“Can’t Be Any Worse Than What We’re Doing Now” – UFC Star Anthony Smith Lobbies to Give Former Fighters a Chance to Judge After UFC 282 Controversy

As the curtains drew on UFC 282, it went down in the history books as a controversial event. Both the co-main event and the main event were full of appalling results. Paddy Pimblett stood victorious in the co-main event fight against Jared Gordon. This result became the talk of the town, as many, including fans and fighters, had Gordon winning the fight. Even the main event shockingly saw a split draw between Jan Błachowicz Vs Magomed Ankalaev. Recently, Anthony Smith along with Ariel Helwani discussed the results and poor refereeing decision.

Fighters such as Jiri Prochazka, Francis Ngannou, Mike Perry, Michael Bisping, and Chris Weidman voiced their disapproval of the events’ results. However, Bisping later deleted his tweet regarding the controversial results, due to his relationship with the promotion.

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Moreover, even the fans took over social media to voice their objection to the judge’s decision. This left a sour taste to the fighters involved. Moreover, Ankalaev even threatened to leave the promotion due to the decision of the main event.

Anthony Smith talks about former fighters being the decision-makers

Recently, Smith sat down along with Ariel Helwani on the MMA Hour. He did not agree with the decision makers not being field experts with no experience in MMA fights. 

He said, “I think one knock on having former fighters or coaches. Having those kind of people in judging positions, I think the argument is that biases in their styles or maybe people they’re connected to.“

“But it can’t be any worse than what we’re doing now. So I don’t necessarily fully subscribe that we need former fighters or whatever in those seats but. We need at least people that understand each intricate part of the game, ” he further added. 

Smith gives his opinion on UFC 282

Smith alongside Helwani even discusses the impact of the judge’s decision on fights. The UFC light heavyweight fighter Anthony Smith is known for being quite active on social media and often appears on several podcasts.

He was one of the fighters who disagreed with the results of the co-main event and the main event. He said, “We need people that know what the f** they’re looking at. It drives me absolutely crazy that these nerds in suits, sitting behind desks in big buildings, with cushy paychecks to not do s***, are the ones making the decisions on our careers.“

“Why are there not guys that spent a lifetime doing this [making those decisions], after they retire or after they’re done coaching?” he further added.

Moreover, he also spoke about the state of referees and judges who are in charge of decision-making regarding the fights.

What do you make of Anthony Smith’s opinion?

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