UFC president Dana White was not pleased with the judging for Alexander Volkanovski vs. Max Holloway 2.
Volkanovski successfully defended his featherweight title against Holloway in their rematch in the co-main event of UFC 251 last night in Yas Island, Abu Dhabi.
Unlike the first fight, Volkanovski faced plenty of adversity as he was dropped in the first two rounds and seemingly had an uphill task if he wanted to keep his title. And while he did much better in the final three rounds which were much closer, it seemed to many that Holloway had done enough to regain the strap.
Two of the three judges saw it differently, however, as Volkanovski carved out the split decision win much to the surprise of many in the mixed martial arts world. White clearly didn’t agree with the decision as he claimed it was bad judging.
“Listen man, you can’t leave it to these guys,” White said at the post-fight press conference. “We got some bad judging. We got some bad judging.”
White Doesn’t Rule Out Trilogy Fight For Holloway
The question now, is what is next for Holloway?
Many observers have called for him to move up to lightweight permanently and it seems all the more likely now that he is officially 0-2 against Volkanovski.
But while it’s rare for fighters to get a trilogy if they’ve lost the first two, given the circumstances, White isn’t ruling it out entirely.
“I don’t know, did anybody here have it for Volkanovski? Nobody in the media? I don’t know, we’ll have to figure it out,” he added.
For now, at least, Holloway might have to wait a while before he gets another title shot.