Judges Gonna Judge: Was Calvin Kattar snubbed in split decision loss to Josh Emmett at UFC on ESPN 37?
Welcome to “Judges Gonna Judge,” where our MMA Junkie staff panel revisits the most controversial decision that occurred over the weekend.
This week, we take a look at the UFC main event showdown in the capitol of the Lone Star State, a five-round featherweight battle between Josh Emmett and Calvin Kattar. The fight headlined UFC on ESPN 37 at the Moody Center in Austin, Texas.
On a night filled with stoppages, the bout scheduled for the longest time saw the final horn, and ultimately sparked the latest MMA judging debate after Emmett was announced the winner by split decision.
Two of the five rounds were split among the three men who rendered their decision. Rounds 1, 3, and 5 were scored identically by each judge, but Round 2 and Round 4 resulted in differing opinions.
Official judges Chris Lee and Doug Crosby scored the second round in Kattar’s favor, while Sal D’Amato saw it for Emmett. Lee scored the fourth round for Emmett, while Crosby and D’Amato gave it to Kattar. Ultimately Emmett earned 48-47 totals from Lee and D’Amato, while Crosby turned in a 48-47 for Kattar.
Of the 19 media scores submitted on MMA Decisions, 14 scorecards saw the fight for Kattar, including one 49-46 scorecard. The 5 scorecards for Emmett were all 48-47 totals.
MMA Junkie’s Matthew Wells, Farah Hannoun, and Nolan King put on their judging hats and break the fight down by each round.
Round 1
Wells: Let’s be honest, the early moments of first round weren’t much to write home about. There was a long feel-out process here and the fans weren’t too happy about it as boos started coming in, but these two knew they had five rounds to work with. Kattar popped a nice jab at 3:50 as one of the first solid strikes of the fight. He then landed a leg kick at 3:11 and Emmett responded with a nice right hand at 3:06. From here the action started to pick up a little bit and the boos stopped. Neither man was interested in staying in the pocket here, as we saw quick in and out movements from both. Kattar offered quick punches while Emmett waited for his opening to charge forward with more powerful combinations. At some point, a small cut was opened above the left eye would slowly grow into a bigger mess for Emmett throughout the rest of the fight. In the final 20 seconds, Emmett landed a nice combination to the body, followed by another two-punch combo, and then a nice left elbow over the top after the takedown attempt. This was a close round, but for me, I liked the power here from Emmett, and that closing sequence to give him the round.
Wells’ score: 10-9 Emmett
Hannoun: Round 1 was a feeling-out process with neither man landing a single strike until almost two minutes in. Kattar struck first with a low kick, which prompted Emmett to return fire with a right hand and a flurry to back Kattar up. Kattar started to open up by pumping out his jab, but Emmett landed a nice left to end the round and the more impactful strikes in the first five minutes.
Hannoun’s score: 10-9 Emmett
King: Both men got off to a slow start in Round 1, but Emmett got the ball rolling first. Around one minute into the round, Emmett started to land. There were a lot of misses, yes, but each combination seemed to have at least one strike that would partially sneak through. Although Kattar landed a couple of good jabs, and a hard hook in the final minute, Emmett landed a hard leg kick, a body shot, and finished strong with a combination as the clock wound down. Sure, one of the Kattar jabs sliced Emmett up, but “damage” in the scoring criteria does not solely account for superficial, visible damage. Emmett not only outpointed Kattar with quantity, but quality, too.
King’s score: 10-9 Emmett
Round 2
Wells: Kattar came out pressuring with the jab, while Emmett looked for combinations. A hard right hand lands for Emmett just as Kattar attempted to throw a punch. Kattar keeps moving forward and continues with the left jab. Emmett then puts together a couple of two-punch combinations that don’t find the mark and then goes to a hard overhand right that makes impact, but Kattar appears to block it. A right hand from Kattar scores at 3:35, but is answered by Emmett, who also goes to the body with a punch at 3:30. The left jab continued to be Kattar’s weapon of choice, leading up to his best combination of the round at 2:30. Emmett responds with a nice combo at 2:12. Kattar lands a right a moment after. Emmett charges forward with a combo at 1:56, causing Kattar to retreat into the fence. Kattar goes back to the jab, but then Emmett lands two right hands, although the second was partially blocked. Emmett lands a nice combination including a shot to the body with 30 seconds left. Kattar responds with a knee, and as Emmett circled away he stumbled. I saw some saying this was a knockdown or Emmett was rocked, but sitting cageside, this looked similar to the stumble that Kattar had in the first round, at the same spot of the cage, no less. Emmett would charge forward with punches to close out the round.
