Daniel Cormier scolds Texas judges for their scoring of Chandler vs. Oliveira fight: “How in the world are you scoring that 10-8”

Daniel Cormier scolded the Texas judges for their scoring of the Michael Chandler vs. Charles Oliveira fight for two 10-8 rounds.

Cormier was sitting Octagon-side along with UFC commentator Jon Anik and analyst Joe Rogan at UFC 262 this past Saturday night in Houston, Texas. The main event of the evening saw Oliveira knock out Chandler in the second round to become the new UFC lightweight champion, but he’s fortunate he was able to finish the fight and now have the judges involved. After the fight was over, it was revealed that two of the three judges gave 10-8 to Chandler in the first round despite Oliveira having his back during the round.

Speaking on the “DC and Helwani” podcast, Cormier scolded judges Chris Lee and Sal D’Amato for scoring the first round 10-8 as he didn’t think Chandler did enough to warrant more than a 10-9 round. Cormier encouraged the judges to think more carefully about their scorecards because they can affect the careers of these mixed martial artists.

“Michael Chandler won that round, but when Charles Oliveira gets you down, takes your back, does good things in the round, how in the world are you scoring that 10-8 as a judge? Because the reality is that judges are so afraid, and they really don’t want to give a 10-7 round, but if that is a 10-8 round, what is worse? What do you have to do to go 10-7?” Daniel Cormier said (h/t MMAjunkie.com).

“When you take the responsibility (as a judge), you have to be very careful. Because they were about to mess up that fight. Had that gone five rounds, you would’ve had Charles Oliveira down two rounds after a very competitive round. You are taking responsibility for people’s livelihoods and their careers. You have to watch carefully and truly understand what you are watching. It’s crazy that they scored it 10-8.”

How did you score the first round of Charles Oliveira vs. Michael Chandler at UFC 262?