UFC 305 witnessed Jairzinho Rozenstruik record his second successive win, and Australian Tai Tuivasa suffered a fifth straight defeat. However, it wasn’t either one of them that dominated headlines following their bout, instead Judge Howie Booth took away all the attention. Two judges scored in Rozenstruik’s favor after a dominating performance by the Surinamese. But Booth’s 30-27 score in favor of Tuivasa raised many eyebrows, forcing Dana White and others into action and fans lashing out at him.

Booth’s decision to award Tuivasa all three rounds meant Rozenstruik won via split decision. This was a little surprising considering, how Rozenstruik pummeled Tuivasa in the second round to gain advantage. By the end of the third round both fighters known for the KO wins, were still standing, but it was clear that Rozenstruik had done enough for the win.

Judge David Lethaby awarded him all three rounds with a score of 30-27 while Judge Charlie Keech gave him two out of three rounds 29-28 in his favor. But Booth gave a straight 10 to Tuivasa and just 9s to his opponent leaving many people surprised. This led to UFC making a decision to remove Booth from the event for the rest of the night. He was slated to oversee the co-main event fight between Kai Kara-France and Steve Erceg later in the night, but his egregious call led to his early exit.

After reporter Kevin Iole tweeted about Booth being done for the night, announcer Jon Anik confirmed that Booth was pulled from the show during the UFC 305 broadcast. He was then replaced by Ben Cartlidge for the rest of the night.

Howie Booth is the founding father of Team Hammerhead and the creator of Powerbooth training and fitness. With his experience in the world of mixed martial arts, the MMA coach and referee found his way to the judges’ panel at the Ultimate Fighting Championship. 

Earlier during the event held in Perth, Australia, Booth’s other decision was less controversial. Still, he was the only judge to give a round to Rick Glenn in his defeat to Song Kenan via unanimous decision. After UFC’s quick on-spot decision, the company’s Senior Vice President, David Shaw also shared his take on the controversy.

“I guess someone made the call that the performance was probably not worth keeping them [Booth] involved for the rest of the night… It’s good checks and balances, everybody needs to be held to a high standard,” he said.

Shaw also added, “If I don’t do my job or you don’t do your job maybe it’s good to sit on the bench for a while and reconsider the work. Try to figure out how to get back on track and do a better job next time. I think generally in life that’s a decent principle. But it’s not for me to say whether it was right or wrong from the commission.”

This was one of the rare moments when such a drastic measure was taken by Dana White and Co. Nonetheless, it seemed UFC’s decision was in tune with what the fans felt and Rozenstruik was also in agreement.

Jairzinho Rozenstruik talks about Booth’s removal as fans lash out at judge

The first round between Rozenstruik and Tuivasa was more about the two fighters feeling each other out and not going completely in. But after a rather dull affair, the fight burst into life. The Surinamese fighter went after the hometown favorite after Tuivasa hurt his leg.

Rozenstruik gained the upper hand with a series of heavy blows to leave the Australian battered and bloodied. However, he did manage to get back into the fight with a few swings and take the fight to the third round.

Rozenstruik landed a few more damaging blows in the third round and finished on top with a flurry of punches. It seemed clear who had dominated and came out on top in this fight. That is why when the score was announced, everyone was left baffled by Booth’s decision to award the fight to Tuivasa.

This led to one of the fans commenting on X, “Ban Howie Booth from ever touching a scorecard again.” Another fan asked the officials to get the judge investigated. The comment read, “They gotta launch a federal investigation on Howie Booth lmfaooo, there’s no way he gave TUIVASA 30-27. There’s just no way.”

The love people have for the Australian mixed martial artist is palpable indeed. However, none of the fans seemed to side with Booth’s decision. Most of the MMA fans deemed the scorecard as one of the worst ones. One fan wrote, ‘bro im aussie and i love tuivasa, BUT WHAT THE F**K 30 – 27 TAKE AN IQ TEST PLEASE.”

Speaking after his win, Rozenstruik was informed of the UFC’s decision to remove both for the rest of the night. His response, “He better [be],” summed up his feelings. Talking about Booth’s scoring, the fighter further said, “That was crazy. It might be a judge from Australia, but it’s fine.”

One of the fans came up with a hilarious reason as to why Booth gave 30 points to Tuivasa despite his performance. The comment read, “The ONLY explanation for that scorecard is that Howie Booth thought Tai Tuivasa was Jarzinho Rozenstruik. That HAS to be some sort of mistake. If it isn’t he needs retraining, immediately.”

Do you think UFC made the right decision to remove Howie Booth following his scoring in the earlier fight? Let us know what you think in the comments down below.