Modestas Bukauskas understands that fight commentators have a specific role, and he knows he won`t always see eye-to-eye with them. However, after reviewing his bout from UFC 315, he`s puzzled by Daniel Cormier`s description of his narrow split-decision victory as “trash.”
The seasoned light heavyweight secured a hard-fought split decision against Ion Cutelaba in Montreal recently. Bukauskas maintains the validity of his win, and upon rewatching the fight at home, while acknowledging areas for future improvement, he doesn`t agree with the notion of a “robbery” in what was a competitive, back-and-forth contest over three rounds.
“That’s trash,” Cormier stated during the broadcast immediately after the judges` scores were announced. “That’s actually a very bad decision. A 30-27 for Bukauskas?”
For his part, Bukauskas doesn`t hold Cormier`s opinion against him. Yet, he recognizes the significant influence commentators can have on viewers at home, believing this played a role in the reaction to his fight.
“I feel like that seemed to influence a lot of people’s opinions as well, especially online,” Bukauskas told MMA Fighting. “Then everyone was just sort of repeating what was said on the commentary as opposed to taking an opinion for themselves. Obviously, I respect those fighters. They’re Hall of Famers. They’re some of the best in the sport. You can’t knock them for what they’ve done in the sport, but I just didn’t understand where it was coming from. I didn’t understand why their viewpoint was swayed so much to one side. It literally made no sense to me.”
He continued, “I guess everyone’s got their own opinion. They’re obviously entitled to it. A lot of people lost their parlays as well on the betting so obviously a lot of people weren’t happy about that and it was a close fight. You can’t please everyone in this sport. All I’ve got to do is keep winning. At the end of the day what goes down on paper is a win so all I’ve got to do is just keep continuing to do that.”
To better analyze his performance, Bukauskas revealed he watched the fight multiple times, both with and without the official UFC commentary.
While conceding that there were moments where the fight was incredibly close and the decision could potentially have gone Cutelaba’s way, Bukauskas firmly rejects the narrative that his opponent was unfairly robbed by the judges.
“A lot of my coaches and myself watched with volume, and without volume,” Bukauskas explained. “And one of my coaches even said when you watch it without volume — he watched it from a neutral standpoint and it was very, very close, but he said it was a little bit more on my side without the commentary.” He acknowledges the commentators` role, stating, “Obviously, they’re doing their job. They’re there to analyze the fight and do their thing. What I’ve got to do is go out and put on a better performance so their viewpoint is more towards my side and that’s absolutely fine.”
Bukauskas finds it perplexing that the commentary team seemed to suggest the fight was a clear 30-27 for Cutelaba, stating, “The way they made it sound, they all thought it was going to be a 30-27 to Cutelaba, which again makes no sense. I would like to know where [Daniel Cormier’s] thought process was for that one.” He reiterated his goal: “Again, on my side, I’ll just come out with an even cleaner performance so there is no question about anything. It’s good.”
The feedback post-fight has been varied, but Bukauskas notes that even negative comments generate attention, which is a positive for any fighter.
He also doesn`t mind stirring conversation, though his assessment of the fight`s outcome has remained consistent since leaving the octagon, even after multiple rewatches.
“I put up a post on Instagram like ‘biggest robbery?’ but I came from a very neutral view just saying it wasn’t the best but ultimately I felt like I landed the better strikes,” Bukauskas shared. “I got so much response from that, which is great. That’s what you want!”
Regardless of the controversy, Bukauskas secured the win, his third in a row, and is now targeting a spot in the top 15 with a specific opponent in mind.
“Zhang Mingyang just got himself into the top 15,” Bukauskas noted. “An absolutely amazing performance in his last fight [against Anthony Smith]. Always comes out to fight. Banger, great guy, so why not have a fight between me and him?”
He sees the matchup as mutually beneficial: “That will be a way for me to get into the top 15 and a chance for him to solidify his spot. There’s other fights that’s already been booked so he just won, I just won, why not? That’s sort of my thought process.”
