Welcome to “Judges Gonna Judge,” where our MMA Junkie staff panel revisits the most controversial decision that occurred over the weekend.
This week, we take a closer look at [autotag]Ji Yeon Kim[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Priscila Cachoeira[/autotag], a main card bout at UFC Fight Night 202 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.
This Fight of the Night affair was a wild back-and-forth fight in which both fighters were bloodied and wobbled throughout. When it was all said and done, Kim walked away with more strikes landed, but all three judges scored the fight the exact same way for Cachoeira. Mike Bell, Sal D’Amato and Adalaide Byrd turned in identical scores of 29-28, with each scoring the first and third rounds for Cachoeira, while seeing the second round for Kim.
According to stat totals, Kim landed 171 strikes to Cachoeira’s 102, who was also credited with a completed takedown. When the official scores were read, there was an immediate backlash from many on social media who thought Kim did enough to win the fight.
Was this a robbery or did the official judges get it right?
MMA Junkie’s Matthew Wells, Farah Hannoun and Dan Tom put on their judging hats and break the fight down round by round.