UFC president Dana White said he disagreed with the judges’ scorecards for one of the fights that took place at UFC 328.
In the featured bout on the main card of UFC 328, heavyweight contenders Alexander Volkov and Waldo Cortes-Acosta went three hard rounds, with Volkov winning the fight via unanimous decision. The judges scored the bout 30-27, 29-28, and 29-28 in favor of Volkov, a decision that the majority of media members and fans at MMADecisions.com felt was the correct score. However, White isn’t so sure about that.
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Dana White Disagrees With Judges’ Scorecards at UFC 328
Speaking to reporters following UFC 328, White was asked what he thought about the scorecards in the Volkov vs. Cortes-Acosta fight. The judges were unanimous in their verdict, with all three judges scoring it for Volkov, a decision that White said he personally disagreed with, noting that UFC matchmakers Sean Shelby and Mick Maynard felt the judges got it right.
“I actually thought that Waldo won the fight, but I talked to Sean and Mick, and they both thought the fight was scored the right way. The first round was close,” White said.
According to UFC Stats, Volkov outstruck Cortes-Acosta 88-54 over the course of three rounds, while also outstriking him in all three individual rounds. Volkov outlanded Cortes-Acosta 33-15 in R1, 34-22 in R2, and 21-17 in R3. MMA judges don’t necessarily score fights based on volume, but rather the impact of the blows. Still, it felt like Volkov at least won the first two rounds of the fight due to landing more strikes and the harder blows, so even if you want to give Cortes-Acosta the last round as he was the one pressing more late, Volkov still did enough to earn the decision.
What’s Next for Alexander Volkov After UFC 328?
For Volkov, this is a massive win that keeps him cemented as the No. 2-ranked heavyweight in the UFC. Next month at UFC Freedom 250, Ciryl Gane takes on Alex Pereira for the interim UFC heavyweight title, with the winner presumably fighting UFC heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall later this year, assuming he is cleared by doctors to return from his eye injury.
If Aspinall can’t fight this year, then Volkov can fight the winner of Gane vs. Pereira next. But if Aspinall comes back, then Volkov can fight the loser of Gane vs. Pereira, instead. Either way, beating Cortes-Acosta is a huge win for the Russian that keeps him right at the top of the pack in the UFC heavyweight rankings. While White may not have thought he won, the three judges did, as did the UFC’s two matchmakers, so Volkov is in a good spot moving forward in the heavyweight division.
What’s Next for Waldo Cortes-Acosta After UFC 328?
As for Cortes-Acosta, the loss hurts his ascension up the UFC heavyweight rankings, but he remains a top-10-ranked heavyweight. For his next bout, Curtis Blaydes makes a lot of sense, as it would be a matchup between the No. 4 and No. 5-ranked heavyweights in the UFC. With Cortes-Acosta coming off a loss to Volkov and with Blaydes losing to Josh Hokit at last month’s UFC 327 in a Fight of the Year candidate, this matchup seems fitting based on timing and the fighters’ positions in the rankings.
Dana White Disagrees With Judges’ Scorecards for UFC 328 Bout