‘Where is my belt?’: UFC ‘highway robbery’ as fighters, fans left shocked by two ‘bullsh**’ calls

UFC 282 has ended in controversy, with Paddy Pimblett awarded a shock win and the main event ending in a puzzling draw.

The two decisions have fans and experts puzzled.

Relive all the action of every fight in our live blog below.

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FULL FIGHT CARD RESULTS

UFC Fight Pass prelims (Fight Pass only):

Cameron Saaiman (S.Africa) def. Steven Koslow (USA) via TKO (Round 3) — Bantamweight bout

UFC early prelims (ESPN2):

TJ Brown (USA) def. Erik Silva (Venezuela) via submission (head-and-arm choke) — Featherweight bout

Billy Quarantillo (USA) def. Alexander Hernandez (USA) via TKO (knees and punches) — Featherweight bout

UFC prelims (ESPN):

#15 Chris Curtis (USA) def. Joaquin Buckley (USA) via KO – punches (Round 2)

Edmen Shahbazyan (USA) def. Dalcha Lungiambula (DR Congo) via TKO (flying knee and punches) — Middleweight bout

#9 Jairzinho Rozenstruik (Suriname) def. #11 Chris Daukaus (USA) via KO – punch (Round 1) — Heavyweight bout

Raul Rosas Jr (Mexico) def. Jay Perrin (USA) via submission (rear naked choke) — Bantamweight bout

UFC main card (MainEvent PPV):

#14 Ilia Topuria (Georgia) def. #9 Bryce Mitchell (USA) via submission (arm triangle) — Featherweight bout

#14 Dricus du Plessis (S.Africa) def. #10 Darren Till (England) via submission – rear-naked choke (Round 3) — Middleweight bout

Santiago Ponzinibbio (Argentina) def. Alex Morono (USA) via TKO – punches (Round 3) — Catchweight bout (180lbs)

Paddy Pimblett (England) def. Jared Gordon (USA) via unanimous decision — lightweight bout

Split decision between #3 Jan Blachowicz (Poland) and #4 Magomed Ankalaev (Russia – Dagestan) — Light heavyweight championship remains vacant

‘I WON THAT FIGHT. WHERE IS MY BELT?’

A disgruntled Magomed Ankalaev — and the UFC world — have been left stunned after his fight with Jan Blachowicz was declared a split draw, meaning the light heavyweight championship remains vacant.

Ankalaev appeared to have the better of Blachowicz in an enthralling five-round battle, but three judges couldn’t be split and scored the contest 48-47 Blachowicz, 48-46 Ankalaev and 47-47.

After a close opening stanza, former champion Blachowicz wobbled his opponent with calf kicks to both legs in the ensuing rounds.

Ankalaev then made a tactical adjustment, and clinched and grappled his way to winning the fourth and fifth, with Jan unable to escape his opponent’s grasp.

When the bout concluded, UFC commentator Joe Rogan admitted he and Daniel Cormier had scored the fight for Ankalaev, and Blachowicz agreed.

“For sure, I [didn’t] win the fight,” he said.

Ankalaev, the latest UFC title contender from the Russian republic of Dagestan, was livid.

“I won that fight. Why didn’t I get my belt?” he said via his interpreter.

“I don’t know if I’m going to fight for this organisation again because honestly, I don’t know what just happened.”

Blachowicz even interrupted his opponent’s interview.

“Give the belt [to] Ankalaev,” he conceded.

After the fight, Dana White announced Glover Teixeira would fight Jamahal Hill for the still-vacant light heavyweight title in Brazil next month.

“The main event was terrible,” White said.

PADDY WINS IN SHOCK CALL

The dream start to Paddy Pimblett’s UFC career continues with a contentious victory over Jared Gordon.

The American veteran was seemingly the more active and efficient striker in the opening two rounds, with Pimblett unable to execute much significant offence.

It was the first fight of the evening to go to a decision, with all three judges scoring the fight 29-28 to the Englishman.

Fighters, media and MMA personalities took to Twitter to express their thoughts

KO ‘OUT OF NOWHERE’ SEES SANTIAGO AVOID UPSET LOSS

Santiago Ponzinibbio has secured the knockout win, after Alex Morono nearly pulled off the upset of the evening.

Ponzinibbio was originally scheduled to fight UFC legend Robbie Lawler, before Lawler withdrew on Tuesday due to an injury suffered in fight camp. Morono took the fight on late notice, and was unexpectedly the more crisp striker in the opening two rounds.

Ponzinibbio’s coaches urged their fighter to hunt the finish in the final round, and the Argentine obliged, stunning his American opponent with a perfectly-placed right hand, and forcing the stoppage with 2:31 on the clock.

QUICK TAP FROM TILL AFTER INJURY SCARE

Darren Till’s recent record has sunk to five losses from his past six bouts after a back-and-forth battle with Dricus du Plessis.

The pair continued the night’s trend of not leaving the fight to a decision. Du Plessis pressed Till against the cage and unleashed a seemingly-endless barrage of punches to the head of his opponent. The Englishman looked to have no answer, until he was eventually able to break and land some clean counters – a minor reprieve after what was an otherwise unsuccessful round for the Scouser.

