John McCarthy thinks the deciding round between Aljamain Sterling and Petr Yan at UFC 273 was scored incorrectly. Sterling (21-3 MMA, 13-3 UFC) defeated Yan (16-3 MMA, 8-2 UFC) in this past Saturday’s co-main event to retain the UFC bantamweight title in what was a back-and-forth affair. Rounds 2 to 5 were pretty easy to score, but it was the close opening frame that had both Sterling and Yan convinced they had done enough to win the fight. One judge gave Yan Round 1, with the other two awarding it to Sterling, which resulted in a split decision win for the champion. But McCarthy, a former longtime referee and current Bellator commentator, disagrees with the outcome. “I was very impressed with Aljamain and the way he fought, but there’s no way he won that first round,” McCarthy said on his “Weighing In” podcast.
Read more: