Amir Albazi believes the commentators at UFC on ESPN 45 showed a little bit of bias toward Kai Kara-France in their fight.
Albazi (17-1 MMA, 5-0 UFC) scored a close split decision win over Kara-France (24-11 MMA, 7-4 UFC) in this past Saturday’s headliner – a decision that was disputed by the likes of lead play-by-play commentator Jon Anik and former dual champion Henry Cejudo.
But even after rewatching the fight, Albazi is still confident that he did enough to win.
“I don’t think it was a controversial decision. I think it was a close fight,” Albazi told ESPN. “The highest level we are at right now, so of course it’s gonna be a close fight. I expect it on the way too.”
The Iraq-born fighter thinks the UFC commentary team – which consisted of Brendan Fitzgerald, Michael Bisping and Laura Sanko – helped sway the public’s opinion against him.
I still think I won (Rounds) 1, 2, and 3,” Albazi said. “I came into the fourth feeling like I had done enough. I took three in the bag, so it came to the judges. That’s about it. I feel like the judges were with me on that one. I think a lot of people are also looking at commentary, what the commentary said.
“That’s another part I didn’t like. They were kind of like not giving me credit for what I was doing and giving Kai too much credit for stuff that I don’t believe. They said he defended my takedowns, but let’s be real here. The moment I tried to take you down, I got you down. I didn’t want to take you down, I wanted to punch you in the face. That’s actually what happened.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC on ESPN 45.
