UFC 305 proved to be an unsuccessful outing for Tai Tuivasa, who racked up a fifth loss on the trot. He lost a rather one-sided decision to Jairzinho Rozenstruik. However, the headline that their fight created had nothing to do with either of them. Instead, it was one judge overseeing their heavyweight clash who’s become a talking point in the MMA community as Dana White and Co. removed him from the UFC 305 PPV.

There were some serious concerns about how the fight between Tai Tuivasa and Jairzinho Rozenstruik got scored. One particular judge, Howie Booth, who’s been a judge in the combat sports world for a long time, enraged the whole MMA community. But why? Let’s find that out.

Judge fired mid-card? What really happened at the UFC 305?

When Israel Adesanya was asked about his thoughts on the removal of the ban on 12-6 elbow strikes, he mentioned that judging needs to change as well. And by pure coincidence, we saw proof of the same at UFC 305. Jairzinho Rozenstruik landed almost double the significant strikes as Tai Tuivasa, and understandably, two out of three of judges favored the fight for the Surinamese star.

They scored the fight 30-27 and 29-28 for ‘Bigi Boy’, when the judge in question, Howie Booth, would shock fans with a 30-27 score for Tai Tuivasa. Jarizinho Rozenstuik was left dumbfounded nonetheless, as he stated, “For sure [surprised at the scorecard],” after the fight. When that happened, Booth was promptly ushered out of the event, getting relieved of his duties for the evening.

The judge was supposed to be on duty for the co-main event before being pulled from the event. His scorecards drew widespread criticism online and fans wholeheartedly welcomed the news of his removal. The fans were joined by UFC Hall of Famer Michael Bisping, who claimed that judges like Howie Booth “are costing people their livelihood, title shots, money in the bank.”

This stark contrast in scorecards has given a lease of life to Israel Adesanya’s claims about judging, which is a worrying sign for the UFC and its fighters. But what happened to Howie Booth after his removal? Well, actions were taken, but it was the UFC who took those actions.

Did Dana White and the UFC fire Howie Booth?

The short answer is no, the UFC appears to have had no say in what went down at Perth this past weekend. Dana White wasn’t present at UFC 305 as he was seen attending Fanatics Fest, promoting the upcoming heavy-duty Noche UFC card, so UFC exec Dave Shaw took over the reins of addressing the media about Howie Booth’s removal. He cleared it out that neither the UFC CEO nor any other executives made the call to let the judge go. Instead, it was Western Australia’s Combat Sports Commission, who made that call to let go of Booth for the evening.

“They probably spoke to Dave Lewis. But don’t forget that the Western Australia Combat Sports Commission, they’re the lead committee here. So, they are responsible for those decisions. And I guess someone made the call on, you know, the performance was probably not worth keeping them involved for the rest of the night,” Dave Shaw stated during the post-fight presser. Moreover, he didn’t seem too bothered with the Commission’s action because he believed “It’s good checks and balances.”

“Maybe it’s good to sit on the bench for a while, and reconsider the work, and try to figure out how to get back on track and do a better job next time,” Shaw added. As we’ve already mentioned. Howie Booth isn’t a rookie judge. In fact, he’s been judging UFC fights for well over 9 years.

How many UFC fights has Booth judged in the past?

Having started judging UFC fights in 2015, Howie Booth judged some big-time clashes between some of the biggest names in the UFC. Those names include the likes of Frankie Edgar, Colby Covington, and Edson Barboza, just to name a few. As per the ‘MMA Decisions’ website, Booth has judged a total of 30 UFC fights to date and has been a prominent member of the judging team for international UFC events.

Having so many fights under his belt, it was unusual for someone as experienced as Howie Booth to slip up with such a shocking scorecard. It remains to be seen how things pan out for the judge in the future and if this mistake proves detrimental to his career and standing in the UFC because fans want an investigation into this situation. Regardless, let us know your thoughts in the comments.