UFC
Fabio Maldonado upset at judging in UFC on Fuel 3 loss to Igor Pokrajac
May 16, 2012 - 6:25:55 PM Fabio Maldonado upset at judging in UFC on Fuel 3 loss to Igor Pokrajac

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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

Fabio Maldonado has been a part of two straight wars inside the Octagon, and in both cases he wound up on the wrong end of a unanimous decision. In the most recent instance, Maldonado dropped a decision to Igor Pokrajac at Tuesday's UFC on Fuel 3, and he's livid over that result.

"I don't have an answer to that [decision]," Maldonado said in an interview with Tatame.com. "There was a judge who scored it 30-27. There's no logic in it. I'm really sad."

"I won it and that's it. Everybody saw it, even the judges. The three judges who gave it to him know deep down I won. In my opinion it's not a mistake, is called having a bad character, mainly the one who scored 30-27... They want to f*** me up, they didn't want to give me the win once again."

Maldonado certainly had a case for the fight, delivering a ton of punishment throughout the bout to Pokrajac, outstriking him in every round. However, much of the attack was to the body, and the judges didn't credit him nearly enough for that portion of his attack. For Maldonado, he simply can't believe that the decision came down the way it did.

"He hit me with an elbow really hard, he has heavy hands," Maldonado admitted. "It's been a while since I was last hit that hard. He took me down, got the mount, but that was it. I won the second and third rounds. I'm punched, get kneeled on the face and nothing happens, but then I throw a couple of punches on his face and he gets all dizzy and can walk... It's complicated."

Unfortunately for him, the judges didn't agree with his assessment, and he's now 1-2 in the UFC.

Penick's Analysis: Maldonado absolutely has a right to be upset about the decision, especially after looking over the numbers from the fight in conjunction with what happened. He out-struck Maldonado 166-64 overall, with a 98-36 edge in significant strikes. In the first round, Maldonado's significant strike edge was 36-6, yet Maldonado's one takedown with almost no striking earned him the round. It's unfortunate for him, but bad judging is sadly nothing new in this sport, and because of that he sits with two losses under his belt in the UFC.