Marlon Vera blasts judges following controversial loss at UFC on ESPN 8

UFC bantamweight contender Marlon Vera blasted the judges following a highly controversial unanimous decision loss to Song Yadong at UFC Florida.

Vera and Yadong went back-and-forth for 15 minutes and each man won a share of the “Fight of the Night” bonus for their tremendous showings in the fight. Many felt that while it was a competitive fight, it should have been Vera getting his hand raised. But the judges decided to go in the opposite direction, with all three judges scoring the fight 29-28 in favor of Yadong, giving Yadong the first two round and Vera the last.

Vera was visibly upset when Bruce Buffer read the scorecards, while Yadong looked genuinely surprised he was awarded the decision. Taking to social media following UFC Florida, Vera made it clear he’s not happy with the judges’ decision. Here’s what “Chito” wrote on Twitter.

https://twitter.com/chitoveraufc/status/1261869665078435840

I don’t lost the fight to the China men I lost to the judges tonight. All my hard work to the f*ckin drain, I can’t believe this horse sh*t tonight

There are a few things to unpack from Vera’s statement. The first is that he obviously felt he won the fight. It seemed like most fans on social media scored the fight for Vera, while the media seemed split on who won according to MMADecisions. This was not the only controversial decision of the night, as the judges were also scrutinized for the job they did in the Edson Barboza vs. Dan Ige fight.

The second thing is the comment referring to Yadong as “the China men.” Based on the replies to Vera’s comments, it seems fans understand his frustration at the decision but many said they didn’t appreciate Vera’s comment about his opponent. Maybe once he cools down to will issue some sort of amendment to the Tweet considering the backlash.

Do you think Marlon Vera was robbed by the judges?