Epic battle hides UFC judging nightmare as Jones defeats Gustafsson.

This age-old problem that seems to be getting increasingly frequent is not just confined to boxing. On Saturday 21st of September, at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto. Swedish challenger Alex Gustafsson took on the UFC light Heavyweight champion Jon “bones” Jones in an epic five round dog fight for the title.

In the end, the judges gave a unanimous decision to Jon Jones in a (48-47, 48-47, 49-46) victory. But while everyone was marvelling at such a great back and forth, herculean effort by both fighters (mainly due to the disappointment of Mayweather’s one sided fight a week ago), I was left open-mouthed and shocked at the outrage of the judge’s decision.

I mean, in my mind Gustafsson was robbed, plain and simple. 48-47 was bad enough but 49-46 is diabolical. In that judges eyes, Gustafsson won no more than one round.

I know you cannot get better than watching the fight live, up close and personal, blow for blow.

But I have watched the fight three times and Gustaffsson won the first THREE rounds. There is no way in hell you can make a case for giving him only one round. You can even make a case for scoring the fourth round a 10-8 to Jones.

The fifth was very close but Gustafson still won that. Even if the judges were being generous and gave it to Jones, it would be draw. This would further discredit the judges’ score cards. Furthermore, if you look at the condition and the faces of both fighters after the bout, you could clearly see who did more damage.

Personally, I was and still am amazed at how little outrage there has been about the result.

Gustafsson fought his heart out and went toe to toe, for five rounds against the man who is more or less the uncrowned pound for pound UFC king.

Don’t get me wrong, it was a great fight, an exciting back and forth battle with endless amount of action that epitomizes what the sport is all about. Unfortunately, because it was such a good fight, it allowed the judges to slide by with some incompetent officiating.

We all know the saying of “never leave it in the judges hands” but the man still won the fight. You cannot always get a knockout or a stoppage. The UFC and boxing should have a duty and responsibility to see justice is served to a fighter who has trained for months for this opportunity.

I think the diehard UFC fans were just happy the UFC produced a fight worthy of a main event. Especially a week after Mayweather’s brilliance made what should have been an epic battle, look like a stroll in the park.

I for one am not easily fooled and still not happy with the decision of Jones retaining his title. Nevertheless, there will no doubt be a rematch that everyone will be licking their lips in anticipation for.

Hopefully Gustafsson can get his justice and win the belt. But Jon Jones is not one of the best pound for pound mixed martial artists for no reason, and this fight would have really taught him a lesson. For that reason, I can’t help thinking that Gustafsson has really missed his opportunity, or more so, his opportunity was cruelly taken from him.