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Ultimate Fighting Championship
Martial ArtsMixed Martial Arts

UFC: South Korea’s ‘Iron Turtle’ Park Jun-yong says judge’s bizarre 28-28 scorecard ‘defies logic’

  • Park insists ‘I have no words’ after majority decision win over Tafon Nchukwi at UFC Vegas 26
  • ‘I thought I handily won all three rounds ... I guess that’s what the judge saw so I can’t speak for them’

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Park Jun-yong Park of South Korea punches Tafon Nchukwi in their middleweight bout during the UFC Fight Night event on May 8, 2021 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Photos: Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC
Nicolas Atkin

South Korea’s “Iron Turtle” Park Jun-yong put on a dominant display against Tafon Nchukwi on the UFC Vegas 26 preliminaries, but one of the three cageside judges didn’t see it that way on Saturday night.

The 30-year-old Park (13-4) picked up one scorecard of 30-25, while another read 29-26, with referee Chris Tognoni deducting a point from Cameroon-born Nchuwki (5-1) in the second round for multiple groin shots.

However, the third judge Tony Weeks saw it 28-28, awarding Park only the first round at the UFC’s Apex Facility.

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“I can’t speak for anyone else but I thought I handily won all three rounds,” Park said in a post-fight media scrum. “It was definitely not a 28-28, but I guess that’s what the judge saw so I can’t speak for them.

“I don’t really have any words for that, it defies logic. I want to say something about it and I’m open to whatever the judge saw, if he can explain why he thought it was 28-28, but I have no words.”

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