UFC officials address 'missing judge' issue at UFC 204, camp asks for no contest

LAS VEGAS – While fans and media continue to debate the scoring of the main event at this past weekend’s UFC 204 event, astute observers may have noticed a different judge-related controversy on the night.

As the first bout of the night got underway, one judge’s chair sat empty. MMA Fighting photographer Esther Lin, who was positioned next to the unused seat, took to her Twitter feed to make note of the odd site.

As the lightweight matchup between Leonardo Santos (16-3-1 MMA, 5-0-1 UFC) and Adriano Martins (28-8 MMA, 4-2 UFC) kicked off at midnight local time at England’s Manchester Arena, judges Maciej Motylewski and Paul Sutherland were in position, but veteran official Jeff Mullen was not, only making it to his assigned post in the opening moments of the second frame.

As it turned out, the bout went the distance, and the result of the contest was left in the judges’ hands. Santos was declared the winner by split decision, with Mullen and Sutherland both awarding Santos rounds 1 and 2, while Motylewski gave Martins rounds 2 and 3 for the dissenting score.

With no athletic commission in place in England to oversee the bouts, UFC officials were left to self-regulate the sold-out event, as they do around the world in markets where needed. Promotion reps issued the following statement when contacted by MMAjunkie.

“At the UFC 204 event on Oct. 8 in Manchester, England, a judge was not in the proper judge’s chair during the first round of the Adriano Martins vs. Leonardo Santos bout,” the statement reads. “Judge Jeff Mullen was seated in the first row of the commission seating area and was observing the bout. Upon noticing that Judge Mullen was not in his appropriate seat at the end of round 1, Marc Ratner, UFC Senior Vice President of Government and Regulatory Affairs, asked Mullen if he believed that he could adequately score the round from his vantage point. Judge Mullen confirmed that he had observed the entire round and that he could appropriately score the round. As a result, Mullen filled out his judge’s scorecard for round 1 and took his appropriate judge’s seat to observe and score the remaining two rounds of the bout.

“After the conclusion of the bout, all three of the judges’ scorecards were tallied, and the decision was announced. Although the bout resulted in a split decision for Santos, it is important to note that all three of the judges scored the first round 10-9 in favor of Santos.

“In order to ensure that a similar incident does not occur in the future, UFC has reviewed its protocol for starting any and all bouts that occur in territories that do not have an applicable athletic commission or federation.”

Ratner further explained to MMAjunkie that he requests judges to score all contests at each event so the officials can review any decisions following the conclusion of the card. Additionally, he noted that a protocol does exist to ensure such an issue doesn’t take place – assigned referees traditionally make visual verification that all three judges are in place (with most traditionally pointing toward the officials, as well as the timekeeper) before starting a contest – but that referee Kevin Sataki didn’t appear to follow that formality.

The confusion likely came as a result of a late switch to the bout order. Marc Diakiese vs. Lukasz Sajewski was originally set as the first fight at UFC 204 but was later moved up the schedule when Ian Entwistle was ruled medically ineligible for the card, and his planned bantamweight bout with Rob Font was scrapped.

That left Santos vs. Martins on the opening role.

MMA Decisions, a website dedicated to tracking judging decisions, tracked 18 media scores for the Santos vs. Martins contest. Six of the results favored Santos, eight leaned toward Martins, and four (including MMAjunkie) saw the fight as a draw.

Martins’ manager, Alex Davis, said he would like for the fight to be ruled a no contest and plans on contacting UFC officials with a formal request.

“With all due respect to Santos and Nova Uniao, it was such a close fight that anything that judge missed, a single kick or punch, could change the result of the fight,” Davis said. “There is a protocol in place, and if the judge isn’t where he’s supposed to be at cageside, the fight should be considered a no contest.”

For complete coverage of UFC 204, check out the UFC Events section of the site.