Phil Davis won a controversial unanimous decision over Muhammed "King Mo" Lawal in the main event at Bellator 154 in San Jose, California, on Saturday. The fight was close, and either man could have come out on top—but the wide margin on the scorecards had to have raised some eyebrows.
Per MMAFighting.com, Davis won 30-27 on two cards and 29-28 on the third. The loss snapped Mo's seven-fight win streak and earned Davis a shot at Bellator light heavyweight champion Liam McGeary.
Despite the fact that Mo looked to have the narrow edge in the first two rounds, he failed to win a round on two of the judges' scorecards.
The MMA community was vocal in their disappointment of the judges who scored it a clean sweep for Davis.
Combat Press' Rob Tatum and MMA fighter Rex Highwalker chimed in:
30-27 Davis is atrocious. https://t.co/AcENxE4sMa
— Rob Tatum (@RobTatumMMA) May 15, 2016
TWO judges scored that 30-27. Did I miss something?
— Rex Highwalker (@KCBanditMMA) May 15, 2016
To put it plainly, there's no way Davis won all three rounds. In the first frame, he didn't appear to connect with anything significant, and Mo did the better work with pressure and accurate strikes. In the second frame, things were closer, but one could make the case that Mo won that round as well.
The last round was all Davis, though.
He badly hurt Mo with a straight right hand. As his opponent wobbled, Davis threw another punch that landed. Instead of trying to finish Mo on the feet, Davis took the fight to the ground. He tried for a kimura and armbar but couldn't get the submission.
Mo got back to his feet with some nifty transitions and survived the round.
When it was over, McGeary came into the cage to confront Davis and begin the hype for the title fight, but it'll be hard to forget the questionable scorecards.
Davis did an excellent job of staying away from most of Mo's big strikes, but he didn't do anything to win the bout until the final round. At any rate, he got the decision and will move on to a bigger opportunity.
As for Mo, this wasn't the first time he's gotten the short end of the stick in a close bout in Bellator. When he took on Quinton "Rampage" Jackson in 2014, it appeared as though Mo had won two of the three rounds, but he didn't get the nod in that fight, either.
It's hard to call someone who has had as much success as Mo a hard-luck fighter, but he's close.
Davis will almost certainly be an underdog against McGeary. Despite his time in the UFC, Davis hasn't proved that he can definitively beat the best light heavyweights in the world, and McGeary is one of the elite.
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