One judge gave Whitaker round 1

[Barteh]

That's what I thought too, and it's obvious.

But not to some. Honestly I think people just despise Costa so it doesn't allow them to see it without some bias


My guess is if the roles were reversed and Whitaker landed that shot, all the people would flip on their opinion

I don't know how people can watch that and go: "Well actually... Whittaker was just fine".

 

[filthynumber1]

I don't know how people can watch that and go: "Well actually... Whittaker was just fine".

According to some sherbro logic here you have to KO a guy right stiff to win a round??

 

[maximus__]

Costa landed the kick, pressed forward landing a left hook clean, Rob backs up more, costa chases, switched stances for a right hook, Rob was able to absorb the right hook due to poor spacing from Costa, costa then slips Rob’s weak return jab and avoids Rob’s hook off the jab. Costa didn’t take a step back until after the bell. Where is narrative coming from that Costa backed up after the kick?

What the hell does Rob’s intelligent defense have to do with the physical output of the punches? He was clearly a gear down after the kick.

For that matter, there was nothing intelligent about trading punches in that scenario. Grabbing ahold of Costa or shooting for a takedown were far more intelligent than trading.

Costa cost himself by over pursing and getting goofy footed after the kick. His left hook had limited power has he was caught switch foot when he threw it. The he overpursued after the left smoothering the distance need to provide quality impact.

What does a potential finish after the kick matter? That is all hearsay. What we saw is what we saw. We saw Rob control a round, get nailed, wobble, and fight back. During his fight back, his ability was deminished. After the 1 minute break, Rob’s ability returned.

I scored the fight 30-27, btw. But Rob still got hurt.

i haven't said Rob never got hurt, but he was recovered. He gets backed to the cage after getting rocked. Costa is stepping back from Rob's shots as the bell is sounding because Whittaker isn't as hurt as he thought and he was walking straight onto jabs and hooks whilst swinging his wild hooks. Rob's showing good defensive striking there with short inside shots to catch the fighter coming in with outside hooks. Rob;s power shots come at range when he is lunging in, that's why these shots look lesser.

That's intelligent offence and shows he is with it and recovered. Panic takedowns aren't intelligent offence. That shows someone is hurt because no MMA fighter wants to shoot like that going backwards. All it results in would be getting sprawled on.

He is displaying sound striking skills and defence to counter an agressive power puncher.

 

[maximus__]

Thats not how fights are scored. We're not allowed to just make up our own criteria lol.

Immediate impactful moments that come close to ending the fight is weighed over accumulation. Rob had outpointed him up until that point via accumulation but got hurt badly. Costa came close to finishing the fight in an otherwise competitive rd.

It amazes me how many people still use their own understanding instead of the "new"(like 6 years old at this point) criteria.

Finish the fight. There was no near finish in that sequence. Costa landed a shot with high impact that rocked Whittaker, but at no point was the fight close to being finished. If he dropped him and he was saved by the bell sure, but Whittaker had his feet under him in seconds and was landing shots himself to counter Costa in that last sequence.

It's not enough to steal a round where Whittaker was landing similar shots just prior, more than 10 sig strikes extra in total and winning every other aspect of the fight. That's not how that criteria is meant to be scored. Compare this moment to Silva vs Bisping where Bisping was only 2-3 strikes ahead and literally getting flash KO'd. That's the type of situation we would need to switch this round under the scoring criteria if scored correctly.

 

[Hester65]

i haven't said Rob never got hurt, but he was recovered. He gets backed to the cage after getting rocked. Costa is stepping back from Rob's shots as the bell is sounding because Whittaker isn't as hurt as he thought and he was walking straight onto jabs and hooks whilst swinging his wild hooks. Rob's showing good defensive striking there with short inside shots to catch the fighter coming in with outside hooks. Rob;s power shots come at range when he is lunging in, that's why these shots look lesser.

That's intelligent offence and shows he is with it and recovered. Panic takedowns aren't intelligent offence. That shows someone is hurt because no MMA fighter wants to shoot like that going backwards. All it results in would be getting sprawled on.

He is displaying sound striking skills and defence to counter an agressive power puncher.

Rob had enough sense to rebalance and plant for return fire after the left hook. A loose jab with square feet against a power puncher who is already close isn’t smart. Rob wasn’t in position to punch after stabilizing because his feet were square. Thats why his jab didn’t preload his hip and his hook came out slow with nothing behind it.

He’s already rooted and square against a charging opponent who’s a clearly swinging wild. If that isn’t the time to shoot, there never will be. That’s not to mention there was less than 5 seconds left. So if your opponent is busy sprawling, he isn’t busy punching you in the face.

Rob should thank Costa for over-committing and swinging wild because it saved Rob from further damage. Costa smothered his own punches.

 

[Tronald Dump]

 

[maximus__]

Rob had enough sense to rebalance and plant for return fire after the left hook. A loose jab with square feet against a power puncher who is already close isn’t smart. Rob wasn’t in position to punch after stabilizing because his feet were square. Thats why his jab didn’t preload his hip and his hook came out slow with nothing behind it.

