Demanding for the Judge “To Be Removed”, Former TUF Winner and Middleweight Star Lashes Out at the Official Who Scored UFC 288 Main Event

The curse of split decisions rocked the UFC world once again! MMA fans know that split decisions are always contentious. Judges must score fights in real-time, which can lead to errors and subjectivity. At UFC 288, Henry Cejudo faced off against UFC bantamweight champ Aljamain Sterling after a three-year retirement.

Unfortunately for Cejudo, he lost the fight via a controversial split decision. Before his retirement, Cejudo had an impressive MMA career. He won both the flyweight and bantamweight titles, making him one of the few double champs in UFC history. After a three-year layoff, fans were excited to see him back in the octagon.

However, it was not to be his night, as the judges scored the fight in favor of Sterling. The judges’ scorecards were a point of controversy. The three judges who scored UFC 288 were – Michael Bell, Derek Cleary, and Eric Colon. While Bell scored the fight 47-48 in favor of Cejudo, the other two judges scored the fight 48-47 in favor of Sterling.

UFC middleweight star critics UFC 288 judge

The fight between Cejudo and Sterling was a very close one. Nonetheless, the majority of fans believed that ‘Triple C’ won the last round by a decent margin. Derek Cleary was the only judge out of the three that awarded round 5 to Sterling. The other two judges gave the round to Henry Cejudo.

This sparked outrage amongst fans, with many calling for changes to the way judges score fights. Many UFC stars also voiced their opinions on this. One of them was UFC middleweight contender and former TUF winner Kelvin Gastelum. Gastelum tweeted his disappointment with the decision. He also asked Cleary to be removed from judging title fights.

“Yo! Derek Cleary needs to be removed from his position of ever judging a Championship fight forever!!”, Gastelum tweeted. Since 2021, Cleary has scored 3 fights for Gastelum, favoring the TUF winner in 2 of those fights.

Read More – Demetrious Johnson Defends Henry Cejudo as Controversial Scorecard Debate Takes Centre Stage After UFC 288

Also, it is worth noting that Derek Cleary was also a judge at the UFC 284, where Islam Makhachev faced Alexander Volkanovski. Held on 12th Feb 2023, the main event fight also had a very controversial ending. Volkanovski lost the fight via unanimous decision, but Cleary was the only judge that scored the fight 49-46 in favor of Makhachev. This means that he awarded only one round to Volkanovski, whereas the other two judges awarded 2 rounds to the featherweight champ.

Watch This Story – Why Is Henry Cejudo Called Triple C?

What do you think? Do you agree with the judge’s decision, or do you think Cejudo should have won the fight? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.