The eventful UFC Vegas 51 concluded with two ‘technical decision’ victories. The term is very new for MMA fans, as it is not often that the fans see technical decisions, let alone two on the same night.
The Chris Barnett vs Martin Buday and Caio Borralho vs Gadzhi Omargadzhiev, both bouts, saw rare ends to the bout.
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In the prelims, Martin Buday landed an illegal elbow to the backside of the head of Chris Barnett. Since Barnett was not able to continue and the referee deemed the blow as ‘accidental,’ it went to the judges scorecard. Buday won the fight via technical unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27).
Likewise, in the co-main event, Borralho landed an illegal knee on the downed opponent, Omargadzhiev. Even for this fight, the refree decided the fight to take to the judges’ scorecard after Omargadzhiev couldn’t continue the fight. Borralho won the fight via technical unanimous decision as well (29-27, 29-27, 29-27).
MMA Twitter went crazy discussing whether disqualification or a no contest would’ve been a better result.
UFC Fighters and MMA world react to the illegal strikes
Former UFC lightweight fighter Justin Gaethje had a big reaction to the result. Gaethje, in a series of tweets, shared his opinion on the matter.
Gaethje offered, “I think at the very least it should be a no contest. Borralho was the better fighter. He committed a foul that ended the fight. You can argue unintentional but it should be irrelevant. I don’t understand. It should go down as a DQ win for his opponent. You’re not discouraging”
Others in the future and you are almost encouraging a fighter to take this route. The stakes are too high and ppl cheat. That is why this situation is in the rule book, probably an entire section.
— Justin Gaethje 🇺🇸 (@Justin_Gaethje) April 17, 2022
To add even more confusion, the legality of this knee specifically is different from state to state ffs.
— Justin Gaethje 🇺🇸 (@Justin_Gaethje) April 17, 2022
Not even a neurologist would be able to tell the extent of damage the impact caused or didn’t cause in 5 minutes time. I guess it’s not your brain though. I do agree with you that he bitched out but it all has to go on the dude that breaks the rules.
— Justin Gaethje 🇺🇸 (@Justin_Gaethje) April 17, 2022
Not only Gaethje, but many others shared the same sentiment.
Petr Yan seeing Borralho pull that downed knee back: #UFCVegas51 pic.twitter.com/Tw79SjmhVA
— MacMally🍀 (@MacMallyMMA) April 17, 2022
I’ll be honest guys, it makes no sense that Borralho had a point deducted for an illegal foul and then the foul was deemed accidental after 😂 I think it will be appealed eventually. It makes no sense but man it feels good to cash on that. He was the superior fighter. #UFCVegas51
— Adam Martin (@MMAdamMartin) April 17, 2022
I like Borralho, but how do you get a win here? I’m super confused… sucks that the ref you have for the night pretty much dictates how a foul is interpreted. No consistency. Should be a NC at best. #UFCVegas51
— Aljamain Sterling (@funkmasterMMA) April 17, 2022
Caio Borralho vs. Gadzhi Omargadzhiev ends in a technical decision due to an illegal knee landed by Borralho.
Here's the Verdict Scorecard from the fight with the point deduction considered.#UFCVegas51 pic.twitter.com/KDRQLSADql
— Verdict (@VerdictMMA) April 17, 2022
The contradiction here is taking a point but not call it intentional and going to a technical decision….super weird. That said. Borralho dominated Omargadzhiev and deserved the win. But he almost got himself DQ'd. #UFCVegas51
— Marcel Dorff 🇳🇱🇮🇩 (@BigMarcel24) April 17, 2022
Wow. Caio Borralho with an illegal knee to the head of a downed opponent. Takes a point. Why not take a point from Buday earlier for his foul? Big Dan is so inconsistent. #UFCVegas51
— Adam Martin (@MMAdamMartin) April 17, 2022
Apart from criticizing the decision from the ref, most agreed that Barralho was dominating the fight and was on the verge of victory. Though many did bring the Petr Yan–Aljamain Sterling first bout example; However, in that bout, the knee strike was labeled intentional by the refree.
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What do you think of the technical decisions result at UFC Vegas 51? Share your thoughts in the comments section.
Written by
Edited by
Arman Khan