He’s already rooted and square against a charging opponent who’s a clearly swinging wild. If that isn’t the time to shoot, there never will be. That’s not to mention there was less than 5 seconds left. So if your opponent is busy sprawling, he isn’t busy punching you in the face.

Rob should thank Costa for over-committing and swinging wild because it saved Rob from further damage. Costa smothered his own punches.

It's called intelligent defence. He was backed up against the cage and usually uses a wide karate base to lunge in and out. He didn't have that space. He was throwing those shots shorter for a reason and Costa walked onto them.

You never want to shoot going backwards, we all know what time it is in the round because we are watching, but fighters don't. He shoots there and it;s 2 mins to go and he puts himself in a worse position and possibly loses the round or the fight. If he had shot, completely different and much better argument to tip it in my opinion.

Rob did everything right in that situation to defend the follow up shots and not get finished. He did that after initially backing straight up when he was rocked before recovering. The footage is right there. If that happened in the middle of the round nobody would even be arguing this, but because it happened at the end people want to put more on it.

He was hurt, recovered and did everything right to continue fighting in that round. The right fighter won so it's a non issue, but if that round decided the fight and it went to Costa after he was thoroughly outstruck but didn't wobble for 3 seconds of a fight, it would have been a bad call. The criteria is clear that fight ending sequences and damage/impact are scored highly, but this isn't a fight ending sequence or damging/impactful enough sequence to give him the round if you go by the criteria.

 

[Hester65]

It's called intelligent defence. He was backed up against the cage and usually uses a wide karate base to lunge in and out. He didn't have that space. He was throwing those shots shorter for a reason and Costa walked onto them.

You never want to shoot going backwards, we all know what time it is in the round because we are watching, but fighters don't. He shoots there and it;s 2 mins to go and he puts himself in a worse position and possibly loses the round or the fight. If he had shot, completely different and much better argument to tip it in my opinion.

Rob did everything right in that situation to defend the follow up shots and not get finished. He did that after initially backing straight up when he was rocked before recovering. The footage is right there. If that happened in the middle of the round nobody would even be arguing this, but because it happened at the end people want to put more on it.

He was hurt, recovered and did everything right to continue fighting in that round. The right fighter won so it's a non issue, but if that round decided the fight and it went to Costa after he was thoroughly outstruck but didn't wobble for 3 seconds of a fight, it would have been a bad call. The criteria is clear that fight ending sequences and damage/impact are scored highly, but this isn't a fight ending sequence or damging/impactful enough sequence to give him the round if you go by the criteria.

Rob never fights square. Wide with a leading left foot, yes. That hook after the kick knocked him back and Costa’s pressure then forced Rob square. It wasn’t a choice from Rob to square up, he got moved. Punching out that stance isn’t smart in my opinion. A clearer headed Rob circles left or shoots. He was hurt and feeling pressure, decided to punch back.

Difference of opinions here as we both still scored that round for Rob. He has balls for sure. Plenty of times he’s exposed himself after getting cracked. Was hoping he would wise up and due something different.

 

[maximus__]

Rob never fights square. Wide with a leading left foot, yes. That hook after the kick knocked him back and Costa’s pressure then forced Rob square. It wasn’t a choice from Rob to square up, he got moved. Punching out that stance isn’t smart in my opinion. A clearer headed Rob circles left or shoots. He was hurt and feeling pressure, decided to punch back.

Difference of opinions here as we both still scored that round for Rob. He has balls for sure. Plenty of times he’s exposed himself after getting cracked. Was hoping he would wise up and due something different.

My argument is he did the right thing in the situation he was in. As a heads up there is a better angle floating around instagram which shows what i mean better. Costa was the one exiting the exchange as the round ends when you see it from behind. Rob was set and striking back to stay off the cage. Circling was the wrong choice, that's what Volk tried.

We just have a difference in opinion. I think we have seen Rob fight enough to see that he was still with it straight away. He has been hurt much worse than that in other fights and still went on to win rounds or even that same round.

 

[Hester65]

My argument is he did the right thing in the situation he was in. As a heads up there is a better angle floating around instagram which shows what i mean better. Costa was the one exiting the exchange as the round ends when you see it from behind. Rob was set and striking back to stay off the cage. Circling was the wrong choice, that's what Volk tried.

We just have a difference in opinion. I think we have seen Rob fight enough to see that he was still with it straight away. He has been hurt much worse than that in other fights and still went on to win rounds or even that same round.

Hahahaha, what? Volk was literally mid punch when he was starched. He was circling and trying to defend prior to the closer, then though “let me sit down and throw an off balance right hand” and got nuked. Volk circling left wasn’t great idea as Top had that angle cut off already. Top cut right off of the 1-2 and then again as he felt Volk sitting down for a return. If Volk had continued to circle instead of sitting down, he wouldn’t have allowed Top any space to get the extension needed to create to power for the finish. A better decision for Volk would have been to circle to his right after the 1-2 and then back.

Just because one guy circled wrong, doesn’t mean it’s a universal don’t do. The situations weren’t even the same. Rob had outside leverage once squared and had choices. The left for Rob was an option as Costa already sat down and was planting for haymakers.

