UFC Middleweight Champion Israel Adesanya wasn’t happy with the referees at the UFC in the ESPN 45 main event.
At UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Adesanya’s teammate Kai Kara-France fought a close five-round fight against Amir Elbazy. Although many in the MMA space watching at home thought Kara-France would raise a hand when the official decision was read, it was Albazi who emerged victorious with the split.
Official judges Chris Lee and Sal D’Amato scored the fight 48-47 in favor of Albazzi, while Mike Bell also scored it 48-47, but in favor of Cara-France.
Adesanya was watching the fight, and shortly after he read the official score, he expressed his displeasure in a series of tweets that took aim at the judges not scoring the fight for fellow City Kickboxing teammate.
“No bro… F*ck yous!!!” Adesanya wrote on Twitter In the first four tweets.
“Shoot Chris Lee and Sal Dies,” Adesanya continued in a second message, apparently before reading the results.
“I tweeted that before even seeing the scorecards because I knew they were going to hit!!” Adesanya wrote in a third tweet. How often will athletes rob them of their glory moments, from [sic] Their money and livelihood for their families? F*ck them c*nts, they should expire quickly and go. Mike Bell was the only judge to properly score this, and the other two should go away.”
I tweeted that before I even saw the scorecards because I knew Monday was going to mess it up!! How often will they rob athletes of their moments of glory, if it is their money, or their family’s livelihood. Fuuuuuuuck them cunts, they must expire quickly and go. Mike Bell… pic.twitter.com/aCRG646b1i
– Israel Adesanya (stylebender) June 4, 2023
In a fourth, quieter tweet, Adesanya made a suggestion that has often bounced around in MMA circles over the years, especially after a close and controversial arbitration outcome.
“Start interviewing judges after fights,” Adesanya wrote. “Hold them accountable for their work.”
The UFC main event on ESPN 45 was the second split-decision outcome of Kara-France’s UFC run. At UFC 234 in 2019, he was on the winning side of the duel scorecards, picking up a win over Raulian Paiva.
Saturday’s result marked Kara-France’s second straight loss, after losing his bid to claim the vacant interim title at UFC 277 this past July against undisputed champion Brandon Moreno. Before his current slide, he won three in a row, including first-turn stops of Rogerio Bontorin and Cody Garbrandt.
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