'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,/9j/2wBDAAYEBQYFBAYGBQYHBwYIChAKCgkJChQODwwQFxQYGBcUFhYaHSUfGhsjHBYWICwgIyYnKSopGR8tMC0oMCUoKSj/2wBDAQcHBwoIChMKChMoGhYaKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCj/wgARCAAHAAoDASIAAhEBAxEB/8QAFQABAQAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAABQf/2gAIAQEAAAAAmRH/xAAUAQEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAC/9oACAECEAAAAF//xAAUAQEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA/9oACAEDEAAAAH//xAAfEAACAgEEAwAAAAAAAAAAAAABAwIEEQAFBhIhIzH/2gAIAQEAAT8AHHI8W2t7d6oxRuZit/V612VLrA47kA+SWGAxqrxuV2qm1CpDq+AaPbj6M6//xAAXEQEAAwAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACABIx/9oACAECAQE/AEa5P//EABcRAAMBAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAABAhL/2gAIAQMBAT8AmtI//9k='%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
UFC judge Chris Lee has drawn criticism again at UFC Vegas 16.
In a light heavyweight division bout of the main card, Roman Dolidze took on the Brazilian John Allen.
In an intriguing fight, Dolitze was clearly the more dominant fighter with his control time on the ground and more striking volume compared to Allen on the feet.
He also secured several takedowns and attempted a number of submissions on the ground.
Judge Chris Lee however, scored the fight 29-28 in Allen’s favor.
Chris Lee’s decision baffled the commentators and the MMA community alike.
Not even the most die-hard supporter of the Brazilian would have given him the fight.
And even if one had to be lenient, he only won the last round.
What’s absolutely shocking is to observe that Chris Lee is not new to MMA. He has been scoring UFC fights since 2006 making him a 14-year veteran.
His first official fight scored was way back at UFC 61 when Josh Burkman defeated Josh Neer.
There was some controversy in that fight as well as Chris Lee was the only judge to give Burkman all three rounds scoring the fight 30-27.
At least on that occasion, he got the winner right.
While he has a background in scoring and coaching boxing, one would assume that 14 years in the MMA game should be enough time to understand how scoring works on the ground.
Incidentally, this was Chris Lee’s 8th split decision in 2020 where he was the disagreeing judge.
Chris Lee was criticized for scoring the Rafael dos Anjos vs Paul Felder fight in November
This is not the first time that Lee has been called out for his poor decisions.
At UFC Vegas 14 in November, Lee scored the bout between Rafael dos Anjos and Paul Felder 48-47 in Felder’s favor.
Felder, by his admission, openly stated that he easily lost 4 rounds to RDA and at best, won a single round.
Lee was heavily criticized for this mistake.
And while these two decisions did not impact the result, a close fight with title ramifications can be ruined by such mistakes.
With big money and bigger opportunities on the line in every UFC fight, one hopes to see a better understanding of the sport from the scoring judges.
Whether Chris Lee is reprimanded for his mistakes though, remains to be seen.
