Robbery Of The Year – LowKickMMA 2021 Awards
This is an unfortunate but very necessary award in combat sports. The Robbery of the Year award is given to the person most hard done by dodgy judging or officiating, which we have seen quite a lot of in 2021. With that in mind, we’ll mention a couple of other fighters who were also robbed this year before announcing our winner.
#3 Petr Yan vs. Aljamain Sterling – UFC 259
The bantamweight title fight between Petr Yan and Aljamain Sterling made history for all the wrong reasons.
Until the finishing sequence, the bout between Yan and Sterling was actually a really good one. Both men gave good accounts of themselves but by round four it was clear the Russian fighter was on the verge of scoring a big victory.
Things took a turn when he hit Sterling with an illegal knee. ‘The Funk Master’ was unable to continue the fight (or at least acted like he couldn’t) and this resulted in him being crowned champion by way of disqualification. It was the first time a UFC title had ever changed hands by DQ.
#2 Denice Zamboanga vs. Seo Hee Ham – ONE Championship: Empower
Denice Zamboanga suffered a close and controversial loss to Seo Hee Ham at the ONE Championship: Empower event in Singapore back in September.
Ham picked up a split decision win to advance to the semi-finals of ONE’s eight-woman atomweight grand prix. That was despite the fact she struggled to deal with Zamboanga’s grappling throughout the three-round bout.
ONE Championship Chairman and CEO Chatri Sityodtong announced that the result would be subject to review and could be overturned but the decision was eventually upheld.
#1 Rory MacDonald vs. Gleison Tibau Is LowKickMMA’s 2021 Robbery Of The Year
Rory MacDonald appeared to have easily done enough to take home the judge’s decision after three rounds against Gleison Tibau at PFL 5.
The former Bellator to champion and the fans watching around the world got a shock when Tibau was awarded a split decision win.
Post-fight, MacDonald angrily called for an investigation to be launched claiming he was the victim of a “clear robbery.”
Even Tibau admitted it was a “big surprise” when he got the decision win.
Unfortunately, the result still stands as MacDonald told LowKickMMA there was nothing that could be done to overturn it.
The Canadian is hoping the robbery he faced could help trigger change that would see a review board take a second look at bad judging.
Full List Of Votes For Robbery Of The Year
Jordan: Tibau vs. MacDonald
Lewis: Tibau vs. MacDonald
Michael G: Tibau vs. Rory MacDonald
Curtis: Tibau vs. Rory MacDonald
Ross: Patrick vs. Jones
Ian: Zamboanga vs. Seo Hee Ham
Michael C: Zamboanga vs. Seo Hee Ham
Abhinav: Tibau vs. Rory MacDonald
Keelin: Tibau vs. Rory MacDonald
Ryan: Sterling vs. Yan
Patrick: Sterling vs. Yan
Who else do you think got robbed in 2021?
