Former Bellator welterweight champion Rory MacDonald was surprised by the scoring of his split-decision loss to Gleision Tibau at PFL 5.
MacDonald spoke with reporters following the event on Thursday night and gave his reactions to the loss, saying he believes the judging of the fight should be looked into. Judges Dave Tirreli and Cardo Urso scored the bout 29-28 in favor of Tibau, leaving many online to call the decision a robbery.
“I’m very disappointed,” MacDonald said (h/t MMAJunkie). “I believe and everyone I talked to, and everyone online, scored the fight for me. Even three rounds to zero, so I think it was a clear robbery. I thought I was dominant in this fight. It was a hard fight. Gleison brought it, and respect to him, but I believe that I clearly won that fight and I think that this should be looked into. We shouldn’t have to as fighters, as competitors (worry about the decision). We should be able to fight and rest easy that we have competent, fair, truthful judging in our sport. It shouldn’t be something that we have to worry about and stick our necks out on the line and our health to do something stupid. It’s just crazy. We don’t have this in any other major sporting event. It just seems like over and over and over again, we’re getting this in our sport and it’s just a real shame.”
Despite the defeat, MacDonald still advanced to the PFL Playoffs and will meet 2019 PFL Welterweight Tournament winner Ray Cooper III in the sem-finals of the 170 pound bracket.
Welterweight Semifinal Matchups are OFFICIAL!#PFLPlayoffs pic.twitter.com/FnmQoPtugj
— PFL (@PFLMMA) June 18, 2021
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