"Jon Anik calls it a 'trash decision'", "Judges are only there to break your heart" - Outrage boils over as MMA pros blast "AWFUL" UFC 313 scorecard

A featherweight clash between Francis Marshall and Mairon Santos at UFC 313 became a topic of controversy in the MMA community. The fight took place on the prelims of the card, which was held on March 8 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.

The contest was a competitive affair that lasted all 15 minutes and ended with a split decision victory for Santos. The three judges scored the bout 27-30, 29-28 and 29-28 in favor of the Brazilian.

The outcome caused an outrage in the MMA community as many believed Marshall to be the rightful victor of the fight. Several MMA personalities chimed in and shared their opinion on the result of the fight.

UFC welterweight Michael Chiesa criticised the result and implied that giving out bad decisions had become the norm with UFC judges.

"The judges are only there to break your heart. That decision was awful."

Former UFC middleweight Derek Brunson opined that according to him, Marshall deerved to get his hand raised at the end of the clash. He also slammed the current MMA scoring system as it failed to provide 'definitive' results.

"Damn 2nd fight of the night and already an AWFUL decision. I thought Francis Marshall won that fight. It's 2025 and we still don't have a definitive scoring system in MMA!"

MMA journalist Adam Martin highlighted how UFC commentator Jon Anik had also expressed disagreement with the judges scorecard during the live telecast of UFC 313.

"Jon Anik calls it a 'trash decision'. Strong words from the UFC commentator. He's not wrong."

Jeff Molina claimed that judges affect the fighters' careers with bad decisions and do not face any repercussions themselves.

"Judges wrongfully changing the trajectory of fighters' careers and facing zero consequences every weekend."

Check out a compilation of some of the reactions below:

MMA world reacts to Mairon Santos vs. Francis Marshall