Who Is MMA Judge Mike Bell? What Was the Controversial Decision He Made at UFC Noche: Valentina Shevchenko vs. Alexa Grasso?

The recently concluded UFC Fight Night 227 on the Independence Day of Mexico might have left several UFC fans in complete shock. Although the other fights of the night put up an enthralling show for the T-Mobile Arena audience, the coveted main event between the UFC’s current flyweight champ, Alexa Grasso, and last flyweight champ, Valentina Shevchenko sparked an eye-catching controversy. However, Grasso’s or Shevchenko’s performance had nothing to do with it. Rather, it was the result of the bout that induced discontent among a number of fans.

The main event presented a pretty evenly matched fight between ‘the Mexican’ and ‘the Kyrgyzstani’. At the end of the bout, the UFC world got divided into the ones who viewed ‘Bullet’ as the victor and others who believed Grasso had won the fight. But the judge’s decision shocked both parties. Pertinently, it was the referee Mike Bell whose decision startled most in the UFC community.

A large chunk of UFC fans criticized Mike Bell’s scores for the fight

A number of instances in the UFC have showcased how two judges can have completely different viewpoints about a fight. The UFC Noche main event also presented a similar scenario. Almost every round of the fight displayed a neck-to-neck contest between Grasso and Shevchenko. It even had two of the judges polarized as judge Junichiro Kamijo’s scorecards displayed a 48-47 in favor of Grasso, while Sal D’amato scored the bout similarly, but in favor of Shevchenko.

But the fans were left in despair after Bruce Buffer revealed that the third judge, Michael Bell, had scored the entire fight as a 47-47 draw. The primary point of their disbelief in Bell’s scores was related to how he scored the fifth round of the bout. Due to its competitiveness, UFC fans might have been divided about who actually won it. But neither Grasso nor Shevchenko’s supporters could have imagined that there would be a 2-point difference between the scores.

Mike Bell scored the fifth round 10-8 in favor of Grasso. A lot of fans completely disagreed with the decision, as they viewed Shevchenko as the victor of the round. But, even the ones supporting Grasso couldn’t have imagined that she would win the round with a difference of 2 points.

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This decision earned him quite some bashing from the UFC community and ‘Bullet’s’ fans since ‘the Kyrgyzstani’ could’ve won the bout if Bell had given one more point to her in the fifth round.

Has Mike Bell showcased any other instance of such ambiguous scoring?

Several MMA fans might remember that Bell has made questionable decisions previously too. Most notably, he scored the fifth round of the UFC 282 main event between Jan Blachowicz and Magomed Ankalaev as a 10-9 in Ankalaev’s favor. However, the other two judges evaluated it 10-8 in favor of Ankalaev.

Bell, giving one extra point to Blachowicz in the fifth round, ended the bout in a split draw. Otherwise, Ankalaev could’ve become the new Light heavyweight champion of the UFC. But a lot of fans might be in far more disbelief regarding his fifth-round scores of the recently concluded UFC Noche main event. A large number of them are currently calling out for an improvement of judging standards in the UFC.

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As of now, a large chunk of the UFC fanbase might view Mike Bell as the referee who gives out the most ambiguous decisions. How did you score the fifth round of the bout? Do you think Grasso did enough to get such a massive victory over Shevchenko in it?