Video: Was Kai Kara-France robbed of a win at UFC on ESPN 45 against Amir Albazi?
The UFC on ESPN 45 main event was a close one, but the official result left a sour taste in the mouth of many.
Kai Kara-France ended up on the wrong side of a split decision last Saturday against Amir Albazi at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.
After 25 minutes of back-and-forth action, Albazi emerged victorious with two judges issuing scores of 48-47 in his favor, while the third judge scored the fight for Kara-France. Upon closer inspection of the official scores, judge Chris Lee scored the fourth round for Albazi, which to many watching at home, felt like a round that Kara-France won. Had Lee scored the round like the other two official judges Sal D’Amato and Mike Bell, the New Zealand-based fighter would have won the decision.
But was there more to the scorecards than the fourth round? Other frames throughout the five-round bout were close, including the first.
Was this a robbery? Did Kara-France deserve to get his hand raised? Did Albazi really do enough to walk out of the cage as the winner? Was this simply a case of a very close fight that could have gone either way?
Our “Spinning Back Clique” panel of Farah Hannoun, Mike Bohn, and Danny Segura discuss the judges’ decision along with host “Gorgeous” George Garcia. You can watch their discussion in the video above and check out this week’s full episode below.