I didn't catch The Ultimate Fighter finale on Saturday night. But a lot of people did, and I'm told that Nam Phan apparently fought his ass off... and lost to Leonard Garcia, in a controversial decision: UFC's first televised featherweight fight ends with awful decision: Garcia edges Phan.
Just watch this video of the last minute of the fight, the very unpopular decision from the judges, and the vocal reaction from the crowd (nice try, Spike TV, trying to censor the chants of "bullshit!" from the crowd):
"Asian brother can't get no love, man." I won't pretend to know a lot about this sport, but you just have to listen to that reaction, and I'll take the crowd's word for it.
Pretty much everyone who watched the fight is in consensus that by all measures, Nam Phan should have won, but basically got robbed by the judges' inexplicable decision. Hell, even Garcia couldn't believe it:
When Bruce Buffer announced Garcia as a split decision winner over Nam Phan at "The Ultimate Fighter 12 Finale," it seemed like the only two people in the building who agreed were the two judges. Even Garcia was amazed.What the hell happened? Cagewriter scored it 30-27 for Phan. Adelaide Byrd and Tony Weeks, both veteran judges, handed Garcia the 29-28 decision. And nobody is happy about that. More here: After shaky decision, Rogan unloads on judging and NSAC. And here's the official box score, which clearly shows Nam landed more strikes in all three rounds: Nam Phan vs. Leonard Garcia: Official Box Score.
Garcia got the victory, 29-28, 29-28 and 27-30, in front of a shocked crowd at the Pearl inside the Palms in Las Vegas.
"All I can say is I scored some takedowns in this fight. I feel like Nam beat me standing up. I gotta say it was a great fight," Garcia screamed over the crowd chanting an expletive.
"Look, I'm saying it on national television, the next fight I'll come back to fight Nam. That's all I can say. I'm sorry Joe. I'm sorry. I called it the same thing,"