disagreeable one. After giving his initial reaction to the cards when a graphic appeared on the live broadcast, UFC commentator Jon Anik has shared his thoughts on the scoring of round five.
In his opinion, even Shevchenko’s victory makes more sense than a 10-8 down, Anik praised the breakdown of the fight and the way it was scored by the Severe MMA podcast. “Outstanding material across the board from Graeme and @SeanSheehanBA, here. Rd. 5 for Shevchenko is much more defendable than a 10-8 for Grasso, Trust”. Even if Bell scored the final round as a 10-9 to Grasso, which many people would have agreed, Shevchenko would have been crowned two-time UFC Flyweight World Champion, putting this conversation and controversy completely out of reach.