THERE'S been a lot said following Alex Volkanovski's second victory over Max Holloway at UFC 251 but, the irony is, it was probably the Aussie who was on the wrong end of the most questionable scorecard.
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Not all the commentary on the split decision win has been kind, or all that informed, but it was actually the scorecard in favour of the Hawaiian that had those in tune with the 10-point must scoring system scratching their heads.
It's been almost universally acknowledged that Holloway won the first two rounds and Volkanovski, a former Warilla-Lake South Gorilla, the last two.
The third round was ultra close, and could've gone either way, but all three judges scored it for the Wollongong fighter.
However, the eyebrow-raising card of judge David Lethaby awarded the fifth round to Holloway - a round that was clearly the most dominant for Volkanovski.
The end result was a split decision; a super close fight yes, a robbery as it's been described in some quarters, certainly not. Either way, Volknovski's message to the knockers is simple.
"Let them keep talking," Volkanovski told Australian Community Media from quarantine in Sydney.
"There was 1.3 million [PPV] buys so this was a huge card and the world was watching so that's a lot of people who don't really know the game and how the scoring system works.
"The first time I watched it back I just thought 'what's everyone talking about?' I was in Abu Dhabi, it was all in Arabic so I watched without commentary or live stats.
"Obviously the first two rounds I lost, the third round I thought I did enough, fourth and fifth round I know I did enough. I was confident the judges were going to give me the decision and they did.
"Anyone who knows the game wasn't surprised with how the card was scored. Max is very-well loved, the fight was close so I'm not going to be hating on the people who thought [I lost]. It is what it is as Max would say."
With plenty of good judges scoring their first meeting a five-round shutout for Volkanovski, he's taken at least seven of 10 rounds off the Hawaiian and is ready to move past their rivalry.
Ideally, he's looking to defend his title again before the year's out, the global state of the COVID-19 pandemic makes doing so in Australia the most likely option. Zabit Magomedsharipov, Chan Sung Jung and former contender Brian Ortega all loom as possible opponents.
"Right now another rematch would be ridiculous, I want No. 1 contenders and I'm ready to move on," he said.
"People are saying the reason I took this fight is because I had a chip on my shoulder but, the reality is, there was no [clear] No. 1 contender and Max was the biggest fight.
"He got the opportunity to try and redeem his loss and, he did better, but it wasn't enough. If he comes back around, takes people out, and he's back to that spot so be it.
"Right now in our division there's a race to that No. 1 contender spot and whoever gets to the front of the line and everyone's screaming their name I will fight them before the year's out, that's what I want."
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Mitch Jennings
Sports writer. Sport is my passion, rugby league my first love.
Sports writer. Sport is my passion, rugby league my first love.