Closest round of the fight and one of the two that was split between the official judges, but I liked Emmett’s power punches over Kattar’s work behind the jab. I won’t argue much if you feel the opposite.
Wells’ score: 10-9 Emmett
Hannoun: Kattar was doing a much better job of evading Emmett’s big, looping right hands, and his jab was starting to do some serious damage to Emmett’s eye. Emmett eventually returned fire with some big shots to the head and body which backed Kattar up, but based on damage, I thought Kattar edged that round out.
Hannoun’s score: 10-9 Kattar
King: This round was freaking close, man. Kattar definitely looked better here, but was it enough? His jab looked great when he threw it and caused reactions out of Emmett. His knees to the body as a takedown defense mechanism late in the round looked impactful as well. Meanwhile, Emmett spammed overhand rights that always sent Kattar’s momentum backward, but it’s tough to tell how many got through and how many were blocked. I actually think Emmett’s most impactful strikes were his body punches, though he didn’t throw often. This is a round where I don’t think you can really criticize judges for going either way.
King’s score: 10-9 Emmett
Round 3
Wells: No need to have a deep dive into this round and analyze each exchange. Emmett was simply the better fighter over these five minutes. He landed powerful strikes in combinations and had a higher volume than Kattar here. Sure, Kattar landed some nice punches of his own and the jab was still landing, but he was behind on output. This was the clearest round for Emmett of the entire fight and the official judges agreed as well with all three seeing it in his favor.
Wells’ score: 10-9 Emmett
Hannoun: Emmett was the busier striker this round, finding a home for numerous right hands. Kattar continued to work his jab, but this round went to Emmett for just having more volume and doing the more effective work.
Hannoun’s score: 10-9 Emmett
King: This round was interesting. Emmett came out the aggressor, like in Round 1. However, Kattar figured out how to effectively use his jab to halt that momentum. But when the pressure was 50-50 and they met in the middle, Emmett started baiting him into exchanges. I think Emmett’s landed the more powerful, impactful shots and did some damage to the face – and particularly Kattar’s nose, which is a popular target to be broken in his fights.
King’s score: 10-9 Emmett
Round 4
Wells: Perhaps sensing he was down, Kattar came out leading the charge behind his jab. For the first two minutes, it was mostly Kattar starting the exchanges as Emmett began to perhaps take his foot off the gas. At 3:03, Emmett charged forward with punches, pushed Kattar into the cage, and looked to clinch, but Kattar broke free. A few Emmett punches were then blocked by Kattar, who responded with a clean right a moment later. Kattar then went back to popping the jab, really targeting the eye of Emmett that looks nasty at this point. A nice exchange with both men landing comes at the two-minute mark. Kattar stepped in with a knee at 1:34, but whether it was a feint or just a result of the knee missing, he smoothly transitioned into a beautiful spinning back elbow that smacked Emmett in the face. Somehow, Emmett just ate it, but the sound indicated the impact. Emmett had the idea to throw a spinning attack of his own but got sparked by a combination at 1:18 that wobbled him. Emmett made a late charge in the closing seconds, but Kattar’s two big moments sealed the round.
Wells’ score: 10-9 Kattar
Hannoun: After his corner expressed concern, Kattar opened up Round 4 with a nice jab followed by a one-two combination. Emmett continued to press forward with big bombs, landing solid shots to the body. Kattar landed a nice spinning back elbow which Emmett ate. Kattar then landed a big right which stumbled Emmett, who’s face was really starting to wear it. This was a Kattar round.
