It was quite the surprise, then, when it was announced that cageside judge Sal D’Amato submitted a 48-47 scorecard in favor of Hermansson. While Strickland still emerged victorious thanks to a pair of 49-46 tallies from judges Derek Cleary and Junichiro Kamijo, it was nonetheless a close call that should have been avoided.
While D’Amato had a dissenting view of the fight, all 21 of the unofficial media scorecards tracked by MMADecisions.com saw the bout in favor of Strickland. Eric Nicksick, who is Strickland’s head trainer at Xtreme Couture in Las Vegas, took to Twitter to criticize D’Amato’s scorecard, complete with the hashtag #firesal.
“Not even one media member scored it for Jack,” Nicksick wrote. “I know we won, but if this guy is still judging, he will continue to make egregious decisions and ultimately cost fighters their careers and livelihood.”
Not even one media member scored it for Jack. I know we won, but if this guy is still judging, he will continue to make egregious decisions and ultimately cost fighters their careers and livelihood. #fireSal pic.twitter.com/g70PizTsuO
— Eric Nicksick (@Eric_XCMMA) February 6, 2022
Sal D’Amato has served as a cageside judge for numerous UFC events over the years. It is unclear if his controversial scorecard will result any future ramifications from either the UFC or the Nevada State Athletic Commisison.