Modestas Bukauskas has addressed the criticism surrounding his contentious split decision victory at UFC 315.
At an event that saw Jack Della Maddalena crowned the new welterweight champion and Valentina Shevchenko defend her title, an undercard bout featuring Modestas Bukauskas against UFC veteran Ion Cutelaba drew significant debate. Neither fighter secured a finish during the 15-minute light heavyweight contest.
Despite Cutelaba throwing 94 more strikes than Bukauskas and doubling his total striking output, with Bukauskas largely inactive until the third round, the judges awarded Bukauskas the decision. One judge scored all three rounds for him, while another gave him rounds two and three.
UFC commentator Daniel Cormier called the scorecards `trash` during the broadcast, and many fans echoed this sentiment online, crying `robbery` and believing Cutelaba should have won the first two rounds.
Modestas Bukauskas Replies to ‘Robbery’ Claims
Cormier felt Bukauskas received a `bad decision,` and Dominick Cruz also expressed confusion, even suggesting the UFC should display a profile picture of judge Pasquale Procopio, who scored the fight 30-27 in favor of Bukauskas.
Several days after the event, Bukauskas responded to the comments from both the broadcast booth and the fanbase.
“Robbery?” Bukauskas wrote on Instagram.
“It may not have been my best performance. But I still feel I WON that fight.
“We had some great exchanges, and I definitely landed more cleanly.
“Whatever the opinion, it was a good fight between 2 high level competitors. Onwards we go. Gonna learn, improve, get better and perform better next time.”
UFC 315 Judge Also Had Aiemann Zahabi Winning Against Jose Aldo
Another split decision on the UFC 315 card that generated controversy was Aiemann Zahabi’s win over Jose Aldo.
Aldo had a strong first round and a decent second round, outlanding Zahabi by just one strike. However, in round three, Aldo dropped Zahabi twice and came close to a knockout, only for Zahabi to nearly secure a finish on the ground in the final two and a half minutes.
Pasquale Procopio, the same judge who scored 30-27 for Modestas Bukauskas, scored rounds two and three for Zahabi in this bout.
On MMA Decisions, over 75% of the fan votes disagreed with the official results for both the Aldo vs. Zahabi and Cutelaba vs. Bukauskas fights.
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