On December 7, Alexander Volkov faced Ciryl Gane at UFC 310 to avenge his 2021 loss. However, despite a sensational performance, he lost the fight via a split decision, a result that vexed everyone present in the T-Mobile Arena. ‘Drago’ was in control of the fight and landed his shot almost every time he wanted. The razor-thin defeat came from the fact that Adalaide Byrd scored the second round of the fight against Volkov. A decision that left even UFC head honcho Dana White perplexed, who met Drago after the fight to tell him, “You got f***ed.” 

The shocking decision has taken over the internet as it has affected the heavyweight title picture massively. For the whole week, fans have been calling out Byrd and want some action from UFC. A week after the incident, legendary boxing trainer Teddy Atlas also joined the outrage and asked for Byrd’s credentials.

Adalaide Byrd’s controversial resume

Teddy Atlas, who trained a young Mike Tyson under Cus D’Amato and trained other legendary fighters like Michael Moorer and Timothy Bradley, has a huge passion for combat sports. On Sunday, he sat down with Ken Rideout for their weekly podcast, ‘THE FIGHT,’ and demanded to see Byrd’s credentials.

Rideout initiated the conversation and asked, “If anyone knows, what’s her qualification? Where was she a trainer? What was her career like? What was her fighting career like? She must have a deep-deep combat sports pedigree and background to be involved in so many high-level fights,” while referring to Byrd’s significant involvement in high-level combat sports events.

For context, Byrd has judged some of the biggest fights in boxing and UFC, such as Miguel Vazquez vs. Mickey Bey and Kell Brook vs. Shawn Porter. However, this is not the first time that her decision has drawn criticism. Her score of 118-110 in favor of Canelo Alvarez against Gennady Golovkin in 2017 forced the split-decision draw result sparking countless controversies. Teddy Atlas, who was an ESPN analyst back then, called her out that time as well.

Furthermore, her decision to score Leonard Garcia over Nam Phan in the Ultimate Fighter 12 Finale back in 2010 also garnered controversies. After all, she was the only judge to favor Garcia in that match. She has become an unwanted judge in UFC and her resume includes far more controversial decisions like Clay Guida vs. Marcus Aurelio (2007), Jake Ellenberger vs. Carlos Eduardo Rocha (2011), and Tim Kennedy vs. Roger Gracie (2013).

Atlas has been questioning Byrd for the last few years and even branded some boxing officials “corrupt” after the first GGG vs. Canelo fight, which many felt Golovkin had won. He decided to answer Rideout’s question and put UFC in stands demanding answers after the Alexander Volkov vs. Ciryl Gane debacle.

Teddy Atlas demands answers for Alexander Volkov debacle

Atlas sarcastically said that he would have to think before answering Rideout’s question, before shouting “wrong” in seconds. He declared that “in this business, you don’t have to have any,” type of training or credentials to be a judge. Atlas then added, “I don’t know what her qualifications are or aren’t. All I know she’s been bad,” acknowledging Anthony Volkov’s robbery.

The legendary trainer then went ahead and questioned the authorities. He added, “She’s not the only one who’s been bad. But she is bad and she gets to keep working,” claiming that the authorities should take action against her.

Atlas also raised questions against the Nevada State Athletic Commission after the 2017 Canelo Álvarez and GGG fight. After huge pressure from outside, Bob Bennett, the executive director of NAAC, was forced to give Byrd a sabbatical before she returned for UFC 222 in 2018.

As Dana White, Alexander Volkov, and almost every UFC fan are pressuring and raising questions to NSAC again, we will have to see whether they will make a similar decision. Or this time, we might see the end of the career of Adailade Byrd? Only time will tell.

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