'This s*** is out of control' — UFC's own boss slams judges after Israel Adesnya's loss on points

UFC president Dana White has slammed the judging of Israel Adesanya's loss to light heavyweight champion Jan Blachowicz, revealing he thought the Nigerian-born Kiwi was "half a round" away from winning the fight.

Adesanya challenged Blachowicz for the light heavyweight championship yesterday at UFC 259 after dominating the middleweight division as its champion but lost via unanimous decision after five tense rounds.

The judges scored the fight 49-45, 49-45, and 49-46 in the Polish fighter's favour, with two judges giving Blachowicz a 10-8 scoreline in the final round while all three deemed Adesanya had only won one round of the fight.

White was quick to slam the "crazy scorecards" in UFC 259's post-event press conference last night.

“The scoring was insane,” White said. “There were two rounds in that fight where they gave a 10-8 [to Blachowicz] ... When I came up in the fight business, a 10-8 was an ass-whooping.

“This 10-8 s*** is out of control right now. There was no 10-8 in that fight."

White then moved to the fact the judges viewed the fight four rounds to one in Blachowizc's favour, which he also found absurd.

"I'm not defending Israel Adesanya here, but that fight wasn't 4-1," he said.

“If anyone thinks that fight was 4-1, you're nuts. It was even going into the last round and Israel was winning the first half of the round then Jan took him down and won the fight in the second half of the round.

“The only thing that makes that fight 4-1 are ridiculous 10-8 rounds... It’s a big problem with judging right now that needs to be fixed.”

White said he believes Adesanya should stick to the middleweight division for the foreseeable future after the defeat, ruling out any chance of a fight with social media rival and heavyweight Jon Jones now.

"He's the middleweight champ and he doesn't get to fight Jon Jones, but you can never hurt somebody for thinking big and trying to become great.

“Size is always a factor when you move up a weight class in this sport,” White said. "I think Israel should focus on middleweight right now."