It is very rare for a state athletic commission to change a fight decision. So it is big news that the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation has changed Jessica Eye vs Sarah Kaufman to a No Decision. The fight was on UFC 166 in Houston Oct. 19. No reason was given but we can only assume that there was an investigation of the judges scorecards. The decision at the time was a split decision for Jessica. I scored the fight a draw. I thought Jessica won round one 10-9. I thought round two was a tie and I gave Sarah round three 10-9. I believe that part of the problem is that in close fights, judges receive mixed messages about scoring tie rounds. My position is if a judge sees a round as a tie, that is how it should be scored. But a lot of the time they are told not to do that and pick a winner. So most rounds are scored 10-9 whether they are decisive or not. In this case, the problem was with judge Ruben Najera who was working his first major MMA event. He scored round one 10-9 for Jessica and round two 10-9 for Sarah. But then he scored round three 10-9 for Jessica and no one believes Jessica won round three. If he had scored round three correctly, Sarah Kaufman would have won a split decision. I don't know if an official reason for this change will ever be given. But I think it's safe to say that poor judging is the reason. I don't scream robbery each time a close fight goes the wrong way. But there are times when judges need to be taken to task for poor decisions and this is one of those times.
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