Who is Derek Cleary? The UFC judge who cost Henry Cejudo the title fight has a history of controversial scoring

At UFC 288, Henry Cejudo failed in his quest to become a two-time bantamweight champion, losing to Aljamain Sterling by split decision. According to the MMA community, Cejudo's loss to some extent was attributable to the controversial scoring by UFC judge Derek Cleary, which became a topic of discussion on social media.

Derek Cleary is a professional mixed martial arts judge who has received backlash for his scoring decisions in a number of high-profile bouts. Cleary has been at the center of several contentious calls, with many fans claiming he misjudged the fight or failed to notice crucial moments that could have changed the outcome of the bout.

In the main event of UFC 288, Henry Cejudo and Aljmain Sterling went toe-to-toe, and the decision was left to the judges. Two judges scored the bout 48-47 in favor of Sterling, while judge Michael Bell scored it 48-47 to the challenger Cejudo. However, UFC judge Derek Cleary tallied the fifth round in favor of Sterling, despite it being pretty clear that Cejudo had won the final round.

Check out the scorecards for Aljamain Sterling vs. Henry Cejudo below:

Henry Cejudo losing the fifth round on Cleary's scorcard wasn't the only controversial decision by the UFC judge.

Recent examples of Cleary's controversial scorecards include UFC 284's main event bout between Islam Makhachev and Alexander Volkanovski. While Makhachev won the fight via unanimous decision, Cleary scoring the fifth round in favor of the Dagestani became a hot topic of discussion considering that was perhaps Volkanovski's most definitive round.

Similar controversy surrounded Derek Cleary's scorecard when strawweight contenders Cory McKenna and Elise Reed clashed at last year's UFC London event. Cleary scored it 30-27 for McKenna, despite the fact that the other two judges had it 29-28 for Reed.

Previously, former bantamweight champion Holly Holm criticized the judges when she lost a split decision to Ketlen Vieira last year by a narrow margin. Anderson Silva's UFC 208 bout against Derek Brunson was also notoriously scored in favor of 'The Spider' by Derek Cleary, despite the fact that many fans believed the American had done enough to earn a victory.

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UFC judge's controversial scorecard for Henry Cejudo vs. Aljamain Sterling: Why is the UFC judging system flawed?

UFC fans, competitors, and analysts have all condemned the scoring system for being inconsistent and plagued with issues. The scoring system's heavy reliance on the interpretation of the judges is a major source of controversy. Different judges have different standards for what constitutes to winning a round, which sometimes leads to varying outcomes and contentious decisions in the same bout.

Most recently, at UFC San Antonio, Cory Sandhagen put on a clinic against Marlon Vera. Despite the one-sided nature of the fight, one judge scored it in favor of Vera which drew the wrath of the MMA community. UFC welterweight Gilbert Burns even went on to say that the judges should be investigated.