Daniel Cormier points out how having judges score consecutive fights in different timezones is damaging results

UFC legend Daniel Cormier has addressed the ongoing debate regarding controversial MMA judging. Cormier particularly spoke about MMA judge Douglas Crosby aka Doug Crosby. The Bellator Bantamweight World Grand Prix semi-finals bout featuring Raufeon Stots and Danny Sabatello transpired at Bellator 289 at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut, on December 9.

As noted in the matchup's scorecards, Crosby was the lone dissenting judge. While two of the three judges handed Stots scores of 48-47 each, Crosby had the fight 45-50 for Sabatello. As per MMADecisions.com, it was the first time ever that such a wide scorecard was recorded by a dissenting judge in favor of the fight's loser.

Crosby also judged bouts at UFC 282 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, on December 10. Three judges, including Crosby, scored the Paddy Pimblett-Jared Gordon fight 29-28 each for Pimblett. While 'The Baddy' was awarded the unanimous decision victory, many believe Gordon was the rightful winner.

Moreover, as reported by MMAFighting, Crosby is under investigation. The Mohegan Athletic Department's Director of Athletics Mike Mazzulli announced that Crosby and the other judges from the Stots-Sabatello matchup have been scheduled for a review.

Speaking of which, on ESPN MMA's DC & RC Show, Daniel Cormier referenced Ariel Helwani's recent statements on The MMA Hour. Helwani suggested that MMA judges sometimes try to appease fight promoters and score fights accordingly. Echoing similar sentiments, Cormier further indicated that Crosby was perhaps overworked from judging consecutive fights across the U.S. 'DC' stated:

"I think the one thing that spoke to Crosby was that he went and did the Bellator fight on Friday, then flew to Vegas and did another fight on Saturday. I don't know if guys should be judging fights [in] two different timezones, two days in a row. It doesn't make much sense. You can't really be clear."

He added:

"He's under investigation right now. Today, it was announced that Douglas Crosby is getting investigated, the controversial judge from the fight in Connecticut is under investigation."

Watch Cormier discuss the topic at 23:56 in the video below:

---

When Daniel Cormier found himself on the right side of a razor-thin decision win

At UFC 192 in October 2015, the then-UFC light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier successfully defended his title in a back-and-forth five-round war against Alexander Gustafsson. Both fighters came dangerously close to finishing one another in the all-time classic matchup that went the distance.

Watch highlights from the legendary Cormier-Gustafsson fight below:

Ultimately, judges Sal D'Amato and Kerry Hatley scored the fight 48-47 and 49-46 for Daniel Cormier, while judge Derek Cleary had it 48-47 for Alexander Gustafsson. Cormier thereby emerged victorious in a closely-contested fight via split decision.