A major upset on the UFC Las Vegas main card as Said Nurmagomedov loses to Jonathan Martinez! The bantamweight bout was the perfect opportunity for Said to move up the rankings and perhaps secure a Top 10 fighter for his next context. However, that was not meant to be as Nurmagomedov loses to Martinez unanimously.
But there are certainly question marks over the result. Fans knew that Said would be the better grappler between the two. That was definitely the case as Nurmagomedov almost took down Jonathan Martinez at will. But, Jonathan was not going to go out without putting on a fight. Multiple times throughout the bout, the 30-year-old had dominant grappling positions.
#UFCLasVegas Official Scorecard: Said Nurmagomedov vs Jonathan Martinez (@jonathanmyda)
— UFC News (@UFCNews) March 12, 2023
Complete Scorecards ➡️: https://t.co/ZTlLPNT7yF pic.twitter.com/U1XqbGNWdP
Despite having chances to finish Martinez via submission a few times, Said Nurmagomedov could not take advantage of that. Jonathan scrambled out of the disadvantageous positions every time! Not just that, Martinez also broke Said’s nose with a vicious elbow in the second round of the bout. The judges seemed to be very impressed with it, as all three of them scored the bout 29-28 for Jonathan. But many are not happy with the result.
Here are some fan reactions to the fight
Robbery
— Moon Venerable🇵🇸 (@MoonVenerable9) March 12, 2023
Razor close fight
— Will Kelly (@WillKelly34) March 12, 2023
29-28 said easily
— Lumbrigadomedov Oliveira (@TheWormLumbriga) March 12, 2023
https://twitter.com/SICKYDOESMMA/status/1634713310464471041?t=ISFcB3z4LztWTEz4gHxchw&s=19
Horrible decision
— Jordan (@Jordanmcsev) March 12, 2023
Nurmagomefraud😭😭😹
— lionheart🇲🇦❤💙🇨🇵 (@WweNews43575862) March 12, 2023
The only Nurmagomedov who takes the back and can't get a finish
— Corey (@Corey9875) March 12, 2023
While some are criticizing Said for not finishing the bout, there are many who seemed to think the judges got the result wrong. Are the fans right? Let’s find out!
Was Said Nurmagomedov robbed against Jonathan Martinez at UFC Las Vegas?
Said Nurmagomedov just suffered his second UFC loss and only the third loss of his career. However, judging by the reaction to the announcement, the Dagestani fighter did not seem to agree with the decision. As per the UFC stats, Said dominated the bout with 101 total strikes and 47 significant strikes. He also had 3 takedowns and 2 submission attempts.
As opposed to that, Jonathan landed 38 significant and 78 total strikes. While he did not have a takedown, Martinez locked in a nasty armbar and was close to getting the submission. It had shades of Vitor Belfort’s armbar submission attempt against Jon Jones. But similar to Jones, Said was able to shake it off. Nurmagomedov had 21, 16, and 10 significant strikes in each of the three rounds respectively.
That's 5️⃣ straight wins for @JonathanMyda! #UFCLasVegas pic.twitter.com/lGk2TuQMtZ
— UFC (@ufc) March 12, 2023
In comparison, Martinez had 13, 15, and 10 significant strikes at the same time. But, it was Jonathan who came closest to finishing the fight with the submission attempt in the final round. On top of that, he landed the most meaningful shots as well. So perhaps that swayed the decision toward Jonathan Martinez. While the bout was close, the result was in no sense a robbery.
It will be interesting to see which way Said Nurmagomedov’s career goes from here. His surname carries a lot of respect because of Khabib Nurmagomedov. and seeing him lose has certainly come as a huge shock to fans. Will he be able to recover from this setback? Only time will tell.