UFC Vegas 96 witnessed the clash between Jared Cannonier and Caio Borralho as they squared off to ascertain their dominance over each other. Despite a hard-fought battle by Cannonier, Borralho got the victory as the Brazilian fighter outperformed him to clinch the win by way of a unanimous decision. The fight might have been a victory for the ‘Nerd’ but now there’s a bit of controversy surrounding the referee.

Why, you might ask? Well, that’s because of the fact that Caio Borralho might have knocked out Jared Cannonier in the fifth round through continuous punches but the referee never actually stopped the fight and instructed the fighter to keep on fighting till the bell rang. This gesture by the referee has invited anger from the MMA world as the fans are fumed by the seemingly irresponsible act.

Both of the middleweight stars opened their fights by attacking each others’ calves. The fighters maintained their distance from each other until Borralho poked Cannonier’s eye by mistake. The match was halted for a while before the action resumed. Well, Borralho’s low kicks gave him an early edge since there was a visible discomfort from Cannonier. Regardless as the match went on, the Brazilian continued to dominate Cannonier with some exceptions here and there.

This was a phenomenal performance from the former mathematics teacher, and it might be his best one to date. However, the ending of the fifth round was embroiled in controversies. Some of the reactions by the fans are as follows.

Fans in fumes as irresponsible refereeing at UFC Vegas 96 gets highlighted

Starting off, it was Combat Sports, regulatory lawyer Eric Magraken, who was displeased by the way the UFC is treating its fighters.

Lapses in judgment have been a recurring issue in the realm of the UFC. Even at UFC 305, during the match between Jairzinho Rozenstruik and Tai Tuivasa, there was a significant lapse in judgment by one of the judges, who awarded a round to Tuivasa despite him being completely outperformed by Rozenstruik. Looking at the continuous mistakes, a frustrated fan called out the referee.

Furthermore, another fan lashed out at the referee.

The referee was not even responsive when Cannonier was wobbling on his feet, he only intervened when he was on the ground. Looking at this a fan wrote.

Last but not least, a fan called out to the promotion to fire the referee.

Borralho will keep his undefeated record in the UFC while on the other hand, Jared Cannonier is riding a losing streak now. Regardless, what’s your take on the match? Should the Brazilian have got a stoppage win? State your thoughts in the comments below.