Sherdog’s Top 10: Worst Decisions

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1. Leonard Garcia vs. Nam Phan
“The Ultimate Fighter 12” Finale
Dec. 4, 2010 | Las Vegas
There was some debate among Sherdog.com staff as to whether Garcia’s entry should be dedicated to an entire “Bad Boy”-inspired archive of judging incompetency. Indeed, there is a legitimate argument to be made that after Garcia’s stoppage of Jens Pulver at WEC 36, the hard-swinging Texan could very easily have been 0-12 in World Extreme Cagefighting and Ultimate Fighting Championship bouts until his Zuffa release following a loss to Cody McKenzie at UFC 159.

To that end, the Jackson’s Mixed Martial Arts product’s bouts against Jameel Massouh (WEC 42), Chan Sung Jung (WEC 48), Phan -- all split-decisions victories for Garcia -- and George Roop (WEC 47) -- a split draw -- deserve some consideration. His September 2010 loss to Mark Hominick, where one judge inexplicably scored it for Garcia, warrants an honorable mention. To keep it concise, we will only examine Garcia’s last victory under the Zuffa banner, which came at “The Ultimate Fighter 12” Finale against Phan.

Throughout that contest, Garcia did what he does best: launch wild haymakers. Many of those punches were at best glancing blows and oftentimes found nothing but air. Phan, meanwhile, was effective landing combinations and working the body. In the second round, the Vietnamese fighter floored his opponent with a sidekick to the ribcage.

As the bout concluded, Garcia returned to his corner with his head down, while Phan raised his arms in anticipation of what he thought was inevitable triumph. In the end, it was Garcia’s ability to press forward, whether landing strikes or merely throwing them, as well as a pair of takedowns, that ultimately proved to be the difference. Judges Adelaide Byrd and Tony Weeks both had it 29-28 for Garcia, while Junichiro Kamijo scored it 30-27 in favor of Phan; this despite FightMetric figures giving Phan a 102-64 advantage in significant strikes landed.

“I don’t see how Leonard beat me [in] any of the rounds,” Phan said. “I watched it again, and it was like he threw a lot, but [even] cosmetically [when] you throw a lot of punches, you’ve still got to hit the guy.”

While Garcia admittedly thought he could have performed better, he remained cognizant of why he was able to find favor on the scorecards.

“I’ve worked my style into a judge-favoring position,” he said. “It makes sense to me not to ever sit back, not to ever wait on the guy to do something. I always try to push forward, and I always try to finish the fight with punches.”

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Honorable Mentions: Marcos Galvao vs. Joe Warren (Bellator 41); Randy Couture vs. Brandon Vera (UFC 105); Quinton Jackson vs. Murilo Rua (Pride 29); Bas Rutten vs. Kevin Randleman (UFC 20); Benson Henderson vs. Frankie Edgar 2 (UFC 150); Dan Henderson vs. Yuki Kondo (Pride Shockwave 2004); Quinton Jackson vs. Lyoto Machida (UFC 123); Ricco Rodriguez vs. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (Pride Total Elimination 2003); Zoila Frausto Gurgel vs. Megumi Fujii (Bellator 34); Jon Fitch vs. Jeff Joslin (Freedom Fight “Canada vs. USA”).