"I thought I won the fight" - Bassil Hafez disagrees with Jack Della Maddalena decision; looks forward to full fight camp

Jack Della Maddalena managed to secure a narrow victory over Bassil Hafez through a split decision, extending his impressive 15-fight win streak and keeping his UFC record unblemished. However, the official decision sparked controversy among fans and fellow fighters, with many expressing their disagreement with the judges' call. Hafez, on the other hand, didn't shy away from voicing his opinion, asserting that he believed he had won the fight.

In a post shared to his Instagram story, the unranked welterweight stated:

"I want to say thank you to everyone reaching out, congratulating me. I thought I won the fight. I definitely still could’ve done more. One of the toughest weight cuts of my life, but I still showed up, made weight and fought my heart out. I love all my fans, all my people. Thank you and this is just the beginning."

Hafez, who took the fight on short notice, added that he is looking forward to a full camp:

"Can’t wait to get a full camp and a proper weight cut, and congrats to Jack. He’s a beast and his striking is on point. I showed that I can take his punches and maybe we’ll meet again in the future. Thank you all."

Check out Bassil Hafez's comments on his bout with Jack Della Maddalena below:

While Hafez had the opportunity to enter the welterweight rankings in his first bout in the UFC, he came up just short, according to the judges. Despite the split decision loss, his debut performance was impressive as he entered the bout as a heavy underdog without a full fight camp. The bout was awarded Fight of the Night honors.

What did Jack Della Maddalena say about his bout with Bassil Hafez?

There was plenty of backlash to the official decision of Jack Della Maddalena's UFC on ESPN 49 bout against Bassil Hafez. Speaking at the post-fight press conference, the No.14-ranked welterweight revealed that he believes he did enough to earn the victory, stating:

"I thought I landed the bigger shots. You never know. When I heard the split decision I thought it could go either way. The judges are always all over the place, but I felt like I landed the bigger shots. He was shooting pretty desperately. I feel like on top he didn’t do a whole lot of damage. I’ll look back on it and see. Glad to see my hand raised."

Check out Jack Della Maddalena's comments below:

Della Maddalena landed 83 significant strikes compared to just 32 for Hafez. The promotional debutant was able to take the No.14-ranked welterweight down three times, piling up 6:48 of ground control. While there was plenty of disagreement on the official scoring, the bout was very closely contested.