f o l l o w           

Wednesday, December 31, 2025

Using a combined measurement of media and fan scoring percentages, MMAdecisions.com has compiled a list of 2025's most disputed decisions:



2025's Most Disputed Decisions
Agreement with Winner
# Fight Media Fans Avg. Winner's Judges Other Judge Notes
1Santos def. Marshall0%12%6%Lee, LethabyClearyCleary 27-30
2Bonfim def. Thompson14%9%12%Bell, TirelliWinter-
3Zahabi def. Aldo11%18%15%Bell, Procopio, Therien-Unanimous
4Loughran def. Fletcher10%22%16%Cartlidge, PaolilloOhlsson-
5Diaz def. Santos14%20%17%Colon, Lee, Weeks-Unanimous
6Bukauskas def. Cutelaba18%16%17%Procopio, D'AmatoValelProcopio 30-27, Valel 27-30
7Cortes-Acosta def. Spivac23%14%18%Bilyk, Querido, Tamburrino-Unanimous, Tamburrino 30-27
8Wood def. Delgado11%28%20%Cartlidge, D'Amato, Werner-Unanimous
9Haqparast def. Ribovics18%24%21%Bell, D'AmatoLee-
10Dumont def. Vieira14%33%24%Cleary, ColonMcCarthy-

Honourable Mentions:

Of note:

  • Stephen Thompson stakes his claim as one of the most aggrieved fighters in UFC history with his third appearance on this list, all on the losing side (2017, 2018, 2025)
  • Nasrat Haqparast is on the winning side of the 9th most disputed decision for the second year in a row.
  • 2025 was the first year since 2017 in which only one fight had a combined average under 10%.

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 31, 2025

Using a combined measurement of media and fan scoring percentages, MMAdecisions.com has compiled a list of 2025's most disputed decisions:



2025's Most Disputed Decisions
Agreement with Winner
# Fight Media Fans Avg. Winner's Judges Other Judge Notes
1Santos def. Marshall0%12%6%Lee, LethabyClearyCleary 27-30
2Bonfim def. Thompson14%9%12%Bell, TirelliWinter-
3Zahabi def. Aldo11%18%15%Bell, Procopio, Therien-Unanimous
4Loughran def. Fletcher10%22%16%Cartlidge, PaolilloOhlsson-
5Diaz def. Santos14%20%17%Colon, Lee, Weeks-Unanimous
6Bukauskas def. Cutelaba18%16%17%Procopio, D'AmatoValelProcopio 30-27, Valel 27-30
7Cortes-Acosta def. Spivac23%14%18%Bilyk, Querido, Tamburrino-Unanimous, Tamburrino 30-27
8Wood def. Delgado11%28%20%Cartlidge, D'Amato, Werner-Unanimous
9Haqparast def. Ribovics18%24%21%Bell, D'AmatoLee-
10Dumont def. Vieira14%33%24%Cleary, ColonMcCarthy-

Honourable Mentions:

Of note:

  • Stephen Thompson stakes his claim as one of the most aggrieved fighters in UFC history with his third appearance on this list, all on the losing side (2017, 2018, 2025)
  • Nasrat Haqparast is on the winning side of the 9th most disputed decision for the second year in a row.
  • 2025 was the first year since 2017 in which only one fight had a combined average under 10%.

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.
Sunday, December 29, 2024


Busiest UFC Judges of 2024 *
# Judge Events** Decisions
1Sal D'Amato35113
2Michael Bell2788
3Chris Lee2468
4Eric Colon2061
5Derek Cleary1957
6Junichiro Kamijo2350
7Ron McCarthy1439
8Adalaide Byrd2037
9David Lethaby1031
10Ben Cartlidge1230
* - Not including fights stopped before decision
** - Not including worked events in which a full scorecard was not submitted

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.

© 2020 MMADecisions.com