Chael Sonnen thinks Alex Pereira shouldn’t have gotten his hand raised vs. Jan Blachowicz at UFC 291.
Pereira (8-2 MMA, 5-1 UFC) edged out Blachowicz (29-10-1 MMA, 12-7-1 UFC) by split decision in Saturday’s co-main event at Delta Center at Salt Lake City, making good in his light heavyweight debut.
Blachowicz thought he was robbed. While Sonnen wouldn’t go as far as calling it a robbery, he thinks the judges got it wrong. Only judge Junichiro Kamijo agreed with Sonnen’s scorecard.
“There’s no reasonable world where Alex Pereira won that fight and that’s not Chael’s opinion. That’s math,” Sonnen said on his YouTube channel. “He lost Rounds 1 and 3.”
Sonnen thinks Blachowicz’s body language harmed him, when he looked visibly exhausted potentially due to the altitude from Round 2 onwards.
“It was wrong,” Sonnen continued. “It wasn’t a robbery. I have seen worse. It was wrong. There is nothing by the numbers that could get you to the conclusion that Alex won. You can look at takedowns, you could look at attempts, you could look at strikes, you could look at kicks, you could look at defense and see who slipped more punches.
“There was nothing by the numbers that could get you to a belief that Alex won. The judges factored in a criteria, and they’re known to do this. It’s just not within the rules, of fatigue. Jan Blachowicz was exhausted and Alex was not. Jan Blachowicz could not move and Alex could.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 291.
Chael Sonnen: UFC 291 judges should’ve named Jan Blachowicz winner vs. Alex Pereira
