Jon Anik, photo credit: Yahoo!
Jon Anik explains why he thought Kai Kara-France beat Amir Albazi at UFC Vegas 74
UFC play-by-play announcer Jon Anik explained why he thought Kai Kara-France beat Amir Albazi at UFC Vegas 74.
Kara-France and Albazi went five hard rounds in the headliner of last weekend’s UC Vegas 74 card, and at the end of the 25 minutes, it was Albazi who won the split decision. The scorecards were controversial, with many feeling that Kara-France deserved to get the nod due to being the superior striker for much of the fight. Ultimately, though, Albazi won the decision, and Anik disagrees with the scorecards.
“I certainly had Rounds 1, 4, and 5 for Kai Kara-France. A lot of people would argue maybe it was 2-2 going into that fifth round, but there was no argument as to who won that fifth round. So, I felt like it was pretty clear for Kai Kara-France,” Anik said on the Anik & Florian Podcast (via MMAjunkie.com).
“I understand the uproar from his teammates, and certainly it’s lazy to suggest that as an elite-level fighter you can’t leave it in the hands of the judges. More often than not when we talk about these fights that are exceedingly close, we are talking about elite-level fighters, and more often than not we are talking about five rounds.”
According to Anik, the most egregious part of the decision was that judge Chris Lee scored the fourth round for Albazi despite him getting outlanded 27-5 in significant strikes. Due to losing that fourth round, Kara-France ended up losing the decision.
“In Round 4 of this fight, Kai Kara-France was 27 of 65 (significant strikes) and Amir Albazi was 5 of 29, and Chris Lee gave Round 4 for Amir Albazi. So when I look at the singularity of that scorecard, I feel like Kai Kara-France was robbed in that Round 4,” Anik said.
Do you agree with Jon Anik that Kai Kara-France should have gotten the nod over Amir Albazi at UFC Vegas 74?
