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Saturday, December 21, 2024

Using a combined measurement of media and fan scoring percentages, MMAdecisions.com has compiled a list of 2024's most disputed decisions:



2024's Most Disputed Decisions
Agreement with Winner
# Fight Media Fans Avg. Winner's Judges Other Judge Notes
1Fakhretdinov def. Leal0%8%4%Ali, Bell, Lethaby-Unanimous; Ali 30-27
2Tomar def. dos Santos0%10%5%Cleary, JonesD'AmatoJones 30-27, D'Amato 27-30
3Hubbard def. Figlak0%11%5%Bell, Colon, Miner-Unanimous
4Rodriguez def. Dulgarian0%11%6%D'Amato, McCarthyManess-
5Gane def. Volkov5%8%7%Byrd, KamijoColon-
6Taveres def. Sidey0%17%8%Colon, HaniffCleary-
7Sidey def. Armfield10%14%12%Cleary, KamijoBell-
8Pena def. Pennington4%21%13%Bell, D'AmatoCleary5-round title fight
9Haqparast def. Gordon13%15%14%Collett, D'AmatoWerner-
10Demopoulos def. Ducote13%17%15%D'Amato, McCarthyCleary-

Honourable Mentions:

Of note:

  • Jared Gordon may be one of the most unfortunate fighters in recent UFC history. In 2022, he was on the losing end of the year's most disputed decision. And now in 2024, he is on the losing end of the ninth most disputed decision.
  • On the flipside, Vanessa Demopoulos may be one of the most fortunate fighters in recent UFC history. She was the winner in the 11th most disputed decision of 2022, the winner in the 9th most disputed decision of 2023, and now the winner in the 10th most disputed decision of 2024.
  • The first two fights of Serhiy Sidey's UFC career made the list. He won one and lost one.
  • Judges Sal D'Amato and Michael Bell made the most appearances on this year's list, though they were also the two busiest UFC judges of 2024.
  • Judge Chris Lee did the best job of avoiding controversy in 2024. He was the third busiest UFC judge in 2024 (68 decisions), yet none of his fights qualified for the year's list.
  • 2024 was the second year in which the most disputed decision of the year was a unanimous verdict. The other was in 2022: Paddy Pimblett vs. Jared Gordon.

Selection Criteria

  • Only decisions in which at least two-thirds of the tracked media scores disagreed with the actual winner AND decisions in which at least two-thirds of the submitted fan scorecards disagreed with the actual winner were included.
  • A fight must have a minimum of 6 media scores.
  • A fight must have a minimum of 15 fan scorecards.
  • Only fights from Bellator, Cage Warriors, KSW, PFL and the UFC were considered. Though typically, only UFC fights have enough media and fan scorecards to meet the minimum requirements to qualify for the list.

Sources of Bias

There are several possible sources of bias that could have affected the members and order of this list. Those sources include:

  • Loser Bias: Fans who disagree with the outcome are more likely to submit a scorecard than those who are content with the decision.
  • Geographical Bias (Fans): Sometimes certain countries generate more traffic than others, which could lead to a bias in fan voting.
  • Geographical Bias (Media): The media scorecards tracked on this site are predominantly submitted by US-based media members.
  • Small Sample Size: with thresholds set at 6 media members and 15 fan scorecards, it is quite possible that those small thresholds could yield results that vary significantly from the general MMA populace.
  • UFC Bias: Because of the dearth of media and fan scores in other organizations, very few non-UFC decisions meet the thresholds for consideration.
Wednesday, December 20, 2023

Using a combined measurement of media and fan scoring percentages, MMAdecisions.com has compiled a list of 2023's most disputed decisions:



2023's Most Disputed Decisions
Agreement with Winner
# Fight Media Fans Avg. Winner's Judges Other Judge Notes
1Edwards def. Pudilova0%11%6%Huyette, SwanbergGueary-
2Marcos def. Grant14%2%8%Werner, WojciechowskiOhlsson-
3Jenkins def. Emmers0%16%8%D'Amato, LeeWincapawWincapaw 27-30
4Brener def. Tukhugov0%17%9%Field, ClearyFoleyField 30-27
5Albazi def. Kara-France10%10%10%D'Amato, LeeBell5 rounds
6Alencar def. Amanda10%11%10%Byrd, McCarthyD'Amato-
7Mullarkey def. Makdessi14%10%12%Christie, Colon, Lethaby-Unanimous
8Bohm def. Kim9%16%13%Bell, KamijoHarris-
9Demopoulos def. Murata7%18%13%Colon, D'Amato, Lee-Unanimous
10Murphy def. Santos11%17%14%Paolillo, WernerCollett-

Honourable Mentions:

Of note:

  • Ji Yeon Kim was involved in the 5th most disputed decision in 2022 and now the 8th most disputed decision in 2023. Each time she was on the losing side of the result. Kim was also on the winning side of the 10th most disputed decision in 2018.
  • Jamie Mullarkey was involved in the 12th most disputed decision in 2022 and now the 7th most disputed decision in 2023. Each time he was on the winning side of the result. Mullarkey was also on the losing side of the 7th most disputed decision in 2020.
  • Vanessa Demopoulos was involved in the 11th most disputed decision in 2022 and now the 9th most disputed decision in 2023. Each time she was on the winning side of the result.
  • John Makdessi was involved in the 12th most disputed decision in 2015 and now the 7th most disputed decision in 2023. Each time he was on the losing side of the result.
  • All judges involved in the most disputed decision only worked in that one UFC event during the year.

