Contributors: Ben Kohn & Daniel Galvan
Ben:
GSP hits: leg kick, jab, knee to thigh, rabbit punch to body, rabbit punch to body, weak knee to body, 3 rabbit punches to body, right to head while holding a single leg, really weak punch to head from single leg, 3 rabbit punches to head, right knee to body, right hand to body, left knee to body, jab to head, inside leg kick, left side kick (not hard), partially landed looping head kick, rabbit punch to body, weak knee to body, hard knee to body, rabbit punch to body, 2 left knees to body, weak outside leg kick, jab to head, left hook, outside leg kick, straight to body. 32 total strikes landed by GSP.
GSP misses: Right push kick, left knee to thigh, right knee to body, right knee to body, right front kick, jab, left hook, long left hook, left hook, jab, jab-straight combo, right high kick, right push kick, right hook. 15 total strikes missed by GSP.
Hendricks hits: Left knee to thigh, left knee to thigh, right rabbit punch to body, left knee to thigh, left knee to thigh, left knee to thigh, left uppercut grazes head, left uppercut to head from single leg, left hook to head from single leg, left uppercut to head from single leg, 3 hard elbows against cage, 2 more hard elbows against cage, left knee to thigh, right hand to body, left knee to thigh, short left hand on ground, left knee to thigh, knee to head while GSP changes levels, left straight, left knee to thigh, left knee to thigh, left knee to thigh, left knee to thigh, right hand to body, short left hook to head, inside leg kick, inside leg kick, counter straight left, partial landing left uppercut. 32 total strikes landed by Hendricks.
Hendricks misses: Left straight, short left uppercut, left straight, right hook, jab to head, left knee, left straight, right hook, left hook. 9 total strikes missed by Hendricks.
Ground control time: GSP- 9-10 seconds, Hendricks- 17 seconds.
Cage control time: Hendricks- 41 seconds, GSP- 23 seconds
Takedown attempts: Hendricks- 1 for 1, GSP- 1 for 2
Submission attempts: GSP – 1, Hendricks – 0
Dan:
UFC 167 was supposed to be a celebration of the promotion’s first twenty years capped off with a great night of fights. And that’s exactly what transpired up until the verdict for the Welterweight Championship contest between George St. Pierre and Johny Hendricks was read.
When the fifth round concluded, the vast majority of fans and journalists that watched the fight expected a new champion to be named in mere moments, but that anticipation of a new champion quickly turned into a bout of frustration over judging controversy as St. Pierre was awarded the verdict thanks to two 48-47 scorecards from Tony Weeks and Sal D’Amato.
To the surprise of no one, social media exploded. The uproar can be categorized of three groups of people with divisive and strong opinions. There were those that believed Johny Hendricks was robbed of a championship, those that had scored the bout for St. Pierre, and those that decided that the fight was so close that either fighter winning wouldn’t be a travesty.
What the three groups could agree on was that that victor of four of the rounds wasn’t debatable. Hendricks had won rounds two and four while St. Pierre got the better of his opponent in the third and fifth periods. The round in question was the first, a question that became more significant when it was made public that the deciding frame on the scorecards of D’Amato and Weeks was the first.
I scored the round 10-9 for Johny Hendricks. But I was watching the fight in a crowded bar while constantly refreshing twitter from a viewer perspective, which is entirely different from the point of view of the judges’. A lot of those that strongly voiced their opinion on who got the better of who in that round viewed the contest in a similar situation as myself.
So, I decided to go home and fork over 44.95 to buy the pay-per-view in order to re-watch the first round and score it without commentary and any bias. After watching the round and scoring it, I decided to re-watch the fight once again and jot down every single little relevant anecdote that transpired in the round and put in play by play form for those that couldn’t find a source to re-watch it.
These were my findings.
- Time of Positional Advantage: GSP – 38 seconds, Hendricks – 46 seconds
- Takedowns: GSP – 1, Hendricks – 1
- Knees to the Thigh: GSP – 2, Hendricks – 10
- Body Punches in the Clinch: GSP – 5, Hendricks – 2
- Punches to the Head in the Clinch: GSP – 4, Hendricks – 3
- Leg Kicks: GSP – 2, Hendricks – 2
- Head Kick: GSP – 1 [Glancing]
- Jab: GSP – 3
- Left Cross: Hendricks – 2
- Elbows to the Head in the Clinch: Hendricks – 6
- Knee to the Head: Hendricks – 1
- Punch to the Thigh: Hendricks – 1
My Verdict: Rewatching this round, I just don’t see how this round could’ve been scored 10-9 for St. Pierre. A 10-10 draw is acceptable, but I had 10-9 Hendricks. Everything that St. Pierre did from a clinching and takedown perspective was answered from by Hendricks. The one aspect of the frame that makes Hendricks the clear winner are the elbows to the head he landed in the clinch and the knee he caught GSP with. Those strikes were only ones that I would consider significant or damaging. A lot of strikes from both fighters in the clinch didn’t generate much power and were used to distract the fight in order to gain an advantage positionally.
In the post-fight press conference, Dana White ripped the NSAC for continuing to place inept judges and referees in positions to affect the outcome of fights, and he’s got a great case. When you take a look at some of the officials like Sal D’Amato, Tony Weeks, and Kim Winslow that worked on tonight’s card, these are people that have terrible reputations when it comes to performing their job effectively on a consistent basis.
I took a look at the history of the two judges that scored the 48-47 scorecards for George St. Pierre, Sal D’Amato and Tony Weeks, and here are some of the questionable [read: inept] decisions that they have given in the past.
Tony Weeks
1. Fisher/Uno, UFC 99 – Fisher 29-28
A funny tweet to look back at on in hindsight came from @FightOpinion was “Tony Weeks and Sal D’Amato as judges for the main event scares me to end.” The account tweeted this on 8/17/13.
-Ben can be reached at [email protected] or @agentbenten, Dan can be reached at [email protected] or @danielgal.
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