The official scorecards have been revealed for the main event of UFC Auckland between lightweight contenders Dan Hooker and Paul Felder.
Hooker and Felder went back-and-forth for the full 25 minutes in an absolute war that later sent both men to the hospital. It was an extremely close fight that ultimately went to the judges’ scorecards, where Hooker eeked out a razor-thin split decision.
The scorecards were not without controversy, as many fans and media felt that Felder should have gotten the nod. However, it was Hooker who earned the nod. Below, take a look at the official judges’ scorecards and see how they scored the fight.
Here is the scorecard for Hooker vs. Felder. Every judge scored it differently. Extremely close fight. https://t.co/qnSD02934o pic.twitter.com/ZCCkPhvE2i
— Marc Raimondi (@marc_raimondi) February 23, 2020
“Here is the scorecard for Hooker vs. Felder. Every judge scored it differently. Extremely close fight.”
As you can see from the scorecards, the judges had a hard time agreeing on which rounds Felder and Hooker won.
Judge Barry Foley scored the first two rounds for Hooker and the last three rounds for Felder, giving Felder the win 48-47 on his scorecard. Judge Howard Hughes score rounds one, three and five for Hooker and rounds two and four for Felder, giving Hooker a 48-47 win on his scorecard. And finally, David Lethaby scored the first three rounds for Hooker and the final two rounds for Felder, giving Hooker a 48-47 win on his scorecard.
No matter how you scored Felder vs. Hooker, it was an incredible fight between two of the best lightweights in the world, and both men truly deserved to win their “Fight of the Night” bonus. Since Hooker was the one who got his hand raised it seems likely he will move up the rankings and fight a top-five opponent his next time out, while for Felder he said after the fight he is contemplating retirement, though he may still change his mind.
How did you score the Dan Hooker vs. Paul Felder fight?