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The 4 possible outcomes of a professional Mixed Martial Arts fight, are a win, loss, draw, or a no-contest. A fighter can win the bout by way of KO/TKO, submission or decision, in case of which the other fighter ends up losing.
Meanwhile, in case of the fight being declared a draw, neither fighter wins or loses the bout. Moreover, circumstances such as drug test failures in connection with the fight as well as excessive fouls and Disqualifications result in a bout being ruled a no-contest.
Furthermore, there a multiple formats of a decision verdict in MMA -- that being, Unanimous Decision, Split Decision, and Majority Decision. Speaking of which, today, we take a special look at some of the most outrageous Split Decisions in UFC history -- fights in which the fighter who'd notably done better work in the fight, ended up on the losing end of the judges' scorecards...
#5 Robbie Lawler vs. Carlos Condit
Robbie Lawler defended his UFC Welterweight Championship against Carlos Condit at UFC 195. Lawler was coming off one of the most brutal MMA fights of all time -- his second fight against Rory Macdonald -- and most experts believed that the war with Macdonald may have compromised the chin of Lawler.
Accordingly, Condit dropped Lawler with a beautiful hook to the head in Round 1, however, Lawler came back strong and gradually worked his way into the fight. The latter scored a knockdown of Condit later in the matchup, and both fighters continually threw heavy leather at one another.
Intriguingly, the entire fight saw Condit comfortably out-strike Lawler by a large margin as regards the volume of strikes thrown in the fight. Nevertheless, both Lawler and Condit had each other rocked in the fifth and final round, as the duo ended the fight slugging it out until the referee separated them.
In the end, Lawler was awarded the win by way of Split Decision -- something most fans and experts disagreed with, particularly due to the fact that Condit had connected with a greater number of significant strikes throughout the fight.
#4 Georges St-Pierre vs. Johny Hendricks
Georges St-Pierre defended his UFC Welterweight Title against Johny Hendricks at UFC 167. At that point in time, Hendricks was one of the most feared KO artists in all of Mixed Martial Arts and regarded by many as the dark horse of the UFC Welterweight division.
The 5-round fight between GSP and Hendricks turned out to be one of St-Pierre's toughest fights to date, as the latter landed several hard strikes -- marking up GSP's face, and rocking the latter on multiple occasions throughout the bout. However, St-Pierre had his moments too, particularly with his usage of the jab.
Nevertheless, as a whole, the fight seemed to be like a clear decision victory for Hendricks. In fact, the man and his team had already begun celebrating before the judges' decision was read out. Well, despite having comfortably out-struck as well as dazed GSP in their fight, Hendricks found himself on the wrong end of the judges' scorecards.
St-Pierre was declared the winner by way of Split Decision, and subsequently went on a 4-year hiatus from the sport of MMA.
#3 Diego Sanchez vs. Ross Pearson
Diego Sanchez is one of the most beloved fighters to have ever stepped foot inside the UFC's famed Octagon. However, it doesn't change the fact that his fighting style is indeed regarded by many as a rather risky and damaging one.
Sanchez is a native of Albuquerque, New Mexico, which was where his 3-round fight against Ross Pearson took place. Well, the fight played out like a typical Sanchez fight would, featuring him charging forward without a care in the world -- showing negligible defense and incorrect angles in the striking realm.
Needless to say, Pearson began countering Sanchez with several hard punches, and seemed to have comfortably out-pointed the latter over the course of 3 rounds. Resultantly, when the judges' scorecards revealed that the fight had been scored as a Split Decision win for Sanchez, most fans and experts were quite shocked.
In the days that ensued, most members of the MMA community concurred that the judges were obviously biased towards the hometown fighter, which could probably explain why they scored the bout in favor of Albuquerque, New Mexico native Sanchez.
#2 Benson Henderson vs. Jorge Masvidal
Back in 2015, former UFC Lightweight Champion Benson Henderson fought perennial Lightweight contender Jorge Masvidal in a Welterweight bout! As intriguing as the weight implications in the fight were, what was even more interesting is that it transpired in South Korea -- which Henderson asserted was quite special for him, especially because he's partly of Korean descent.
Masvidal mostly out-boxed his foe, and seemed to be the one in control of the fight over the course of the 5-round tactical affair. Henderson primarily clinched, and stalled throughout the fight, however, in the end 'Bendo' was awarded the win via Split Decision.
While certain sections of the Mixed Martial Arts community claimed that Henderson was given the win because of him being partly Korean, others noted that the judges may have perhaps scored Henderson's clinch and stalling tactics in his favor. Either way, despite out-striking and out-classing his foe in the fight, Masvidal ended up losing a decision.
#1 Al Iaquinta vs. Jorge Masvidal
Jorge Masvidal may very well be one of the unluckiest fighters in Mixed Martial Arts history, in terms of the judges' scorecards at the very least. Well, at least Al Iaquinta's 3-round Split Decision win over Masvidal in 2015, was followed by one of the most hilarious segments in UFC history -- which featured Iaquinta trash-talking the fans who were booing the Split Decision announcement.
The fight featured Masvidal thoroughly out-boxing Iaquinta, and the latter simply wading forward in straight lines. This bout may have been the breakthrough moment for Masvidal in the UFC, especially because prior to this bout not many fans had realized the potential of this excellent pugilist-cum-MMA savant who was already a veteran of the game at that point of time.
Masvidal even managed to knock down Iaquinta, but still ended up losing a Split Decision to the latter.
Which UFC Split Decisions did you find the most outrageous? Sound off in the comments!
