Fans continue to revolt against abysmal judging in the UFC—and this time, the outrage centered on the clash between Chris Padilla and MarQel Mederos at UFC 327. Stepping in as a last-minute replacement, ‘Taco’ looked composed and in control, taking command of the opening round and carrying that momentum into the second.
The middle frame, however, proved far more competitive. Even so, it seemed clear that Mederos would need a finish to snatch victory—something Padilla never allowed. Early in the third, Padilla secured a takedown, though MarQel Mederos managed to get back to his feet with the help of the fence—an infraction that referee Keith Peterson appeared to miss.
Peterson did step in later, however, deducting a point from Mederos after an eye poke with two minutes remaining. Desperate for a knockout, Mederos pushed forward but couldn’t break through Padilla’s relentless pressure. By the final horn, most observers expected a clear win for Padilla—but confusion followed as the decision took unusually long to be announced.
When the verdict finally came, Padilla was awarded a majority decision (29-27, 29-27, 28-28). But the controversy didn’t end there. During the broadcast, Jon Anik revealed a scoring error: the correct result was actually a majority draw, with two judges scoring it 28-28 and a third giving Padilla the edge at 29-27.
Later, an update clarified that the judges’ scores had been correct all along, but the result was mistakenly printed on the card handed to Bruce Buffer. Unsurprisingly, once the correction surfaced on social media, backlash was swift—and intense.
Score update branded ‘complete bulls—t’ at UFC 327
With Chris Padilla putting on a great performance, fans weren’t happy about what they felt was an absolute robbery. One user posted: “Judges now fail to amaze me
. Always one robbery on every single card.” Interestingly, in the last UFC event, the Movsar Evloev vs. Lerone Murphy fight attracted robbery allegations, with people claiming Murphy had done enough to win.
Another user could not come to terms with the scorecard. The user commented, “That is complete bulls—t. The round that Padilla doubled up on Mederos in and took the least damage is the one [that] the judges unanimously give Mederos? I mean, seriously, what are we doing here?” However, that round appeared to be a close one.
The next user laughed off the update. “’Update’ HAHAHAHA F—K OFF THAT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE A UD WIN FOR PADILLA,” the user claimed. Padilla even looked dominant throughout the fight. It’s a wonder how the fight turned out to be a draw.
Meanwhile, the next user felt judges in boxing have migrated to the UFC. “If you don’t think it’s crooked, you’re the crazy one. These crooked judges ruined boxing, and now they are following the money again,” the user wrote. There have been several controversial scoring incidents in boxing, but a connection with the UFC is uncertain.
That being said, it appears yet another UFC event has been marred by a controversial scorecard. But were you surprised?
