Fans continue to revolt against abysmal judging in the UFC—and this time, the outrage centered on the clash between Chris Padilla and MarQel Mederos at UFC 327. But that wasn’t the only part that drove fans up the wall.

Stepping in as a last-minute replacement, Padilla looked composed and in control, taking command of the opening round with his volume punching, almost carrying that momentum into the second if not for Mederos’ heavy counter-punches and elbows, which opened up a nasty cut above Padilla’s right eye.

The second round, as a result, proved far more competitive. Mederos looked for a finish, but ‘Taco’ with his constant movement and clinches didn’t allow that to happen. Then, early in the third, Padilla secured a takedown, though MarQel Mederos managed to get back to his feet with the help of the fence—an infraction that referee Keith Peterson appeared to miss. Peterson did step in later, though.

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Peterson deducted a point from Mederos following his second eye poke of the fight with two minutes remaining. Desperate for a knockout, Mederos pushed forward but couldn’t break through Padilla’s relentless pressure. By the final horn, most observers expected a clear win for Padilla—but confusion followed as the decision took unusually long to be announced.

When the verdict finally came, the pressure plus the point deduction in his favor helped Padilla win a majority decision with Bruce Buffer reading the scores as 29-27, 29-27, 28-28. But here’s where the controversy began.

Soon after the announcement, Jon Anik expressed surprise, as the results the commentators saw differed from what the veteran announcer had read out. Unaware of the underlying scoring blunder, Padilla even gave a full post-fight victory interview.

Roughly 30 minutes later, while the event was still on the air, the UFC broadcast team interrupted the program to issue a correction to the result while admitting to a scoring error. The correct result was actually a majority draw, with two judges scoring it 28-28 and a third giving Padilla the edge at 29-27.

Later, an update clarified that the judges’ scores had been correct all along, but the incorrect result was mistakenly printed on the card handed to Bruce Buffer, a clerical error of sorts. This seemingly overturned Padilla’s win to a draw. Unsurprisingly, once the correction surfaced on social media, backlash was swift—and intense.

Score update at UFC 327 branded ‘complete bulls—t’

With Chris Padilla putting on a great performance, fans weren’t happy about what they felt was an absolute robbery. One user posted: “Judges now fail to amaze me😂😂😂. Always one robbery on every single card.” Interestingly, at UFC London too last month, the Movsar Evloev vs. Lerone Murphy fight attracted robbery allegations, with people claiming Murphy had done enough to bag the win.

Another user couldn’t believe the judges’ scoring. The user commented, “That is complete bulls—t. The round that Padilla doubled up on Mederos in and took the least damage is the one [that] the judges unanimously give Mederos? I mean, seriously, what are we doing here?” However, that round appeared to be a close one. 

Someone else had a theory about why the result was changed. “Okay, I’m just saying, betting feels like it could have played a role in this,” the user wrote. Although there’s no proof of anything suspicious, the UFC has found itself embroiled in a betting scandal recently.

The next user laughed off the update. “’Update’ HAHAHAHA F—K OFF THAT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE A UD WIN FOR PADILLA,” the user claimed. Padilla even looked dominant throughout the fight. It’s a wonder how the fight turned out to be a draw. 

Meanwhile, the next user felt judges in boxing had migrated to the UFC. “If you don’t think it’s crooked, you’re the crazy one. These crooked judges ruined boxing, and now they are following the money again,” the user wrote. There have been several controversial scoring incidents in boxing, but a connection with the UFC is far-fetched.

Ultimately, the botched announcement ensured that another UFC event would be remembered more for a controversial scorecard than for the action in the cage.