UFC light heavyweight Anthony Smith wants the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation to apologize to James Krause and overturn his UFC 247 loss to Trevin Giles.
The mixed martial arts community has been up in arms following UFC 247 due to a string of questionable decisions made by the judges throughout the night. One of the primary examples of that came during the Trevin Giles vs. James Krause prelim fight where judge Joe Soliz awarded the first round to Giles, despite many believing that Krause clearly won that round.
After it was revealed by TSN that Soliz has close ties with the Elite MMA gym and Giles’ head coach, Anthony Smith had the following to say on the matter.
https://twitter.com/lionheartasmith/status/1229962888749682688?
“Mr. Soliz and Texas AC owe the entire MMA community an explanation and owe James Krause an apology and have that L overturned to a no contest,” Smith wrote. “He wasn’t given a fair shake at a fair contest.”
As time goes on it seems as if more and more fighters are speaking up regarding the quality of judging in mixed martial arts. UFC 247 could well be the straw that breaks the camel’s back, especially after the main event between Jon Jones and Dominick Reyes that caused quite a bit of controversy.
The hope and expectation is that this will serve as the catalyst behind something changing within the way certain commissions work, but it’s far from a guarantee. The Ultimate Fighting Championship has to deal with many different cities and countries all around the world, and there are always going to be complications.
The methodology behind the scoring is definitely going to be called into question if only to see whether or not there are steps that can be taken towards improving the status quo.
When it comes to James Krause specifically, his manager recently confirmed that they are planning on appealing the split decision loss he suffered to Trevin Giles. Regardless of whether or not they’re successful, they have definitely helped to start an important conversation as the landscape of judging in MMA continues to be something of a blur.
What do you think of these comments from Anthony Smith?
This article first appeared on BJPENN.com on 2/19/2020.