Josh Thomson thinks the judges from UFC 310 should lose some of their pay after a bad decision.
In the fight between Ciryl Gane and Alexander Volkov, many people believed Volkov had done enough to win. He landed big strikes and controlled parts of the fight with takedowns. But the judges gave the win to Gane, even though he seemed surprised by the result.
One of the judges, Adelaide Byrd, has been criticized before for questionable scoring. Fans, Dana White, and even Volkov were upset about the call, and Thomson believes judges need to be held accountable when they get it wrong.
Josh Thomson Takes Aim at UFC 310 Judges After Split Decision Sparks Outrage
During Saturday’s fights, Josh Thomson stepped away during the final seconds of the heavyweight match, thinking the outcome was obvious. When he came back, he was shocked to see Ciryl Gane being interviewed as the winner. He shared his disbelief during a recent episode of his Weighing In podcast.
“As the ten second bell went I got up to use the restroom,” he said to co-host John McCarthy. “I come back and they’re interviewing Gane, I’m like ‘what the f*** just happened?’”
McCarthy made a case for it being a close fight, although he also felt that the decision should have gone Volkov’s way. When he noted that ‘the judges didn’t agree’, Thomson quickly shot back by declaring “We need to dock their pay”.
“I thought Volkov looked phenomenal,” Thomson continued. “I was very impressed, he was using the long range kicks, the push kick, then coming back with the same arms and hand, throwing the right leg and coming back with the arm right after.
“As soon as one was retreating, the other was coming out and landing clean. I was surprised Gane didn’t go down [under a spinning backfist], he looked a little wobbled but then Volkov didn’t try to get anything done and didn’t want to jump into something big.
“That was smart on his part but it’s just one of those fights, man. One of those fights where you just feel like if they would have done a tiny bit more, he’d fought his way out of the kimura and get a little something it wouldn’t have been as close a fight.
“I gave it to Volkov… I came back from the bathroom and I was just like ‘s***, man.”
Alexander Volkov was upset with judge Adelaide Byrd after his fight. Known for past controversies, like giving Canelo Alvarez a surprising win in a close fight, Byrd faced criticism again. Volkov questioned why someone with such a history continues to judge both boxing and MMA.
“I don’t understand, this state is the fighting capital of the world, I don’t know what to say… How is it possible that the same person can judge two different kinds of sports?
“I don’t understand how a person that is not professionally learned in this sport, can either not be requalified to judge this sport, or just not be f***ing fired.
“I don’t know if she works on her [judging] skills, or she just sometimes comes to watch the fights because she likes it and give the victory wherever she likes… Maybe she liked the body of Ciryl Gane more.
“It’s the same as in our sport, if you’re not professionally fit to fight in the UFC, it’s likely that you’re going to get fired – and it should be the same with everybody else, if you can’t professionally do your job, you shouldn’t do it.”
“How can the guy who was less active and have more damage win the fight?”
Alexander Volkov is FURIOUS about his #UFC310 loss to Ciryl Gane. pic.twitter.com/x4tueAAfrh
— MMA Junkie (@MMAJunkie) December 8, 2024
After UFC 310, Dana White felt bad about the judges’ decision and told Alexander Volkov that the judges had made a big mistake. He said that Volkov got treated unfairly. New videos showed Dana and Volkov talking at the cage, and Dana made sure to let him know he agreed the decision was wrong.
