The judges’ scorecards have been released for the hotly-debated featherweight fight at UFC Florida between Dan Ige and Edson Barboza.
In his first fight since dropping down to featherweight, Barboza appeared to have done enough to win the first two rounds against Ige and take home a decision, but the judges gave the bout to Ige via split decision instead. It’s the second straight controversial split decision loss in a row for Barboza after dropping another hotly-debated decision to Paul Felder at UFC 242. For Ige, meanwhile, that makes it six straight wins, with Barboza representing the biggest name on his resume thus far.
Following the event, the judges’ scorecards were released for the Ige vs. Barboza fight. Take a look at them below (via FanSided).
Dan Ige and Edson Barboza official scorecards #UFCFL pic.twitter.com/K2aHXxhwXN
— Amy Kaplan (@PhotoAmy33) May 17, 2020
As you can see from the scorecards above, judges Derek Clearly and Sal D’Amato scored the contest 29-28 in favor of Ige, while Troy Wincapaw scored the bout 29-28 in favor of Barboza. All three judges scored the first round 10-9 in favor of Barboza and the third round 10-9 in favor of Ige, meaning the fight came down to how they scored the second round. Ultimately, two judges felt Ige deserved to win the second round and that was enough for him to win the fight via unanimous decision.
According to MMADecisions.com, 15 media members scored the fight 29-28 for Barboza, while just two had the fight 29-28 for Ige. So when Ige was announced the winner by split decision, you can see why fans were surprised with the result. Barboza, too, looked genuinely shocked that he didn’t get the decision. After losing in such controversial fashion to Felder in his last fight, Barboza has now lost two straight fights, but had the judging been more favorable it would be two straight wins.
Who do you think won, Dan Ige or Edson Barboza?