Andrei Arlovski and the most disputed MMA decision of 2019

UFC heavyweight legend Andrei Arlovski was involved in the most disputed MMA decision in 2019 for his fight against Augusto Sakai at UFC Sunrise.

That’s according to the website MMADecisions.com, which compiles all the scorecards from MMA judges, MMA media, and the fans. According to the research done by the site, the Arlovski vs. Sakai fight was the most disputed and controversial decision of the year.

Sakai was awarded a split decision win after judges Chris Lee and Troy Wincapaw scored the fight 29-28 in his favor, with the other judge Derek Cleary scoring it 29-28 for Arlovski. According to the data, 12 MMA media members (including myself) scored the fight for Arlovski, with one scoring it a draw. Not one single media member scored the bout in favor of Sakai, yet he ended up getting the nod via split decision.

To make matters worse, only 9 percent of MMA fans scored the fight in favor of Sakai, meaning that on average, only 4 percent of those who viewed and scored the bout had Sakai winning, with 96 percent scoring it for Arlovski. By the numbers, it’s the most egregious decision of the year.

There are a number of other bad decisions on the list that will make you shake your head, including a bantamweight bout at UFC Sacramento between Benito Lopez and Vince Morales. The three judges Blake Grice, Marcos Rosales, and Wade Vierra scored the bout in favor of Lopez, yet all 11 media members scored it for Morales. Only 12 percent of fans had Lopez winning the fight, meaning on average 94 percent of those who viewed and scored the bout had it for Morales.

The one non-UFC bout on the entire list was a lightweight bout in Bellator between Benson Henderson and Adam Piccolotti. Judges Anthony Maness and Marcos Rosales scored it for Henderson with Mike Guingona scoring it for Piccolotti. However, eight media members scored it for Piccolotti with one having it a draw and none scoring it for Henderson. 24 percent of fans scored it for Henderson, so on average 88 percent had it for Piccolotti.

Knowing the numbers point to Andrei Arlovski vs. Augusto Sakai as the worst decision of 2019, what do you think was the most controversial decision last year in MMA?

This article first appeared on BJPENN.com on 1/6/2020.