Ross Pearson has 5 UFC bouts in 2016 – and why he says that's a bad thing

MELBOURNE, Australia – It’s safe to say that Ross Pearson is not happy with some of his recent fights.

And the results, while unfavorable, are not really the problem. After hinting at retirement following a split-decision loss to Stevie Ray (20-6 MMA, 4-1 UFC) at UFC Fight Night 99, Pearson (19-13 MMA, 11-10 UFC) clarified that he doesn’t plan to hang up his MMA gloves just yet. But he’s most certainly frustrated with some aspects of the game.

“I just feel disappointed,” Pearson recently said. “I’m a little bit disheartened, but not about my own ability – because I’ve been here for nine years, and I know that I can fight the best fighters in the world. And if it comes down to the realness of having a fight, I can fight.

“I just struggle with guys who don’t come to fight and choose to play that game where they don’t want to get hit, they don’t want to get taken down. It’s hard for me to do anything offensive when they’re just not engaging. I’d like to see the yellow card come back and the deduction of the purses for non-action.”

The UFC Fight Night 99 loss involved some pretty curious scorecards, with one judge giving him all three rounds while the other two gave 30-27 marks for Ray. With his third straight setback (all coming via decision), Pearson said he feels like he’s “fighting four guys – the judges being three of them.”

“After my career is done and I’m finished with fighting, I would like to be like an ambassador,” Pearson said. “Someone to teach these judges what they’re actually looking at and what they’re looking for, because I think it’s shocking right now.

“I’ve lost probably five fights in the UFC – not from losing the fight because the guy was better or because he was whooping my ass, (but) losing the fight because three judges didn’t know what they were scoring.“

The Ray scrap was Pearson’s fifth UFC fight of 2016, which made him the first UFC fighter to reach the mark in this calendar year. The achievement is, in itself, something that the English fighter said proves his point.

“I don’t want to be a fighter that goes out on like six, seven, eight, nine losses,” Pearson said. “It would be different if I was getting hurt. It’d be different if I was getting taken out. It’d be different if I were getting outclassed. I haven’t even been hit in any of these fights.

“That’s why I’ve been able to fight five times this year. It’s not a fight. If you have five fights in a year at a top level and they’re real fights, your body is not going to make it.”

Pearson reassured everyone that his post-fight reaction – when he said he “can’t keep doing this” – came from a place of disappointment, but that retirement is not in his plans right now.

“I was literally so upset I could have taken my gloves off and thrown them down and said I was finished,” Pearson said. “But that’s not me. I’m a fighter, and bad (expletive) happens, and I come back from it.”

Moving forward – “if the UFC gives us more fights,” he stressed – Pearson remains confident in his own abilities. If he has it his way, he’ll fight names like Nate Diaz or former 155-pound champions Eddie Alvarez and Rafael dos Anjos. As long as they come out and actually fight, Pearson said, he’ll be happy.

“I still believe that you put me in there with the best guys, and then the best guys come to fight, you’ll see the best Ross Pearson,” Pearson said. “You’ll see the best fights. And that’s what I want.

“I’ll be more content and happy if I fought the best and we went out and fought and had it and the guy beat us, and I’ll be, ‘Well done mate. You were the best man on the night. You’ve done the best things. You beat us. Congrats.’ It’s just so frustrating to lose the way I’m losing.”

At the end of the day, Pearson said fellow athletes who opt for “squeaking” point wins instead of “coming out and fighting” are not only a problem for him, but to pretty much all parties involved.

“The way the guys are approaching the fights against us is just spoiling it for everyone,” Pearson said. “For the fans, for the UFC, for me, for themselves. Because who wants to see fighters fight like that? It’s just depressing.”

For more on Pearson’s incisive thoughts on Ray, judging, point-fighting and his future, check out the video above.

And for more on UFC Fight Night 101, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.