UFC Vancouver: Controversy Report

What was perhaps the oddest card of the year, brought some memorable controversies that we won’t forget anytime soon. Ranging from low-blow’s, early stoppages, deceptive hearing issues and of course, controversial judging, this UFC Vancouver Card reminded us as UFC fans why we’re still in the developmental stages of the sport. 

Drew Dober wins by R3 TKO over Kyle Prepolec

Now with the most knockouts in the lightweight division, Drew Dober is a staple name for those that love the sport. As the biggest favorite on this card, Dober had the expectation to make easy work of Canadian Kyle Prepolec, though that wasn’t fully what happened. Prepolec managed to make this a competitive fight with all three judges having the scores split heading into the third round.

Midway through this round, Dober landed a kick to the groin of Prepolec, who took the time to recover. Surprisingly, referee John Cooper removed a point from Dober. We usually see more leniency when it comes to fouls, however in this case, the penalty came quickly. The urgency then led Drew Dober to amp the pressure, as he urgently found the finish. 

Two questions come into mind here. Why are some judges quicker to remove a point than others? Did the penalty non-directly benefit Drew Dober, forcing him to be more aggressive and search for the finish? The main issue here is the lack of transparency and consistency with the rules, as we get different executions in each and single fight. 

Kyle Nelson wins by Unanimous Decision over Matt Frevola 

Bettors who had a Kyle Nelson finish or even the UNDER for this fight are surely upset at the outcome of this fight. In what was a violent start to Round 1, Matt Frevola found some success against Kyle Nelson, only to get caught with a heavy shot and with time running low, it seemed he would survive to see a second round. 

With three seconds left in the round, referee Dan Miragliotta separated the action. Kyle Nelson, visibly content, celebrated with his team and even shook Frevola’s hand, only to be informed, shortly after, that there would be a second round. Obviously, if a fight is called off, there should be no second round. Here is where it gets curious.

Miragliotta did indeed stop the action, though it was primarily to separate them, as he had believed the round was over. Different from the Jake Matthews and Neil Magny situation, there was no physical signal of the fight being over. This was a mistake from the referee, but less egregious when you think about the mistake being only three seconds. 

Kyle Nelson still managed to win the fight by Decision, not without dropping the second round in some judge’s eyes. It would have been a shame if he had lost after believing he had one, similarly to what had happened to Jake Matthews. Adrenaline Dumps in fighting are a real thing, and in these situations, a No Contest should be utilized more. 

Aiemann Zahabi defeats Marlon Vera by Split Decision (28-29, 29-28, 29-28)

Death, Taxes and a close Marlon Vera loss. In his career, we have gotten used to seeing Chito either win or lose close decisions, and in enemy territory, it would become harder for him to get the win, considering Aiemann Zahabi had already gotten a close decision going his way earlier this year, when we witnessed the retirement of José Aldo. 

One of the judges for this fight, Jake Maxim, is a Canadian Kickboxing Coach, and coincidentally awarded the first round for Zahabi, together with Mike Bell. Zahabi did outstrike Chito in this round, though the strikes were less impactful, of course. Overall, it was a close round, so much so, one judge, Sal D’Amato awarded it for Chito. Personally, I do believe it was fair to give it to Chito, because the strikes Zahabi landed were much more defensive, while Chito was more efficient with the fewer strikes thrown. Hence the issue of having a style with a lower striking volume. 

The second round was unanimous, as Chito did hurt Zahabi, did chase him down, though again, failed to strike enough strikes to find the finish. Once this round ended, a lot of fans that are accustomed to watching Chito Vera fight, knew what was about to happen. 

The third round was a clear Zahabi round as he outstruck Vera by 13 strikes and seemed to recover from the damage done in the second. All three judges were in agreement for this round and unfortunately, the lower volume style of Marlon Vera continues to disappoint him, even in fights where he theoretically conducted more damage. 

Mike Malott defeats Kevin Holland by Unanimous Decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28) 

Kevin Holland started this fight well, with intensity and overall finding his shots over the Canadian, Mike Malott. It all seemed to be going his way, up to almost a minute and a half of Round 1, when the Canadian landed a kick to the groin. Holland shakes it off with little recovery time.  A mere few seconds later, during an exchange in the clinch Malott lands another knee to the cup of Holland, and this seemingly impacts him. 

A minute goes by, then two, three and we as fans begin questioning if Holland will be able to continue. Eventually, the time expires and Holland is unable to tell the referee he wants to go on, simply nodding his head in hesitancy. The last minute of the round saw Malott carefully stalking Holland, landing a few shots, until the round came to an end. It was visible Holland was compromised.

In his corner, it became apparent what the problem was. A visibly compromised Holland complained about the pain in his private parts, though seemingly did not want to give up. Moreover, the referee, Dan Miragliotta, didn’t remove any points, going in contrast to the earlier fight with John Cooper and  Drew Dober, where only infraction was enough to remove a point. 

Ahead of the second round, the doctor entered the octagon, and he inquired Holland on if he was able to continue. Holland didn’t, at any moment, verbalize he was able to continue, which technically should have resulted in the fight being a DQ win for Malott, as Holland was now “recovered” from the illegal strike, had continued to fight, and would have refused to fight the second round, essentially “quitting on the stool”. 

With hesitancy, Holland continued to fight, though in my opinion, clearly compromised, as he had mentioned again in his corner between Round 2 and 3. In these cases, the referees need to do a better job ensuring the fighter is able to continue. Unlike some fighters that will look for ways out of fights, we do know Kevin Holland is not one of them, despite some of his flaws. 

In conclusion, this was one of the more odd events of the year. While the Main Event wasn’t controversial, it certainly provided us with a performance from Brendan Allen we won’t be forgetting anytime soon, as he forced RDR to quit on the stool due to sheer exhaustion, something we don’t see too often in the UFC

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