Israel Adesanya, the UFC middleweight champion, expressed his profound dissatisfaction with the judges’ decisions at UFC Vegas 74. The main event of the evening witnessed Adesanya’s teammate, Kai Kara-France, engaged in a closely contested bout against Amir Albazi. To the dismay of many fans and fighters, including Adesanya himself, the judges delivered a split decision victory to Albazi.
In the aftermath of the fight, Adesanya took to social media with an explosive series of scathing tweets aimed at the judges. His initial tweet exuded frustration and discontent, proclaiming, “Nah bro…F*** yous!!!”
He specifically singled out judges Chris Lee and Sal D’Amato, denouncing their scoring and even humorously suggesting a derogatory alteration of D’Amato’s name. Adesanya’s anger seemed fueled by what he perceived as a recurring pattern of judges robbing athletes of their well-deserved triumphs, financial rewards, and livelihoods. He called for the removal of the two judges and commended the lone dissenter, Michael Bell, who scored the fight in favor of Kara-France.
In a further tweet, Adesanya proposed a novel approach to holding judges accountable for their work by suggesting post-fight interviews. By doing so, he aimed to shed light on the judges’ reasoning and decisions, emphasizing the need for transparency in the scoring process.
“Nah bro…F*** yous!!!
“Fire Chris Lee & Sal Deez nuts.
“I tweeted that before even seeing the scorecards because I knew them two will f*** it up!! Hoooow many times will they rob athletes of their moments of glory, of their money, their livelihood for their family. F*** them c****, they need to expire quickly and go. Mike Bell was the only judge to score this properly, the other two deff need to disappear.
“Start interviewing the judges after fights. Hold them accountable for their work.”
Kai Kara-France, the fighter directly affected by the controversial decision, exhibited a more composed response in the post-fight press conference. While confident in his own performance and belief that he should have emerged victorious, Kara-France acknowledged the subjective nature of judging in combat sports. He recognized that he could have done more to sway the decision in his favor. However, as time passed, even Kara-France joined the chorus of criticism, tweeting a response that humorously compared UFC judges to National Rugby League referees, indicating his frustration with both.
Unfortunately, for Kara-France, the outcome of the fight cannot be altered. With the loss to Albazi, Kara-France now finds himself in a two-fight losing streak, having previously faltered in his interim flyweight title bout against Brandon Moreno at UFC 277. This losing streak marks a notable setback in Kara-France’s otherwise successful UFC career and places him outside the immediate title picture in the flyweight division.
https://twitter.com/kaikarafrance/status/1665241139891380230?s=20
I tweeted that before even seeing the scorecards because I knew them two will fuck it up!! Hoooow many times will they rob athletes of their moments of glory, if their money, their livelihood for their family. Fuuuuuuuck them cunts, they need to expire quickly and go. Mike Bell… pic.twitter.com/aCRG646b1i
— Israel Adesanya (@stylebender) June 4, 2023
