Stephen Thompson thought he had the win in the bag at the end of his fight at UFC on ESPN 70.
Stephen Thompson doesn’t quite understand how he didn’t get his hand raised Saturday.
Thompson (17-9-1 MMA, 12-9-1 UFC) lost a split decision to Gabriel Bonfim (18-1 MMA, 5-1 UFC) in the co-main event of UFC on ESPN 70 in Nashville, Tenn. There were two 29-28’s for Bonfim and one for “Wonderboy.” This scoring sparked a big reaction and wave of criticism towards the judging, as many thought Thompson had done enough to win the bout.
A few days removed from the event, and Thompson recalls feeling the fan frustration in the arena, as the decision was met with boos.
“I felt that I did enough to win the fight,” Thompson told Ariel Helwani. “Clean strikes, I felt great during my movement, I think I felt I had more damage. The damage was in my favor. Bonfim, tough fighter, hat’s off to the guy. But when the crowd, the journalists, and the team are all like this shocked about the decision, I’m like, ‘Something is not right.'”
Thompson, a 22-fight veteran in the UFC, is 8-6-1 in the UFC when he’s gone to decisions. The 42year-old is familiar with both the feeling of defeat and victory, and the reading of the scorecards didn’t match the way he felt in Nashville.
“I’ve been in this game for a long time, and I know what it feels to win a fight and I know what it feels like to lose a fight,” Thompson said. “I didn’t lose that fight. I feel like I didn’t lose that fight.”
The Tennessee Athletic Commission didn’t issue any type of statement on the matter. It’s rare to see any athletic commission address an officiating controversy. Thompson calls for more accountability, as he would’ve liked to hear from the people who handed him the defeat.
“I lost the fight, but I felt like I won it,” Thompson said. “When you’ve got your family, your team, your friends and family back home, everybody who saw the fight thought I won the fight – it kind of goes back to, what do we do about that? I think there’s got to be more accountability with the (judges). I know it’s not the UFC’s fault. It’s the commission’s fault. But there’s got to be more transparency, for sure, when it comes to the judging of these fights.”
