Edson Barboza to appeal split decision loss against Paul Felder

Edson Barboza plans to appeal his controversial split decision loss to Paul Felder that took place this past Saturday at UFC 242.

The judges scored the contest 30-27 Barboza, 29-28 Felder and 30-27 Felder for a split decision nod for Felder. Many who watched the fight thought that it could have been scored 29-28 either way, with most media members actually scoring it for Barboza (via MMADecisions).

It seems like Barboza clearly won the first round 10-9 and Felder clearly won the third round 10-9. The second round could have gone 10-9 either way, for a 29-28 score for either fighter. The fact that one of the scorecards had it 30-27 Felder when it seemed like Barboza had easily won the first round was downright shocking to many fans when the decision was read.

The decision also shocked Edson Barboza and his team. The leg kick assassin’s manager Alex Davis spoke to MMAFighting.com and confirmed the Barboza team will be appealing the loss with the UFC, who handled commission duties for the event.

“We think that the fight was judged inaccurately,” Davis said. “The fact that one judge gave it 30-27 Junior and one have it 30-27 Felder is a big indicator of their confusion. Our perception—and to everyone we spoke with, everyone in the arena, every journalist and media—the fight was 29-28 for Junior, who won the first two rounds.”

Davis also added that Edson Barboza and his team have the utmost respect for Felder. It’s just that they feel there was a mistake with the judging in this fight, and they have to do what’s fair for their fighter.

“We can’t let this happen,” Davis said. “These fighters put a lot of effort and invest their time to get up there to do what they do so we have judges making these type of mistakes and not being reviewed.

“We think Junior won two rounds to one, but we wouldn’t complain if it was 29-28 Felder. Nothing against Paul Felder, he’s a great fighter, a great person, his whole team, but I think Junior did a great fight and we’ll contest this.”

Do you think Edson Barboza was robbed by the judges against Paul Felder?