Ref Speaks Out On Agazarm Controversial Split Decision

Fight To Win head ref Robert Wunderlich explains why he scored what looked like a one-sided match against AJ Agazarm.

Feb 6, 2018 by FloGrappling

Ref Speaks Out On Agazarm Controversial Split Decision

Fans watching Saturday's main card at Fight To Win Pro 61 in Garden Grove, CA, saw a typically entertaining match between AJ Agazarm and Chai Sirisute — but it was not without controversy.

For many, the split-decision win by Agazarm looked like a clear-cut win for the Gracie Barra veteran. His takedowns and positional control saw him cruise to what looked like a dominating performance against Sirisute of 10th Planet.

However, Fight To Win head ref Robert Wunderlich, who was on the stage right next to the combatants throughout the bout, scored the match as a loss for Agazarm, being the only one of three judges who thought Sirisute deserved to win the bout.

First, it’s important to clarify that Fight To Win Pro — a submission-only event with no points — has a very simple judging criteria: Major submission attacks score higher than near submission attacks, which score higher than everything else (takedowns, passes, positional control, or sweeps).

“I had one decent guillotine attempt by Chai on the edge of the mat, that AJ had to work to escape from,” Wunderlich said while explaining his scoring of the match. “Then AJ had the solid kimura trap but never really got the arm separated from the body.

“Chai then countered the kimura attempt with an attempt at an armlock from bottom that you could visibly see AJ pull his arm out from. Therefore, I saw that Chai had more attempts than AJ.”

Wunderlich added: “Sometimes the angle in which you watch the fight can have a huge impact on what attempts are visible. The ref on the mat almost always has better view than everyone else."

With three takedowns, two guard passes, mount, and two periods spent in knee ride, Agazarm would have racked up a total of 20 points under standard points-based system, which Wunderlich notes Agazarm would have “clearly” won.

For Fight To Win competitors, it is important to switch the mindset and to remember that not all events use the same criteria.