Michael Johnson doesn’t feel like he lost despite having an official defeat in his last outing.
The UFC lightweight veteran thought he did enough to take home a victory at Saturday’s UFC on ESPN 39 in Las Vegas. Johnson (29-18 MMA, 12-14 UFC) came up short in a split decision against Jaime Mullarkey. The scoring read 29-28 and 29-28 in favor of Mullarkey (15-5 MMA, 3-3 UFC), with a single judge scoring the fight for Johnson 29-28.
To Johnson’s surprise, he was confident he had done enough to get the decision win as the fight went to the scorecards.
“Welp, that’s the way the cookie crumbles, I guess,” Johnson wrote on Instagram. “Great fight with (Jamie Mullarkey) tonight! Hats off to you sir! What’s understood doesn’t need to be said! Felt I got 1 and 3! Thank you to all my support squad and those continuing to ride with me! There’s no quit in this guy at all. We keep climbing and fighting and scratching to get back to where I belong!”
The decision was heavily debated online, as it was a close contest that had many people split on who the winner was.
The decision came down to the first round, as that was the only round judges disagreed on. Two judges gave Mullarkey a 10-9, while only one gave it to Johnson. In that round, both fighters scored knockdowns, but Johnson’s came earlier in the fight and Mullarkey’s in the final seconds.
