The day before, in Las Vegas, Russian MMA fighter Alexander Volkov fought at the UFC 310 tournament with Cyril Gan. Drago looked no worse than his opponent in the octagon and was confident of victory, but the referee unexpectedly raised the Frenchman’s hand. It is useless to argue with the decision now, but you can ask why the Russian lost.

Gan’s superiority was seen in the minds of an amateur grappler and a 67-year-old pensioner who had previously been distinguished by strange decisions.

Dissenting Views

The fate of the fight between Alexander Volkov and Cyril Gan at the UFC 310 tournament in Las Vegas was determined by the judges. A split decision (29-28, 29-28, 28-29) in favor of the Frenchman caused outrage from Drago himself, MMA fans and even UFC President Dana White. It is curious that the experts of the Sherdog portal unanimously gave victory to our fighter, but two of the three judges of the fight had some kind of alternative vision of the fight.

One of the referees who buried Volkov’s hopes of victory was Junichiro Kamijo. This judge has repeatedly been distinguished by his special view of fights. For example, he saw the superiority of Thiago Santos over Jon Jones, although the American’s advantage seemed obvious to everyone else. In the confrontation between Justin Gaethje and Max Holloway, perhaps only he saw an equal fight before the latter decided all the issues ahead of schedule.

One day, Kamijo stole Valentina Shevchenko’s victory over Alexa Grasso, and by his grace, the rivals’ second fight officially ended in a draw. But based on the precedents with Pulya and Volkov, one can hardly blame the judge for Russophobia. In the end, he consistently makes strange decisions in fights without the participation of Russians.

Questions for the judges

Kamijo’s strange assessments, if we leave Volkov’s fight with Gan out of the equation, can be explained. The judge has a reputation as a fan of grapplers: even grabs without taking him to the ground impress him at times more than strikes. But saying something in defense of 67-year-old Adelaide Bird is problematic.

She has been judging MMA since 2006, and boxing since 1982. This combination in itself raises questions: after all, figure skating judges don’t try to evaluate, for example, rhythmic gymnastics. And it would be fine if there were no questions for the judges, but this is not at all the case.

One of the most scandalous fights in which a woman worked was the fight between Gennady Golovkin and Canelo Alvarez, which took place on September 16, 2017 in Las Vegas. Two top boxers fought for the WBA, WBC, IBF, IBO and The Ring titles. Based on the results of 12 rounds, one judge determined a draw – 114-114, another – the victory of the Kazakhstani 115-113, and only Adelaide Bird observed some kind of alternative confrontation, giving the victory to the Mexican with a score of 118-110!

Gennady Golovkin and Saul Alvarez / Photo: © Sarah Stier / Staff / Getty Images Sport / Gettyimages.ru

“Good man”

Three years after the “drawn” fight, the streaming service DAZN organized a special viewing for three judges, and they unanimously gave the victory to Golovkin. But something else is curious: after numerous accusations of unprofessionalism, the Nevada Sports Commission stood up for Bird. A woman who, at 67, could have simply enjoyed retirement, continues to work.

Adelaide Bird / Photo: © Handout / Handout / Getty Images Sport / Gettyimages.ru

What can fighters and martial arts fans do? Some hate such judges, others treat them with humor. American sports commentator Joe Rogan once expressed out loud what many fans thought about Bird’s work.

– She is a very good person. Just like my mom, but I wouldn’t want my mom to referee fights. My mother would judge like this: “Oh, Canelo is so handsome! I’ll give him the round,” Rogan said.

After the defeat, Volkov was indignant at the fact that boxing judges evaluate MMA fights. But perhaps this is not a matter of specialization: Byrd also judged boxing in a unique way. Returning to Rogan’s words, we can assume that Drago simply did not seem handsome enough to someone. Alexander even openly states that he lost precisely because of Bird.

“I tried to do everything I could.” I sacrificed many aspects of my life to please you, but some woman from the commission decided differently,” Volkov told Sport24.

Fortunately, this should not affect Alexander’s title prospects – according to the Russian’s manager, UFC bosses are ready to give him a title fight. However, there has been no official information yet.

Watch live broadcasts of UFC tournaments on the Match TV and Match! Fighter”, websites matchtv.ru and sportbox.ru.