Khamzat Chimaev vs Sean Strickland judging was ‘perfect’, says John McCarthy
Former MMA referee John McCarthy has given his thoughts on the scoring for Khamzat Chimaev vs Sean Strickland.
Last weekend, in the main event of UFC 328, Khamzat Chimaev lost his first fight as a professional mixed martial artist. He fell to a split decision defeat at the hands of Sean Strickland, who was able to grind out a win and become a two-time UFC middleweight champion.
For many, this was considered to be a big surprise. While Chimaev may have suffered from a bad weight cut, he was still largely expected to overcome Strickland and retain the belt, before perhaps moving up to the light heavyweight division in pursuit of a second world title.
In a recent podcast, John McCarthy gave his thoughts on the split decision scoring of Chimaev vs Strickland.
McCarthy’s view on Chimaev vs Strickland
“I did agree with the scoring. I thought it was done perfectly,” the veteran official said.
“It was obvious that Khamzat came out and won the first round easily… It’s a 10-9 round for Khamzat.
“Sean comes out [in the second round], reverses it, and obviously it’s a 10-9 round for Sean.
“You get into the third and fourth, and they switch them back and forth. So, going into the fifth, I had it as the fight is up for grabs for whoever takes this round.
“It doesn’t matter if you’re going forward,” he continued. “Forward motion is nothing if there is not effective shots being landed. [Chimaev] touched him a couple of times, but nothing that was anything that bothered Sean in any way.
“The takedown, he gets the takedown, but what did he do? He rode the back and didn’t land any shots. It’s a positional change. I’ll give him credit for the takedown itself, but he did no damage before Sean got up.
“And then Sean ends up peppering you with that jab, lands the right hand a couple times, and he lands the most effective strikes by quite a considerable amount to win the round.
“I think [judges] Eric Colon and Sal D’Amato got it right. The right guy won.”
Quotes via Bloody Elbow
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