Hannoun’s score: 10-9 Kattar
King: Emmett started out solidly in Round 4, but slowly but surely things swung in the direction of Kattar. The audible spinning back elbow cracking off Emmett’s face was Kattar’s best strike of the fight up until that point, but he quickly topped himself. Kattar visibly rocked Emmett with a punch that sent him backward. From there, Kattar did his thing. The jab was slinging. It was clearly his best streak of offense, and perhaps the most dominant round either fighter had in the contest.
King’s score: 10-9 Kattar
Round 5
Wells: Kattar’s jab led the dance early in the final round. He kept firing it and it continued to land. Emmett was still explosive with punches, but he was kept on his back foot from the jab of Kattar. Emmett landed a nice combination midway through the round, but Kattar was quick to get back to the jab and defend or evade the bigger strikes from Emmett. With time winding down into the final minute, Emmett started to charge forward trying to make something happen. Aside from the crowd loving the intensity of the action in the final seconds, there was nothing here that occurred to steal the round from Kattar as some of the strikes either missed or were evenly exchanged.
Wells’ score: 10-9 Kattar
Hannoun: Kattar backed Emmett up with some nice shots in the opening minute of Round 5. Just like he has all fight, Emmett was throwing heat, but wasn’t able to fully connect on Kattar, whose jab made a mess of Emmett’s face. Very close round, but I felt Kattar out-landed him and took the round.
Hannoun’s score: 10-9 Kattar
King: Both guys were tired in this one – and understandably so. When it came to scoring, this was a fairly easy call. One fighter was landing. One fighter was missing. This was Kattar’s round. His jab punished Emmett, who blitzed in on aggressive attacks but either hit air or Kattar’s blocks. It was less one-sided than Round 4, but I’d say it was the second-most definitive round of the fight.
King’s score: 10-9 Kattar
Did Kattar fall victim to the infamous questionable Texas scorecards?
Wells: As we see so often, for some reason, there’s at least one questionable scorecard when an event takes place in Texas. While I scored the fight for Emmett, don’t like how judge Lee arrived at the 48-47 score in his favor. Somehow, Lee saw the fourth round for Emmett which is wild, to say the least. I think judge D’Amato scored the fight properly, but Crosby’s card is fine as well. I think Round 2 was the only frame that was truly up for debate here.
The MMA community really needs to stop using the word “robbery” in a close fight. If you scored the fight for Kattar, that’s fine. If you scored the fight for Emmett, that is fine too. That’s the definition of a close fight. Sometimes fights can go either way, and that’s why we ended up with a split decision that had us on the edge of our seats while the scores were being read on Saturday night.
Wells’ overall score: 48-47 Emmett
Hannoun: I won’t scream robbery for this one because a lot of these rounds were very close. Rounds 3 and 4 were perhaps the easiest to score, with the opening two having the majority split. I thought Kattar made some great adjustments in the final two rounds and was able to evade Emmett’s bombs. Round 2 was the decisive one in my opinion and based on damage, I gave it to Kattar, but I wouldn’t be mad if someone gave it to Emmett, who was continuously pressing the action.
Hannoun’s overall score: 48-47 Kattar
King: I scored the fight for Emmett, so this is going to sound like a bizarre mental gymnastic. But if Kattar and his team want to come out and say they’re robbed – they’re sort of justified. The final result in itself is not a robbery. But the way this fight was scored, Chris Lee’s terrible scorecard of Round 4 ultimately, in reality, was the difference between a loss and a win for Kattar. The first three rounds could’ve gone either way, particularly Round 2. So if Lee scored Round 2 for Emmett, cries of robbery would not be justified. But for him to score the most decisive round of the fight in the opposite direction – that’s bad. Overall, I think the fight could’ve been anywhere from 48-47 Emmett to 49-46 Kattar. But a closer look shows a bad scorecard made a major difference.
King’s overall score: 48-47 Emmett
Official decision: Josh Emmett def. Calvin Kattar via split decision (48-47, 47-48, 48-47)
Official individual scores:
Chris Lee: 48-47 Emmett
Doug Crosby 48-47 Kattar
Sal D’Amato 49-46 Emmett
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