Bobby Green's undefeated run in the UFC came to an end at UFC Fight Night in Austin, TX last Saturday, as his lightweight opponent Edson Barboza outpointed him and scored a spinning kick knockdown en route to a 30-27 x3 decision victory. In an extended interview with MMA Junkie, Green discussed his future in the sport, but also had quite the argument for himself that he actually beat Barboza:
"I’m still contemplating whether I’m going to retire or not, I’m just not sure. I feel like I kind of got robbed. I felt like it was a close fight. I’m not saying Barboza didn’t do his thing, but even the things he did, they looked bigger than they were."
"Normally, the way it works is you crack a guy, he stumbles, and you chase his ass and finish him up. Barboza is a great finisher, and all of a sudden he’s not trying to finish me? I felt like I was the aggressor the whole time. I controlled the center of the cage. He had a couple of leg kicks."
"I felt like the first round was pretty close," Green said. "I think the stats showed he had a few more strikes, but I had the takedown, so with the takedown, I thought I took the first round. And I thought I took the third round, so I get one and three, and I give him two. I don’t understand how he wins when he’s not the aggressive one."
The 2nd round, which Green scored for Barboza upon his own review, was the round where Barboza had dropped him with a kick. Fightmetric did not credit him with a takedown in the 1st round but did give him the edge in significant strikes in the 3rd round. While the numbers suggest that this was an even fight, with Barboza only landing 4 more significant strikes than Green, it once again shows that not all "significant strikes" are equal.
Of course, if Green thinks the judges robbed him, then everyone else who scored the fight on various MMA sites is also wrong, as none of them scored more than a single round in his favor.