ONE Championship: Stamp Fairtex’s split decision win over Supergirl Jaroonsak stirs up scoring debate
- Stamp met fellow Thai in a short-notice strawweight kickboxing clash at ONE Fight Night 6 on Saturday, and won a decision after three exciting rounds
- Judges’ scorecards for the bout in Bangkok have split opinion, with some fans and fighters scoring it the opposite way
Stamp Fairtex got the win she sought at Saturday’s ONE Championship Fight Night 6 event in Bangkok, Thailand, but it was not without controversy.
The 25-year-old Thai met her countrywoman Supergirl Jaroonsak, 19, in a short-kickboxing clash at strawweight at the event, and won by split decision after three rounds.
But it was promptly apparent that many viewers scored the fight the other way around, and the outrage only got louder after ONE released the judges’ scorecards.
Judges Shane Byrne and Willip Ho both scored the 29-28 for Stamp, while judge Josh Tonna, a former ONE Super Series fighter and strawweight Muay Thai title challenger, gave the same score to Supergirl.
While Tonna was in the minority among his colleagues, many fans have expressed agreement with his score on social media, as did Japanese bantamweight Shoko Sato, who defeated Kim Jae-woong under MMA rules earlier on the card.
“I think Supergirl,” Sato wrote on Instagram.
It is not just the result of the fight stirring up controversy. Judge Byrne has received some additional criticism for scoring round one for Stamp, with many fans agreeing that was Supergirl’s strongest round.
“I don’t know how [Byrne] could have possibly given Round one to Stamp,” one commenter wrote on Instagram.
There is certainly an argument for Supergirl winning the fight. The 19-year-old was the aggressor for most of the fight, and on several occasions, battered Stamp with power shots against the cage.
Supergirl herself was baffled with the result.
“Sorry for everyone that I couldn’t do it well enough to make all three judges see that I should be the winner,” she wrote in an Instagram post, which featured a video clip of her hitting Stamp with some huge shots at the start of the first round.
However, Stamp’s decision victory is easily justifiable.
While she was on her back foot for much of the fight, she was very effective with her counters, and seemed to be the more accurate striker in the Circle – all the more impressive considering her clear size disadvantage in the match-up, which may have played a part in her earning a US$50,000 performance bonus.
“In terms of cardio and technique, Stamp was the clear winner,” one commenter wrote. “Supergirl had the massive height and weight advantage to keep the pressure on, so it was a pretty close call.”
“Stamp fought very smart, her strategy was to take the hit but always counter with combos. She did that the whole fight,” another commenter wrote, before admitting they could see the argument for a Supergirl win too.
Stamp and Supergirl were originally not supposed to meet at ONE Fight Night 6, and only ended up in the Circle together after a series of last-minute shake-ups.
Stamp, ONE’s No 1-ranked atomweight MMA contender, was originally set for a special rules clash with Anissa Meksen on the card, but was left without an opponent at the last minute when Meksen no-showed the pre-fight weight and hydration checks.
Supergirl, meanwhile, had been slated for Muay Thai rematch with Ekaterina Vandaryeva at strawweight, but refused the match-up after her Russian foe missed weight.
When both women were left without opponents, they agreed to fight each other under kickboxing rules at strawweight – with less than 24 hours to prepare.
