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UFC 319: Controversy Report
The middleweight throne changed possession again this weekend following a dominant 5 Round Display by now champion Khamzat Chimaev over former champion Dricus Du Plessis. The main event was a dominant affair with some criticising the entertainment value while others solely pointing out that it didn’t live up to the great expectations leading up to it. Regardless, some of the fights leading up to the main card were a tad controversial in terms of scoring.
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Karine Silva defeats Dione Barbosa
- Unanimous Decision (29-28 x3)
Watching this fight, round by round, I saw it as close and competitive. Clearly, the announcers had a different outlook towards this fight and so did oddsmakers, having Barbosa as a large favorite during closing. Truth be told it was a close fight with two very close rounds that determined the outcome.
The first round was quite simple to score. Dione Barbosa had the ability to cut the distance, take this fight to the mat, outstrike Karine Silva and have more control time. There is virtually no secret here. Barbosa led the party with both control and pace.
The second round was more competitive. Both ladies each landed one takedown out of the two attempted by each. Moreover, striking numbers were virtually similar with Silva landing 9 and Barbosa 7. The difference in control was of one minute, though Silva had an unofficially marked submission attempt, that even Joe Rogan in the Broadcast labeled as a dangerous “Dead Orchid”. Honestly, a close round, but giving the round to Silva is completely justifiable.
The third and final round, also unanimously awarded for Silva had a similar story. Barbosa attempted another takedown, and had two minutes of control time. Striking numbers were once more nearly identical. Silva, again, had another submission, though this time officially recorded by the UFC. Submission attempts do in fact carry some weight when scoring these fights, so I do not understand the outrage when the rounds had similar damage and fight ending situations on both ends.
In my opinion, Silva was the correct winner in this situation, despite the outrage from fans and from the commentary booth.
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Drakkar Klose defeats Edson Barboza
- Unanimous Decision (29-28 x3)
Edson Barboza is known for his explosive striking, versatile kicks and finishes and a move up to lightweight perhaps would lighten up the pressure of a weight-cut, allowing Edson to focus on what he does best against a very tough Drakkar Klose.
Round 1 saw two judges siding with the Brazilian. Judge Brandon Mason and Cleary had it for Barboza while controversial judge Sal D’Amato had it for the American. Looking at the statistics, it was evident Drakkar wished to shorten the distance and have a longer clinch affair. In this round, Barboza landed more shots at 24 with a 66% accuracy, compared to the 15 strikes with a 51% accuracy from Klose. Additionally, he reversed a lot of the clinch pressure and had 1 minute longer of control time. While Klose had more volume, Barboza landed more, with far more significance. Personally, a clear round for Barboza.
Round 2, we see Drakkar Klose raise the volume a little further. Total strikes saw Klose land 25 strikes to Barboza’s 18, while at the same time having 40 seconds more of control time, stemming primarily from the clinch. All judges awarded this round for Klose and truthfully there was no secret. This was the easiest round to score, with Edson getting hurt a bit more and showing visible damage on his face.
Round 3 sees Judges Cleary and Mason award this round for Close, while Sal D’Amato awarded it for Barboza. Again, another close round, though by looking at the statistics, Barboza had 29 Significant Strikes against 13 from Klose. Additionally he had 1:22 of control time, primarily against the fence in the clinch. Personally I saw this as a close, yet clear round for Barboza, primarily based on volume.
Ultimately Round 2 was the deciding factor as it was the more clear round for the fight. Regardless of the victor, it was a close fight, though personally, I’d award this for Edson Barboza.
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Was the Main Event Boring?
A lot of the talk from this past weekend’s main-event was whether or not it was considered boring. As an MMA fan, you learn to appreciate grappling and striking, though what primarily needs to be seen is action and a will to hurt and finish your opponent, which is what I felt was lacking in this performance. Not every fight can be fun, and while that was the case for this performance, it was still quite dominant. Is Khamzat Chimaev suddenly a boring fighter? Absolutely not. This was a fight where he perhaps didn’t go 100% as to preserve his cardio and avoid an onslaught in the later rounds. It is unfair to label him as a boring fighter where this was the first fight of his career where it truly wasn’t that exciting, and a lot of it was to the fault of his opponent.
One thing that is quite annoying to see however, are some fighters and pundits believing you aren’t a fan of the sport because you found this fight boring. The truth of the matter is that there are boring striking based fights too. Fans also complain about that as well and there aren’t any comments telling people to “go watch wrestling”. Boring fights are boring, regardless if they are striking or wrestling based. It is ok to believe a fight is boring and it is your right as a fan to be critical about it, especially when there was an insane anticipation for this fight.
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