Alex Pereira ‘robbed’ by insane judging scorecards as Magomed Ankalaev crowned new UFC champion

UFC great Alex Pereira has every right to feel hard done by after bizarre scorecards saw his belt taken away from him.

UFC fans have been left baffled by a bizarre decision that saw beloved UFC Light Heavyweight Alex Pereira “robbed” of his title at UFC 313.

In a back-and-forth affair challenger Magomed Ankalaev was crowned Light Heavyweight champion, getting the nod by decision 48-47 48-47 and 49-46.

However, MMA fans feel Pereira was wronged, with the consensus being that the fight could have gone either way with Round 3 noted as the round that would decide the fight.

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Before the decision was made official UFC commentator Jon Anik said: “I feel like it comes to round 3, round 4 was Ankalaev’s and 5 Pereira’s.”

“Poatan (Pereira) landed more in Round 3 and judges’ scorecards have been a little wayward tonight, so will wait and see.”

Fellow UFC commentators Joe Rogan and Daniel Cormier also suggested Pereira had seemingly done enough to retain his belt, however, the judges disagreed.

And after Ankalaev was crowned the new UFC Light Heavyweight champion, fans called for an immediate rematch, feeling Pereira was “robbed”.

“Alex Pereira was robbed. Run the rematch!” one fan wrote on X.

Fans feel Alex Pereira was robbed at UFC 313 (Getty Images via AFP)

“Alex robbed 3-2 round 1,3 are Pereira and more damage in 5th,” another read.

While a third said: “Alex Pereira robbed man I’m f***ing sick to my stomach”.

But a solid case could be made that Ankalaev had done enough to take the fight 48-47, with Round 3 very close.

However, no one could come to terms with a truly wild scorecard by judge Sal D’Amato, who gave Ankalaev four rounds, including the fifth where he landed just 20 strikes, none of which had any force behind them.

Magomed Ankalaev is the new UFC Light Heavyweight champion (Photo by Ian Maule/Getty Images)

And the 49-46 scorecard has renewed calls to have D’Amato sacked.

“Sal D’Amato has to be the worst judge in the history of combat sports,” one fan wrote.

“3-2 either way is fine but Sal D’amato needs to lose his job,” another said.

“HOW DOES SAL D’AMATO STILL HAVE A JOB,” a third exclaimed.

UFC 313 is far from the first time D’Amato has made headlines for his questionable cards.

In October at UFC Fight Night: Royval vs. Taira, in three of his four judging assignments, including the main event, D’Amato was responsible for split decision dissents – meaning he was the sole judge to rule the win to one fighter, while the other two judges thought the other fighter won.

In other notable scorecard howlers, he gave Amir Albazi the win over Kai Kara-France back in 2023, where almost every fan gave the fight to the Kiwi.

While in June 2024, D’amato ruled that Nasrat Haqparast defeated Jared Gordon in a bout where every media scorecard gave it to Gordon.

Originally published as Alex Pereira ‘robbed’ by insane judging scorecards as Magomed Ankalaev crowned new UFC champion