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New Year, Same BS

Aren’t we glad the UFC is finally back? Well, with our favorite sport returning, so is the controversy with reffing and judging and that was no different for the first card of 2025. 

Surprisingly, the culprits of controversy for UFC Vegas 101 weren’t in fact the judges, but the referees. Let’s start with the bottom of the card and examine each fight that either went to a decision or had a controversial referee intervention (there were plenty). 

Solecki v Aliev | UFC

Nurulo Aliev x Joe Solecki

  • (29-28, 29-28, 30-27) 

This fight was quite simple to score. Nurullo Aliev, returning from injury had a clear game plan of taking down Joe Solecki and using his strong wrestling core to get it done. Round 1 saw a grand total of ZERO significant strikes landed, however we did see ample control time, with little to no contest from Solecki. 

Round 2 was quite similar, but with Solecki having more defensive success at times. Despite that, Aliev decided to advance further with ground and pound, securing him this round. 

The last and final round was undoubtedly the closest. Aliev, more fatigued, was less efficient with his grappling, and Solecki found success with the striking. Despite that, Aliev outlanded Solecki 24-21, but the damage was prominently found from Solecki. Two judges rewarded the American with the last round, with David Lethaby being the only one scoring it for the “Tajik Eagle”. At the end, a unanimous decision win for Aliev with little controversy, but things were close to going awry. 

Photo | Cageside Press

Magomed Gadzhiyasulov x Bruno Lopes

  • (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

This bout was straight-forward to judge. Despite the low-output from Bruno Lopes, his game plan to grapple out the gate was clear.

While Magomed Gadzhiyasulov out struck him 15-4 in Round 1, he found it hard to replicate it in the next two rounds as Lopes found success in the clinch. At times, we see conflict between control and damage, however in this case, all we saw was control and the few moments in striking range were quickly closed.

A unanimous decision win for Lopes with all three judges agreeing was the correct play. 

Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images

Ernesta Kareckaite x Nicolle Caliari

  • (29-28, 29-28, 28-29)

Ernesta Kareckaite came into this one as HEAVY favorite with a 9 inch reach advantage. From the very first moment of the fight, it was clear it would be a close one. Nicolle Caliari’s success in Round 1 saw her land more damaging shots and outland Kareckaite by 6 strikes. Judge Bell and D’Amato agreed that Round 1 should go to Caliari, with Judge McCarthy giving it to Ernesta. While she did have her moments, cage control favored the Brazilian and the overall pressure and more damaging shots with higher volume were favored to her too. 

The second round saw a unanimous win for the Lithuanian fighter. Out-striking Calliari by 12 significant strikes, it was evident Kareckaite found her range and was far more comfortable at this point, now at rhythm. 

Round 3 is where controversy strikes again. We saw grappling attempts from Caliari, but as was seen throughout the fight, Kareckaite would either defend, or bounce back up to her feet. Kareckaite outstruck the Brazilian by 12 strikes once again in this one, with a late flurry from Caliari. Despite outstriking the Brazilian, only judge Sal D’Amato rewarded Karekaite with Round 3, with judges McCarthy and Bell giving to the Brazilian.

At the end of the three rounds, Judge McCarthy and Judge D’Amato ruled it 29-28 for the Lithuanian while Judge Bell scored it for the debutant. If we are utilizing damage, the result was correct, however what still puzzled fans was Judge McCarthy’s Round 1 scoring towards the Lithuanian. In the eyes of the fans, and based off the criteria of damage, it was clear Caliari won Round 1 , despite it being a close round. Thankfully, we can say the right fighter won, despite that anomaly. 

Photo | Cageside Press

Thiago Moises x Trey Ogden

  • (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

Zero controversy on this one. All three judges agreed in every single round, awarding Thiago Moises with a 29-28 Unanimous Decision win over Trey Ogden. Following a turbulent Round 1, Moises found his striking range and managed to implement his grappling at the same time. An apparent bicep tear from Ogden hindered him from recovering as well. We wish him a speedy recovery on that one!

Photo | Cageside Press

Christian Rodriguez x Austin Bashi   

  • (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

This bout was one of the most anticipated for this card. Christian Rodriguez had one of the most controversial wins last year over at the time undefeated Isaac Dulgarian, so many suspected this one to be interesting. For this bout, there was no controversy. All three judges agreed on all three rounds. A clear cut 29-28 win for C-Rod who successfully defended 14 takedowns from Austin Bashi, while also reversing position, implementing his striking with beautiful knees up the middle, and showcasing pace. 

Judging for this fight deserves its merits as it was perfectly scored. C-Rod doubled the strikes on Bashi through-out the fight, while using his own effective grappling to make a difference. 

Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images

Chris Curtis x Roman Kopylov

  • (Kopylov R3 KO)

The villains of this fight weren’t in fact the three judges sitting cageside. It was actually the third man inside the cage, Mark Smith. Heading into the third round, score-cards had the fight tied with a 19-19 score. It was evident that whoever won the third round, would get their hand-raised. As the third round progressed, we saw what was a balanced round, however Roman Kopylov began to escalate his striking, landing vicious combinations and finding the holes in Chris Curtis’s defense.

Ultimately, Kopylov finished a combination with a vicious high kick that dropped Curtis with two seconds remaining. While the Russian walked away, Curtis began his ascension while looking at Mark Smith, who called the fight off, solidifying a R3 KO win for Kopylov. 

This situation sparked immediate dispute from Curtis, who was on his way up, and seemingly recovered from the damaging shot. With two seconds left in the fight, it could be deduced he simply wanted the time left to expire, giving him a chance to win on score-cards. With Kopylov walking away, it seemed he also deduced the action was done for the round, with only one second left. Mark Smith’s job is to protect the fighter from suffering further damage, however in this case, it seemed hard to imagine how Curtis would suffer more damage, when Kopylov walked away, and the Round was essentially over. 

We never know what is going through a referee’s head in these situations but at this point, it seemed suspicious to stop the fight. Massive contests from Curtis and his coach Eric Nicksick following the fight went to no avail, as the fight was in fact declared a R3 KO for Kopylov. I’ll leave the following question for this fight. Curtis was recovering and Kopylov walked away. With one second left, what was the imminent danger to the knocked-down fighter? 

Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images

Santiago Ponzinibbio x Carlston Harris

  • (Ponzinibbio R3 KO)

The co-main event saw further controversy. After being hurt and almost finished in Round 1, Santiago Ponzinibbio rallied back to win in Round 3. With the two of the score-cards seeing a tie, and a third one seeing Carlston Harris up two rounds, the fuel was added to this controversial stoppage in Round 3.

While Harris was knocked down, he found a way back-up and was striking back Ponzinibbio. It reminded viewers of the Cannonier TKO loss against Imavov, though this one was a bit less absurd. Personally, the stoppage wasn’t entirely unjustified as Harris did take some great amount of damage, but he was fighting back.

With three minutes left in a fight he was mathematically winning, a lot could have happened. In this case, referee Kerry Hatley had seen enough. Despite the controversy, it isn’t as rough as the one between Curtis and Kopylov, as in this one, Harris was in immediate danger of taking more damaging blows. 

Judging wasn’t an ample problem for this event, especially when looking at the referee  interventions. Once more, Mark Smith is involved in a controversial stoppage. Be it his own fault or not, we have seen him in a few crucial decision making situations. Other than Saturday night, Mark Smith awarded the 2023 DQ Win of Cody Brundage after losing what would be a 10-8 Round and obviously the infamous Aljamain Sterling title win over Petr Yan, that until this day is the most controversial DQ win in UFC history. 

Want to know more about each event? Visit homeoffight.com or any of our social media accounts for more articles, fighter interviews, and plenty of more coverage. Enjoy the fights, let us know how you’ll be watching!

By Published On: January 13th, 2025Categories: Latest UFC News: Results, Rumors & More at Home Of Fight