Many observers weren’t happy about the officiating that went on throughout several fights at UFC 247. But there was apparently more peculiar things happening behind the scenes involving the Texas commission.
Veteran analyst Joe Rogan and former bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz were both at the broadcast table cageside when they claim to have seen a judge not paying attention to nearly 30 seconds of action during the preliminary fight between Lauren Murphy and Andrea Lee.
“We’re looking at a judge who’s literally not watching the fight. This is insane,” Rogan said.
“Judges don’t even watch,” Cruz followed up. “They’re looking down at the floor. Insane. It’s gonna be tough for the fighters tonight to figure out how to win a decision.”
15 seconds after they both took notice, Rogan once again called out the official for not paying attention.
“This is crazy, he’s still not watching the fight,” he said.
Murphy ended up with the controversial victory via split decision (28-29, 29-28, 30-27). For comparison, every single media member compiled by MMA Decisions scored the bout for Lee.
Neither Rogan nor Cruz mentioned who the judge was, but it wasn’t Joe Soliz, the man who gave 49-46 in favor of Jon Jones, along with other disputed scores during the event. The three-man judging panel at the time was Chris Lee, Danny Dealejandro and Patrick Patlan, with the latter two scoring it for Murphy.
Patlan scored it for her 29-28, and Dealejandro scored it 30-27.