Tai Tuivasa has millions of fans worldwide, but Howie Booth may have just proven to be his biggest supporter.
As one of the three judges of Tuivasa’s matchup with Jairzinho Rozenstruik on the main card of UFC 305, Booth sat cage-side with arguably the most important job of the fight aside from the two fighters. As fans watched the Australian fighter get picked apart for 15 minutes in what was largely an uneventful fight, everybody in the building was surprised to hear Bruce Buffer announce a split decision.
As the scorecards were being read, both Tuivasa and Rozenstruik were stunned to hear Booth score the fight 30-27 in favor of ‘Bam Bam,’ indicating his belief that the 31-year-old won all three rounds.
While stats hardly tell the full story of an MMA fight, Rozenstruik dominated all three rounds in every aspect. In a fight that involved no wrestling or grappling, ‘Bigi Boy’ landed 91 significant strikes through three rounds to just 37 coming back from Tuivasa.
In an uncharacteristically slow approach, Tuivasa never landed more than 15 significant strikes in a single round and ended the first frame with just nine strikes landed. Damage is always the top priority under the unified ruleset of MMA and despite Tuivasa being known for his knockout power, the Aussie landed just 19 headshots and could not get Rozenstruik to ever feel as if he was in danger.
In similar situations in the past, the reaction of the crowd in favor of their preferred fighter has been an inadvertent factor in influencing judging. But in this specific situation, that can hardly be considered, given how little success Tuivasa had throughout. The crowd was desperate to react to anything they could grasp but spent most of the 15 minutes in deep frustration, leading to even Tuivasa’s fans gasping in shock at Buffer’s announcement of Booth’s tally rather than cheering.
In the end, Rozenstruik wound up winning by split decision, having rightfully earned the favor of the other two judges. However, in terms of individual judging, few scorecards can be brought up as worse than giving Tuivasa even one round, let alone all three.
Later in the night, Jon Anik revealed on the ESPN+ pay-per-view broadcast that Booth had been relieved of his remaining duties for the night. It was not revealed if that call came from UFC CEO Dana White, who has never been shy in criticizing judges, or the Athletic Commission.
