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[Cat--Smasher]

Judge Defends 30-27 Score in Guida vs. Hioki, Despite Being FB Friends with Clay | Bleacher Report

On Tuesday, a Bleacher Report article revealed that UFC featherweight Clay Guida is Facebook friends with judge Gabriel Sabaitis, which obviously doesn't mean a whole lot on its own.

That's just the tip of the iceberg though, as Sabaitis was a judge in Clay Guida's UFC on FOX 6 featherweight debut against Hatsu Hioki, which took place at the United Center in Chicago, Illinois.

Despite fans and analysts universally finding the fight to be very close, with many feeling Hioki got shafted with a split decision loss, Sabaitis scored the fight 30-27 in "The Carpenter's" favor.

The story caused enough of a stir that Sabaitis defended himself on the matter when he spoke to mixedmartialarts.com on Wednesday.

"I felt all 3 rnds were real close. Guida has an awkward style to score. I felt his aggression and TD out weighed (barely) Hioki's effective striking in the 1st. I also marginally gave him rnds 2&3...barely. But there's no half point scoring in MMA! There's 3 Judges for a reason. If both Judges gave it 29-28 Hioki and I gave it 30-27 Guida, then YES!! I am the new Cecil Peoples! But one DIDN'T!! And he's one of the most experienced Judges in the business!! He had it 29-28 Guida!! So that means he agrees with me more than the other Judge!! But this fight was so close it could've been 29-28 Hioki, no doubt. I respect everyone who believes Hioki won. I'm an open minded Judge, but I stand by my decision and it was made by using The MMA Judging Criteria NOT favoritism! My brother could be fighting and still wouldn't give him an undeserved decision!!!"

[Happypants]

What is a judge supposed to say when asked how he feels about how he scored a fight? Oh ya, I might have got that one wrong, sorry man. I think you won now but it doesn't really matter. Sorry again.

[dimerules28]

All the exclamation points make him sound ridiculous... WHY ARE YOU YELLING AT ME !????????!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Rise]

Well I give them credit for stepping forward and at least acknowledging why the decision might be controversial.

[trustkill]

Damn, man. Even at the highest level of the sport, sometimes it still feels like amateur hour with the judging and refereeing.

I remember a story where the NFL fired a referee because he had acknowledged being a NO Saints fan on Facebook. Those are high standards. Unfortunately, MMA isn't there yet. But hopefully the exposure will help (probably very slowly) get this sport where it needs to be.

[Fe1]

I had it 29-28 Guida

[Bearded Big Country]

I feel bad for judges like this. I doubt he went out and said "Guida is going to win this no matter what." Now the next time he judges he'll wonder if hes going to get criticized for a score or not.

[Sniggles]

MMA judges are not allowed to be fans of a fighter on Facebook?

Get real.

[Fedorlei Gomipierre]

I don't chock this up favouritism, but rather incompetence, that is rife within most commissions.

While nowhere near as egregious as Adelaide Byrd's Guillard/Varner 30-27 scorecard for Melvin(who btw, is judging Edgar/Aldo this weekend- YIKES!), I don't know how Clay could justifiably be given all three rounds by an articulate MMA eye.

I'm not a fan of when judges come out to justify their decisions after the fact, because it places further light on how imperfect and incredulous commissions at large are and that these employees can deliver below-par performances in their job and really don't get much discipline for their errors. I mean, how many times has a commission come out AGAINST a scorecard that one of their judges fucked up?

[Bork_Lazer]

Originally Posted by Happypants

What is a judge supposed to say when asked how he feels about how he scored a fight? Oh ya, I might have got that one wrong, sorry man. I think you won now but it doesn't really matter. Sorry again.

Who is the girl on your sig?