White Slams Judge’s Scoring In Grasso-Shevchenko Bout, Dana Wants Rematch And More

Dana White has slammed judge Mike Bell for his scorecard in the flyweight title bout between Alexa Grasso and Valentina Shevchenko. 

The bout was an intense affair as the decision went to the scorecards in a dramatic night on UFC Noche during Mexican Independence Day. Two judges had it at 48-47 for each fighter, while Bell scored it as 47-47.

The latter’s scorecard was based on giving a 10-8 round to Grasso, which took it to a split draw as she retained her title. In the aftermath of the fight, the feeling was that Shevchenko was hard done by.

The latter indicated that she felt she had done enough to win three rounds as she entertained the idea of appealing the decision. And now White has hit out at the judge for the scoring. 

White On Grasso-Shevchenko Scoring

“When I found out that one of the judges scored 10-8, I’m like, this guy should be f****** investigated for this. This is the craziest s*** I’ve ever seen in my life….In title [fights] — there’s so much at stake in a title fight. More than just money, show and win, and pay-per-view and championships and legacies — it’s just, you have to have the best of the best in title fights. So they’ve assured me that this guy isn’t a bad guy, he just f***** up and made a mistake, and it’s unfortunate, and there’s no way in hell that was a 10-8 round…These people are human, they make mistakes, but this one’s total bulls***. For that to be a 10-8 round, there is no excuse for that. There is no excuse for that 10-8,” White said

White Demands Answers

In response, the Nevada State Athletic Commission has said it will hold a meeting that will clarify the rulings on what is a 10-8 round on September 20th, 2023.

Although that will go some way in preventing similar things from happening again, the fact of the matter is that the secrecy surrounding the reason for the scorecard meant that Bell does not have to justify the reason for his score. And that is something that did not sit well with White.

“Unfortunately, you’ll probably never have the opportunity to have him sitting somewhere like this and ask him that question, because only he knows the answer to that question. Valentina gets dropped in [Round 2] — that’s not a 10-8 but the fifth round is a 10-8? It literally makes no sense. I get it, why the athletic commission wouldn’t want to put their guys out in front of the media and deal with the fans and all the bulls***,” White

White On A Rematch

As a result, the only way to clear this up once and for all is to have a trilogy. Shevchenko has indicated her desire to have a trilogy in her country of Kyrgyzstan on Independence Day.

The MMA fighter did state in the aftermath of her fight that the judges may have been influenced by Mexican Independence Day when they were scoring the fight.

Therefore, having a fight on the same terms but in reversal was on her mind. Regardless of where it happens, White was behind the idea of a rematch. 

“You have to do the rematch. We will rematch them. It’s the right thing to do. It’s the fight that needs to happen, and yeah,” White

Shevchenko’s Injury

But before any of that can happen, Shevchenko has revealed that she will undergo surgery after damaging her hand during the fight.

That was just a testament to the MMA star’s skills in that she managed to last the distance, despite having the injury. After all, who knows what could have happened if the fighter was at her full capacity.

The diagnosis is that it will take around three months before Shevchenko can return to any form of striking. So in the meantime, the ‘Bullet’ has plenty of time to consider her options moving forward. 

“Yesterday got the results on my 1st round hand injury. Comminuted fracture that requires surgery,” Shevchenko stated

Moving forward, Shevchenko has plenty of reasons to run thing back. And that will set up another classic for the fanbase. You can stay up-to-date with the latest happenings in the world of boxing and MMA by visiting boxingblitz right here.