UFC featherweight Andre “Touchy” Fili looked to be in fine form at UFC Vegas 60 this weekend. He earned a bloody, hard-won victory over Bill Algeo, which went to a split decision. In the final round, Fili took his opponent’s back, threatening a submission throughout. At the post-fight press conference, he had one message for the solitary judge who awarded the third round to his opponent: “f*** that guy!”
“I don’t think it was a split decision, I think I clearly won that fight. It was competitive, but I don’t f****** know what these judges are looking at, man. I thank God they didn’t rob me, but dude, they’ve got to stop trying to scare me.
Andre Fili Slams UFC Judge Over Split Decision: “f*** that guy!”
What is a more significant threat to finishing a fight: My hand under his throat ready to strangle him, or him punching me on the top of my forehead from two inches away? And if a judge legitimately looks at that and says that he was closer the fight than me in that third round, f*** that guy. Like, I don’t know what else to say. I wish I had a more eloquent thing to say, but if you think that punches from [close range] is a more legitimate fight-ending threat than a rear-naked choke from the back, you shouldn’t be judging fighting.
Thank God they got it right. But I think that we’ve really got to have some accountability with these judges, man, and have some better calls.”
Fili also revealed that, while he was on Algeo’s back, his own ears filled with his opponent’s blood. It was enough to fill his ear and render him partially deaf in that ear, at least until he could get the semi-congealed blood out. “The amount of blood that he dripped into the side of my ear surprised me. That was f****** surprising.
I had like a legitimate minute-and-a-half after the fight where I couldn’t hear anything. It felt like I dove into a pool. Like, there was so much of his blood in my ear that I couldn’t hear anything out of my left ear, and it took me like a minute-and-a-half, two minutes to get it out — and this big blood clot fell out of my ear. And none of it was my blood.
That’s why you should stay in school, kids.” Is this another case of MMA judging getting the scorecards seriously wrong? Let us know in the comments.
