UFC 281: Pros react to head-scratching judges scorecard mishap

Karolina Kowalkiewicz scored a win over Silvana Gomez Juarez at UFC 281, but it will be drowned in controversy following a confusing mishap with the scorecards in the middle of the Octagon. 

Every time the UFC seems to come to New York, there always seems to be something screwy, fishy or controversial. It appears UFC 281 had its moment during the early prelim portion of the card in the women’s strawweight bout between Karolina Kowalkiewicz and Silvana Gomez Juarez.

After a dominant first round by Kowalkiewicz, the fight between the two got tighter in the last 10 minutes.

The fight went the distance, but just when Bruce Buffer was ready to read the scorecards, a commissioner from the state came in to make corrections to the card — right when cameras were on them.

Ultimately, the fight was given to Kowalkiewicz via unanimous decision, with all three judges scoring the fight 29-28 for the former UFC strawweight title challenger.

And now, the speculation begins to run rampant on whether this was some sort of fight corruption in work, or if the judges at cageside just simply forgot how to do elementary school-level mathematics.

And that stretches to those who fight in the cage for a living.

See how fellow fighters reacted to the in-Octagon judges’ scorecard screw-up in Karolina Kowalkiewicz win over Silvana Gomez Juarez at UFC 281

After suffering five straight losses between 2018 and 2021, Kowalkiewicz has now won back-to-back fights. Prior to tonight, she most recently fought at a June Fight Night card, scoring a second-round submission of Felice Herrig.

Gomez Juarez has now lost three of her last four.

UFC 281: Israel Adesanya vs. Alex Pereira takes place on Saturday, Nov. 12, 2022, live from Madison Square Garden in New York, NY. Follow along with FanSided MMA for all your news and highlights.