I’ve known what your argument is and I’ve seen the other angle. In my opinion, Rob shouldn’t have been striking after his reset from the left hook that followed the kick.

 

[maximus__]

Hahahaha, what? Volk was literally mid punch when he was starched. He was circling and trying to defend prior to the closer, then though “let me sit down and throw an off balance right hand” and got nuked. Volk circling left wasn’t great idea as Top had that angle cut off already. Top cut right off of the 1-2 and then again as he felt Volk sitting down for a return. If Volk had continued to circle instead of sitting down, he wouldn’t have allowed Top any space to get the extension needed to create to power for the finish. A better decision for Volk would have been to circle to his right after the 1-2 and then back.

Just because one guy circled wrong, doesn’t mean it’s a universal don’t do. The situations weren’t even the same. Rob had outside leverage once squared and had choices. The left for Rob was an option as Costa already sat down and was planting for haymakers.

I’ve known what your argument is and I’ve seen the other angle. In my opinion, Rob shouldn’t have been striking after his reset from the left hook that followed the kick.

I didn't say circling was wrong. I just used a comparison on the same card. Volk circled in after getting caught with a left hand and Ilia trapped him from going sideways with hooks, just like Costa was trying. VOlk tried to throw his own hook (from the hip) and got caught moving into Ilia's right hand with no defence getting stuck with his head turned away.

In comparison, Whittaker recovered, got his feet back under him and was throwing straight shots before he threw his own hooks and beat Costa to the punch after creating the initial space by moving back. He was in a better positon for the similar shot Costa landed, because he landed a jab just before.

Both Ilia's hands are down and he also could have been walked onto a straight punch. Whittaker who was supposedly so rocked from that headkick was able to be in a better position than Volk and defend better, both took a shot prior to that sequence.

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[Mohawk Banditó]

By the written scoring criteria Costa should get the first round,
but it is well within the standard amount of how much the judges often fuck up the application of the rules to consider a Whittaker R1 within the margin of error.



PRIORITIZED CRITERIA:

Effective Striking/Grappling

“Legal blows that have immediate or cumulative impact with the potential to contribute towards the end of the match with the IMMEDIATE weighing in more heavily than the cumulative impact.


Successful execution of takedowns, submission attempts, reversals and the achievement of advantageous positions that produce immediate or cumulative impact with the potential to contribute to the end of the match, with the IMMEDIATE weighing more heavily than the cumulative impact.”

It shall be noted that a successful takedown is not merely a changing of position, but the establishment of an attack from the use of the takedown. Top and bottom position fighters are assessed more on the impactful/effective result of their actions, more so than their position. This criterion will be the deciding factor in a high majority of decisions when scoring a round.

The next two criteria must be treated as a backup and used ONLY when Effective Striking/Grappling is 100% equal for the round.

Well yes and no. More heavily doesn't mean overwrite. It literally just means you give scores to each strikes proportional to their immediate impact.

If I were to arbitrarily quantify an example: Rob scores a 1, a 2, a 1, etc.. repeatedly, then it doesn't matter if that kick was a 7 if he was 10 behind, ya know.

I knew the round would go to Costa for it, but scoring it for Rob was fine.

 

[Mohawk Banditó]

Ahhhh. What's happening is you're looking through the eyes of a moron, or troll.

Two things are true about that account, it's always carded and always shilling.

One of the more obvious troll accounts around here

 

[Conan the K-9]

Great angle for this kick and also shows what happened after that. Rob was clearly wobbled.

 

[Lee Danger]

According to some sherbro logic here you have to KO a guy right stiff to win a round??

agree, imo the chiken dance/stanky leg is basically the equivalent of a standing count in boxing.

 

[RockyLockridge]

Agree, that judge is an idiot. When they said 30-27 I was thinking "oh my God, Costa won it, there is not way anyone is giving Whittaker round 1".

The idea that whittaker won 30-27 just reminds me why i hate robert whittaker fans so much so delusional.

 

[Pequeño Corey]

Yea the booth had round one for Costa. Pretty sure Anik said that Costa stole the round with that kick. I don't really agree. If it was a closer round, then something like that could surely steal it, but Whitaker didn't even get dropped. The stanky leg doesn't count as a knockdown. People itt talking as if landing the most significant strike in a round automatically means that you win it.

 

[Koro_11]

The idea that whittaker won 30-27 just reminds me why i hate robert whittaker fans so much so delusional.

Yep it just reminded me of the reaction after the second Romero fight where everyone just blissfully ignored Whitaker getting dropped like a sack of potatoes three times in the later rounds. That Cecil Peoples mentality of valuing point karate love taps over actual damage and near finishes… “but but but bawby nukkulz brooo”… more like bobby pillows.

 

[GluttonforPunishment]

Whittaker threw the same bs combos that got him the title. Costa was always trying to end the fight.

 

[Mike]

Lol a lot of you need to chill saying someone was badly rocked or nearly finished when they're staggered by one strike and recover immediately.

There's exaggeration and then there's what you guys are doing.