UFC judge told he should never work again after controversial scorecard

04 June 2024 , 09:04

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UFC judge told he should never work again after controversial scorecard

UFC boss Dana White has told judge Dave Tirelli he should never officiate a big fight again after his controversial scorecards.

Tirelli oversaw five fights on the UFC 302 pay-per-view event last weekend and two of his decisions sparked huge criticism from fight fans. The judge scored Mitch Raposo's flyweight fight in favour of the American and Paulo Costa's middleweight fight in favour of the Brazilian, despite both men convincingly losing their respective bouts in the eyes of most people.

White said of Tirelli's two scorecards: “That was f***ing nuts, that’s what it was. It's insane. That guy should never ref a big fight again. They should kick him back to the minor leagues and let him work on his judging. It’s unbelievable. How anybody who isn't an absolute f****ng lunatic could call that fight a split decision."

"I don't even know what to say about that, it's insane. That guy shouldn't be judging big fights." Fans were in agreement with White as one user on Twitter wrote: "Dave Tirelli should never ever have anything to do with MMA ever again." A second user added: "Dave Tirelli is the worst judge in MMA history."

Strickland was baffled that Tirelli didn't score his win against Costa in his favour and questioned whether he even watched the fight. "The judges are crazy you guys, I don't think they watch fights and I don't think they know fighting. If you leave it in the hand of the judges, only the Gods know," he said.

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"That judge is terrible you guys, I've been f****ed once or twice in my life. You leave s*** in the hands of the judges and you can't complain. I'll b**** on Instagram for a couple of days but once I go through my feelings, I would let it go." The other three fights Tirelli scored on the night were all unanimous decisions.

Tirelli is no stranger to a controversial scorecard and a verdict he made four years ago even led UFC legend Chael Sonnen to make a whole video dedicated to the bizarre decision. It's worth noting that the UFC does not have the authority to stop a judge from working an event as that decision is made by the respective athletic commission of a state.

Harry Davies