In a video described as “clap back” to UFC 277 commentators Joe Rogan, Jon Anik and Daniel Cormier, Texas MMA judge Seth Fuller explained the reasoning behind his score for Don’Tale Mayes and the fallout he received from being in the minority on a split decision.
During the broadcast, Rogan told Anik and Cormier “that guy needs a talking to….we need to check to see what he’s been on” when informed of Fuller’s dissenting 29-28 score for Mayes, in contrast to two judges who gave 29-28 scores to newcomer Hamdy Abdelwahab on the prelims of this past month’s pay-per-view.
Fuller said Rogan’s words resulted in immediate backlash from UFC fans – one of whom called him a f***tard in a text he shared – and damaged his reputation with the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation, which oversaw the event at American Airlines Center in Dallas.
“Joe Rogan, you are still my hero. … But I have to face that, and everybody I know has to face that, and this is the important part, the commission has to hear that,” Fuller said in his YouTube video. “Now the commission goes, hey, this is why we shouldn’t have put this guy on the main UFC. … If you pretend that I am not skilled, that I was careless or that I did my best and don’t care much about the fighters or that the outcome is correct according to their rules, then you are just plain wrong .”
Fuller said he was a Brazilian jiu jitsu black belt. He has also refereed fights and judged them for 10years. Fuller stated that releasing video of the match would be a strange move for a licensed MMA judge. Fuller believes it could backfire. Fuller acknowledged that judges were discouraged from speaking to the media about scores.
“When I don’t think something’s right, I’m a little bit of a rebel, so I just don’t listen to it,” he said. This won’t endanger my career as a judge .”
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The Association of Boxing Commissions has asked all attendees of its judging and referee seminar to sign a code of ethics that prohibits negative comments towards officials and betting on fights. Fuller admitted to betting on the Ronda Rousey vs. Holly Holm bout at UFC 193 but said he stopped because his bookie didn’t pay his winnings.
“Maybe it’s just my ego causing me to do this whole thing,” he said. “It’s probably a bad idea. It’s unlikely that I can win. It will be educational, I believe. It could bring understanding.”
Fuller tried to show step-by-step his reasoning behind the score in the 28-plus video. He claimed that Mayes won the fight against Abdelwahab with a combination of two punches, which he stated knocked out the UFC rookie. Until that point, he said, the heavyweights were virtually even, with Abdelwahab earning credit for his striking in top control earlier in the round and Mayes earning credit for several kicks to his opponent’s legs, body and head.
A final clash of punches as the two traded with short time still didn’t break the tie, Fuller said. But with Mayes’ combination, he said he chose to weigh that slight striking advantage because it was the most important scoring aspect of the round over lesser criteria such as cage control, which he said Abdelwahab would have won had the striking been equal.
“If I had it in my head as even, then I would go to control, and there’s no doubt in my brain, Abdelwahab would win,” Fuller said. Fuller said, “But, that’s different from what I have been told. That’s also not how I’ve trained. And that’s what the unified MMA Rules state. It’s therefore not what these men signed to. It would be unfair to do any other .”
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Fuller said he could have “played it safe” by awarding Abdelwahab the round for his takedown and top control. He said he abided to the current MMA rules, and he opined he had far greater MMA experience than what the UFC commentary crew gave credit.
“Two other judges obviously disagree, and I have no problem with that,” he said. “But I wanted to just show you that I am not an idiot. I can score well and I know exactly what I’m seeing. I can see what I am looking at. In fact, I think I understand the rules better than announcers. They just finished the course 12 many years ago and had scores all over the map .”
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Several UFC commentators recently completed a seminar with current MMA judges on the scoring criteria. They have often referred to many of Fuller’s concepts regarding the relative importance of different techniques in deciding who wins a round.
Fuller meanwhile blasted the story in the media that Texas-based judges with “limited experience” weren’t given the main cards. He said it wasn’t experience, but because “they didn’t trust us to do it.”
“I wasn’t trusted to do the main card of the UFC despite my lengthy experience and dedication to this sport,” he said. “And that’s OK. I’m not mad at all. … These articles and other things get to the Commission and go towards my reputation. It also goes to whether or not they will use me again. But the reputation is a huge one. It is my first UFC experience, so I am a poor judge. Those comments were heard by millions. So this is why I’m responding.”
The commission did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Fuller’s video, which can be seen below. Rogan was not immediately available for comment.