Vintage Till emerged for the second round as he dominated the boxing exchanges, and Du Plessis looked to have gassed. The South African managed to secure a heel-hook, and Till was saved by the bell, despite dominating most of the first stanza.

The third round was largely even, until du Plessis executed a perfectly-timed takedown and fell straight into full-mount. The South African then took the fan-favourite’s back and finished him via rear-naked choke.

Till said he believed he’d torn his ACL during the fight at UFC 282, according to Jon Anik during the broadcast

18YO SENSATION’S EPIC DEBUT AS BRUTAL KOs DOMINATE EARLY ACTION

It’s not often a Las Vegas crowd roars for a non-American and boos one of their own, but such is the hype behind Raul Rosas Jnr. The 18-year-old debutant soared through Dana White’s Contender Series with plenty of momentum.

Heading into this fight with a perfect 6-0 record, there was plenty of pressure on a young man who was given the featured prelim slot on the UFC’s final pay-per-view of the year.

Rosas Jnr flawlessly dominated opening proceedings, engaging Jay Perrin on the ground before sinking in a rear-naked choke to earn the victory after just 2 minutes and 44 seconds.

“I’m living the dream right now,” Rosas Jnr said.

In a flashback to Conor McGregor’s famous UFC debut in Stockholm nearly a decade ago, Rosas Jnr turned his attention towards UFC president Dana White.

“Dana! 50 g’s!” Rosas said.

The justification for his appeal for a fight bonus was heartwarming, and a stark reminder of his tender age.

“I need that 50 g’s so I can get my mother a minivan and she can give me a ride to the PI! (UFC Performance Institute)”

“Tonight, I just came here to introduce myself, because I’m coming for that belt!”

Both Daniel Cormier and Joe Rogan were also very impressed in commentary.

“Jay Perrin is in a world of hurt only a minute into this fight,” Cormier said.

“This is about as good as it gets for a UFC debut.”

“Flawless at 18 years old,” added Rogan.

Elsewhere, seven seconds is all it took for Jairzinho Rozenstruik to land his first punch, and that spelled the end of the night for Chris Daukaus.

‘Biggie Boy’ immediately smothered his opponent, delivering an avalanche of knees and punches. Daukaus was able to briefly separate himself, but was caught with the massive right hand of the pursuing Rozenstruik, ending the fight after 22 seconds.

“I needed to change a lot of things in training, and this is the result,” he said.

Edmen Shahbazyan has put an end to his three fight losing skid with a stunning knockout victory at UFC 282. Dalcha Lungiambula began the fight with a tremendous pace, but Shahbazyan took advantage of his opponent’s waning energy reserves with a perfectly-timed flying knee.

“I took that time off to improve and move to Vegas,” he said.

“I guess I’m ‘Vegas Edmen’ now!”

Elsewhere, Chris Curtis made it nine wins from his past ten fights with a stunning boxing performance against dangerous knockout specialist, Joaquin Buckley.

Curtis caught Buckley’s high kick and pulled him into a ferocious counter-left. Buckley seemed to lose consciousness briefly before waking up, however hammer fists from Curtis made sure of the finish.

The two had an intense war of words in the build-up to the fight, but Curtis was classy in his final message.

“No bad blood at all – Joaquin’s a competitor,” he said.

“I’ve got nothing but respect for him. Coming into this fight, win lose or draw I was happy with it because I knew Joaquin Buckley was the one dude in the division who would [put on a show for the fans].”

‘Billy Q’ is back in the winning column after a striking blitz against fellow American Alex Hernandez. The Ultimate Fighter and Contender Series alum overcame some early adversity after a slicing elbow from Hernandez opened up a cut on Quarantillo’s head in the first round.

“He landed and elbow and busted me open really good,” he said.

“I knew he was a tough dude but I knew if I kept pushing him, I’ve got that dog in me. Everyone knows that.”

South African Cameron Saaiman remains undefeated following his UFC debut this afternoon. The fight wasn’t without controversy though, with Saaiman deducted a point in the second round for an illegal knee to the head of Steven Koslow, who was grounded at the time. Saaiman however, emerged with urgency in the third round, and finished the American with a flurry of knees and punches.

“I knew for a fact I was behind (on the scorecards), Saaiman said.

“We needed to go to the sixth gear, and luckily we could do that.”

DOMINATION FOR TOPURIA TO KICK OFF MAIN CARD

It was one-way traffic as two undefeated top-15 featherweights kicked off the main card.

Ilia Topuria blitzed crowd favourite Bryce Mitchell with some crisp boxing combinations in the first round, leaving the American bloodied. After several failed attempts, Mitchell was able to get his opponent to the ground, and Topuria was forced to defend his way to the bell after a dominant first round for the Georgian.

Mitchell looked like a deer in headlights when the fight resumed. Topuria continued to connect with his punches, eventually stunning Mitchell and controlling him on the ground. After a terrific throw, Topuria sunk in an arm triangle choke and handed Mitchell the first loss of his professional career.

“I knew that I was better than him on the ground,” Topuria said.

“The gameplan was to strike with him but in the end I had to submit him because I got the opportunity.”

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