John McCarthy: Scoring for Strickland vs. Chimaev 'was done perfectly'
John McCarthy doesn't see any controversy in the outcome of the UFC 328 main event. Sean Strickland (31-7 MMA, 18-7 UFC) edged out Khamzat Chimaev (15-1 MMA, 9-1 UFC) by split decision to claim the middleweight title this past Saturday at Prudential Center in Newark, N. J.
All three judges had it 2-2 heading into Round 5, with the exact same scorecard. However, judges Eric Colon and Sal D'Amato gave Strickland the final round which was the deciding factor. "I did agree with the scoring," McCarthy said on the "Weighing In" podcast.
"I thought it was done perfectly. It was obvious that Khamzat come out, he wins the first round easily, he dominates Strickland, but doesn't do any damage. He's holding a lot.
... It's a 10-9 round for Khamzat. Sean comes out (in Round 2), reverses it, and obviously 10-9 round for Sean.
You get into the third and fourth, they switch them back and forth. So, going into the fifth, I had it as the fight is up for grabs for, whoever takes this round. " Heading into Round 3, Chimaev abandoned his grappling for the most part, and opted to pressure Strickland on the feet.