Serhiy Sidey is the latest in the ever-growing long list of UFC fighters who have had problems with the judges’ scorecards deciding their fights. But Sidey stands out for another noble reason. He actually won his fight but complained about it in the post-fight press conference claiming that he hadn’t!
Two of the three judges scored the fight in his favor to give Sidey the split decision victory, much to his annoyance.
This honesty has shocked the fans who are used to fighters who think they have won even after losing a fight. This fan called it something they don’t often expect from fighters, “Didn’t even watch the fight tbh but this is something you never hear from a fighter. Refreshing”.
Another fan, called it what it was, a“Class act”.
One fan wondered whether any other fighter had made similar claims like the Ukrainian here and asked, “First fighter to ever say this?” According to this fan, Sidey, despite the judges messing up, remained a winner- “This takes a lot of humility. Big respect”
One fan spoke about how the judges were being biased as usual and asserted, “Judges trash as usual. Respect to Sidey for his honesty. True warrior”.
Sidey knows what it’s like to get robbed of a win via the scorecard because that’s exactly what happened to him in his last fight. Naturally, having been on the other side of a trashy decision, he could sympathize with Armfield after the fight.
Sidey gives Garret his flowers
The Ukrainian fighter claimed that he would have to go back home and check the tapes to see if he was wrong, even though he remains sure that Garret should have taken the W.
In an interview with the UFC after the fight, Sidey congratulated his opponent on a tough bout and called him a true warrior.
” I’ve been on the wrong end of a decision before I’m gonna have to rewatch it, make my adjustments but I know it was a close fight.”
Even though he left the arena with a bad taste in his mouth, he seemed happy to have been able to perform in front of his home crowd. Unfortunately, winning the way he did, in front of his own people might have made him feel worse than he should have.
To be fair, it was a split decision and Sidey was never really out of contention, not like some of the other blatant daylight robberies this industry is used to witnessing.
