- Online MMA fans are not happy with Sal D’Amato’s another questionable scoring at UFC Vegas 75
- D’Amato was the only judge to favor Marvin Vettori over Jared Cannonier in Round 4
The issue about bad judging in the UFC is still fresh and veteran official Sal D’Amato got his name linked to another controversy yet again. This time, it’s about D’Amato’s questionable favoring of Marvin Vettori over Jared Cannonier in Round 4 of their UFC Vegas 75 headliner.
Fans were upset, as Expected
MMA journalist Aaron Bronsteter laid out D’Amato’s controversial take in Round 4 by posting the official copy of Cannonier vs. Vettori scorecards. Everything was identical, including the 10-8 in favor of “The Killa Gorilla” but D’Amato’s 10-9 in favor of Vettori wound up becoming the “only outlier.” Hence, it resulted in the official score of 49-45, 49-45, and 48-46 with Cannonier winning via unanimous decision.
“All three judges had R2 as a 10-8, D’Amato gave Vettori the 4th, which was the only outlier on the card,” he tweeted.
All three judges had R2 as a 10-8, D'Amato gave Vettori the 4th, which was the only outlier on the card. https://t.co/OKuKiG9vHs
— Aaron Bronsteter (@aaronbronsteter) June 18, 2023
While D’Amato’s score did not affect the result of the match, fans were livid once again.
Check out what some angry MMA fans online had to say about D’Amato below:
Sal needs to go like yesterday pic.twitter.com/JTCfa3uNsq
— Casey (@CaseyJ_516) June 18, 2023
Can we please talk about Sal D’Amato and the 4th round he should have to explaining his scoring
— Isaac Ham (@iHAM316) June 18, 2023
Sal continues his run as the worst judge in the commission @arielhelwani
— GSB 🇧🇷 (@Gsb_Esq) June 18, 2023
Sal continues his run as the worst judge in the commission @arielhelwani
— GSB 🇧🇷 (@Gsb_Esq) June 18, 2023
D’Amato is on a streak
It can be recalled that D’Amato was also one of the two judges who logged a questionable tally that resulted in Kai Kara-Frances losing to Amir Albazi at UFC Vegas 74.
Kara-Frances’ controversial defeat made headlines which later prompted UFC president Dana White to address the issue. According to White, the only way to prevent such discrepancies is to go for the finish or put on a convincing performance.
“That fight was a close fight. You’re talking about a round or two… You know what my point is, my point on this would be, when you’re in a big fight, [then] step on the gas. Get in there, try and win the end of the round. Do everything you can to make it so clear that you won the fight. You don’t even involve the judges. It’s the only thing you can do,” the UFC boss said.
On the other hand, Association of Boxing Commissions Director Mike Mazzulli has made himself available for those who have questions about any particular judge.
