Doo Ho Choi competed against Kyle Nelson in his return at UFC on ESPN+ 76. The “Korean Superboy” was winning against Nelson. However, the judges didn’t think so as they judged the event to a majority draw decision.
This apparently happened because the referee deducted a point from Choi because of an unintentional headbutt. Fans and many MMA figures are outraged by the decision. However, Dana White announced that Choi was getting his bonus.
The bout was quite the spectacle as it saw more action as the rounds went by. The two tried to submit each other during most of the first round, with Choi eventually getting the upper hand. More strikes were exchanged in the second round, and it got much more explosive.
The third saw Nelson trying to take Choi down and succeed. However, controversy arose as Choi accidentally delivered a headbutt to Nelson. The ref paused the action for a while and then allowed it to continue, but he penalized Choi for the deed.
The official scorecard read (29–27, 28–28, 28–28) for a majority draw.
After, Dana White still gave Choi a win bonus. He briefly discussed the result and favored Choi.
“It was a tough fight, but in my opinion, Choi won the fight,” Dana said in the presser.
“I feel like the kid got robbed” he added.
Syed Ali Fazeel is an accomplished MMA fan, and writer. He discovered MMA in his youth and has been following the sport since TUF season 1.