Fans and experts were enraged on Saturday afternoon as one of the more bizarre scorecards in recent UFC memory was handed in.
On the prelims of UFC 308, Brazilian Carlos Leal kicked off proceedings against Rinat Fakhretdinov in a short-notice welterweight clash. The former PFL star had come to Abu Dhabi for a UAE Warriors fight, but was drafted to face Russian Fakhretdinov when his initial bout with Nursulton Ruziboev fell through.
Leal was a slight favorite heading into the bout, but appeared to do well in the early exchanges despite his rival's stiff comeback later in the fight. And commentators Daniel Cormier, Jon Anik and Paul Felder were announcing the Brazilian's arrival on the scene between the final bell and the decision being read.
When the scorecards were read at the end of Carlos Leal and Rinat Fakhretdinov's fight, it appeared relatively clear that the Brazilian had done enough. Two cards of 29-28 could have gone either way, but the 30-27 seemed to indicate he had swept the decision.
However, fans and experts were stunned when Fakhretdinov's name was read out by Bruce Buffer, and his hand was raised. The pair had put on a hair-rising slug-fest to get the prelims underway, and the Russian had improved in the third, although he was expected to be in need of a finish which didn't come.
Even the winner seemed stunned by what had happened, and instantly lifted his rival's arm in victory after what had happened. His winning run in MMA extended to 23-in-a-row, a new record for any active UFC fighters, but there is a belief that he should have lost his last two.
Immediately, social media went into uproar after the decision. Former light-heavyweight champion Jamahal Hill led the charge against the judging call, branding the result a robbery, which was a common theme.
"No way they just robbed this man like that smfh!!!" Hill wrote to his 106,000+ followers. "30-27? They not even trying to find it!" One fan replied that: "30-27 should have been for Leal. That is so horrible man. Never let that guy judge a fight again."
And many fans feel that UFC boss Dana White should take a proactive step to fix what they feel to be corruption in the judging system. A number of users called it a "disgusting robbery," and there were multiple tweets with variations of "Dana White must fix this".
It's not just Leal's record that will be affected by his controversial defeat; he is now likely out as much as $12,000 having lost the fight. The standard UFC entry-level contract tends to be around $12,000/$12,000, meaning your purse is determined by whether one wins or loses.
Leal may have received some extra compensation for taking the fight on short notice, and purses are not disclosed in Abu Dhabi. But he is almost certain to have missed out on half his purse after suffering defeat.
And commentator Jon Anik in the aftermath offered to send some of his own money to the Brazilian in order to tide him over after such an outlandish decision. Speaking to Cormier and Felder, Anik quipped: "I think I'm going to venmo Carlos Leal some cash later in the night, I feel so bad for the guy."