Dana White says Doo Ho Choi was ‘robbed’ against Kyle Nelson due to point deduction: ‘I paid him his win money. He won that fight’
Dana White was shocked Doo Ho Choi got a point deduction for a head butt.
Choi returned for the first time since 2019 against Kyle Nelson at UFC Vegas 68 and was a sizeable betting favorite. Early on, Choi was having success and was en route to winning but in the third round, ref Chris Tognoni took a point from Choi for a head butt. When the scrap went to the scorecards, the fight was ruled a majority draw which White didn’t agree with at all.
“I thought it was insane and it cost him the fight. I paid him his win money. He won that fight, so I paid him,” White said after UFC Vegas 68.
The reason why the fight was ruled a draw was due to the point deduction for the head butt. However, Dana White says he didn’t think it was a head butt and was disappointed the ref took the point from Choi. He also doesn’t think a rematch is needed as he thought Choi won clearly.
“It was a tough fight, but in my opinion, Choi won the fight, and sometimes the refereeing or judging isn’t perfect,” White said. “So sometimes I do what I can do, take it into my own hands. I felt like that kid got robbed on that ridiculous call.”
With the draw, Doo Ho Choi is now 14-4-1 and winless in his last four fights. Prior to the fight with Nelson, he was on a three-fight losing skid and was coming off a TKO loss to Charles Jourdain. In the fights before, he suffered a TKO loss to Jeremy Stephens and the losing skid began at UFC 206 in 2016 with a decision loss to Cub Swanson.
Choi started out his UFC career going 3-0 with a TKO win over Juan Puig, a KO win over Sam Sicilia and a KO win over Thiago Tavares.