Selection Criteria

  • Only decisions in which at least two-thirds of the tracked media scores disagreed with the actual winner AND decisions in which at least two-thirds of the submitted fan scorecards disagreed with the actual winner were included.
  • A fight must have a minimum of 6 media scores.
  • A fight must have a minimum of 15 fan scorecards.
  • Only fights from Bellator, Cage Warriors, KSW, PFL and the UFC were considered. Though typically, only UFC fights have enough media and fan scorecards to meet the minimum requirements to qualify for the list.

Sources of Bias

There are several possible sources of bias that could have affected the members and order of this list. Those sources include:

  • Loser Bias: Fans who disagree with the outcome are more likely to submit a scorecard than those who are content with the decision.
  • Geographical Bias (Fans): Sometimes certain countries generate more traffic than others, which could lead to a bias in fan voting.
  • Geographical Bias (Media): The media scorecards tracked on this site are predominantly submitted by US-based media members.
  • Small Sample Size: with thresholds set at 6 media members and 15 fan scorecards, it is quite possible that those small thresholds could yield results that vary significantly from the general MMA populace.
  • UFC Bias: Because of the dearth of media and fan scores in other organizations, very few non-UFC decisions meet the thresholds for consideration.
Tuesday, December 19, 2023


Busiest UFC Judges of 2023 *
# Judge Events** Decisions
1Sal D'Amato30104
2Derek Cleary2066
3Chris Lee2258
4Michael Bell1754
5Junichiro Kamijo2352
6Eric Colon1536
7David Lethaby1234
8Ron McCarthy1333
9Ben Cartlidge1230
10Adalaide Byrd1725
* - Not including fights stopped before decision
** - Not including worked events in which a full scorecard was not submitted

Tuesday, January 03, 2023

Using a combined measurement of media and fan scoring percentages, MMAdecisions.com has compiled a list of 2022's most disputed decisions:



2022's Most Disputed Decisions
Agreement with Winner
# Fight Media Fans Avg. Winner's Judges Other Judge Notes
1Pimblett def. Gordon4%8%6%Crosby, Lee, McCarthy-Unanimous
2Johnson def. Zhumagulov8%6%7%Cleary, D'AmatoCrosby-
3Arlovski def. Collier0%16%8%Crosby, D'AmatoBell27-30 Bell
4Rodriguez def. Li9%8%8%Bell, CrosbyMcCarthy-
5Cachoeira def. Kim7%11%9%Bell, Byrd, D'Amato-Unanimous
6Buday def. Brzeski8%11%9%D'Amato, KellyBell-
7Vergara def. Rodrigues8%14%11%Colon, CurcioKamijo-
8Rountree Jr. def. Jacoby13%11%12%Cartlidge, FloresMcCarthy-
9O'Malley def. Yan4%24%14%Cartlidge, LethabyPaolillo-
10Vieira def. Holm10%22%16%Bell, ClearyD'Amato-

Honourable Mentions:


Of note:

  • For the first time since this was created in 2013, the most disputed decision of the year (Pimblett/Gordon) was a unanimous decision.
  • Zhalgas Zhumagulov was on the losing end of the 2nd and 13th most disputed decisions of the year. In 2020, Zhumagulov again found himself on the wrong side of a decision in this list, losing in the 6th most disputed decision of that year.
  • Douglas Crosby was a judge in the top four most disputed decisions of the year, siding with the winner in three of those fights.
  • The judge with the most completed UFC decisions in 2022 without an appearance on this year's list was Junichiro Kamijo. Kamijo submitted scorecards in 67 UFC decisions in 2022, making him the 3rd most active UFC judge in 2022.

Selection Criteria

  • Only decisions in which at least two-thirds of the tracked media scores disagreed with the actual winner AND decisions in which at least two-thirds of the submitted fan scorecards disagreed with the actual winner were included.
  • A fight must have a minimum of 6 media scores.
  • A fight must have a minimum of 15 fan scorecards.
  • Only fights from Bellator, Cage Warriors, Invicta, KSW, PFL and the UFC were considered. Though typically, only UFC fights have enough media and fan scorecards to meet the minimum requirements to qualify for the list.

Sources of Bias

There are several possible sources of bias that could have affected the members and order of this list. Those sources include:

  • Loser Bias: Fans who disagree with the outcome are more likely to submit a scorecard than those who are content with the decision.
  • Geographical Bias (Fans): Sometimes certain countries generate more traffic than others, which could lead to a bias in fan voting.
  • Geographical Bias (Media): The media scorecards tracked on this site are predominantly submitted by US-based media members.
  • Small Sample Size: with thresholds set at 6 media members and 15 fan scorecards, it is quite possible that those small thresholds could yield results that vary significantly from the general MMA populace.
  • UFC Bias: Because of the dearth of media and fan scores in other organizations, very few non-UFC decisions meet the thresholds for consideration.
Sunday, January 01, 2023


Busiest UFC Judges of 2022 *
# Judge Events** Decisions
1Sal D'Amato3295
2Michael Bell2876
3Junichiro Kamijo2567
4Derek Cleary2465
5Chris Lee2253
6Douglas Crosby1941
7Ron McCarthy1332
-Adalaide Byrd2032
9Eric Colon1230
10Tony Weeks1418
* - Not including fights stopped before decision
** - Not including worked events in which a full scorecard was not submitted


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