Few things frustrate MMA fans more than controversial scoring in fights. The term “robbery” is often used loosely and can be steeped in bias. In this series, we look back at disputed bouts to determine if the judges` decisions were warranted or if fan reactions are overly emotional.
Many felt Jose Aldo was unfairly judged.
It`s a strong claim, isn`t it? In what is likely the final bout of his storied career, Aldo nearly secured a memorable finish. Even without the stoppage, many believed he had done enough to win the decision against the surging Aiemann Zahabi.
However, all three judges awarded the fight to Zahabi. This outcome was particularly disappointing given Aldo`s near-finish in the third round and seeing the exhausted 38-year-old endure a heavy ground-and-pound assault late in the match. Shortly after, Aldo announced his retirement, concluding an exceptional career.
While fellow fighters paid tribute to Aldo, there was significant backlash concerning the judges` decision.
Whether or not one agrees with the scores, this bout stands as the most contested UFC result of 2025 to date. This makes it a prime candidate for our “Robbery Review”.
Official Result: Aiemann Zahabi defeats Jose Aldo via unanimous decision.
For this review, we`ll focus on Round 2, which proved pivotal, and the intense action of Round 3. We`ll also briefly cover the first round.
Round 1 showcased classic Aldo, immediately taking the center and pursuing Zahabi. Aldo initiated the striking, landing quick combinations that tested Zahabi`s defense. As Zahabi became more active, Aldo maintained control with his excellent counter-striking and agile head movement.
Moving to Round 2, Zahabi built on his late first-round performance, starting with a good combination including a body knee and a left hand. Aldo responded, advancing with his jab and a low kick. Zahabi also landed effective leg kicks, even with Aldo ready to counter. Aldo appeared to have a slight edge in the jab exchanges, though Zahabi also found success from range. Aldo also landed solid body shots, notably a sharp left hand.
Zahabi deserves credit for his willingness to trade blows. Aldo`s evasive head movement seen in the first round was less evident, allowing many of Zahabi`s jabs to land cleanly. The dynamic shifted slightly, with Zahabi becoming the aggressor.
Around two minutes in, Zahabi landed the first of two low blows that went uncalled. Regardless of intent, this was frustrating.
Aldo`s jabs and counters remained sharp, but it`s understandable why this round was tough to score, given Zahabi`s success pushing the action. Did he have more success than Aldo? It`s debatable.
The second low blow happened about a minute later, leading to a longer break. After resuming, Aldo landed another body left. Zahabi countered with a jab that snapped Aldo`s head back. Growing more confident, Zahabi stepped into striking range, inviting an exchange. This paid off when he landed his best strike of the round, a counter right, directly on Aldo`s chin. Aldo absorbed it well. The round ended with Aldo attempting a flying knee that lacked power.
Round 3 was characterized by two distinct moments: one thrilling, the other difficult to watch.
About 90 seconds into the round, Aldo stunned Zahabi with a straight right, followed by a knee to the jaw that caused Zahabi to stumble. This set up a perfectly timed, legal soccer kick from Aldo, which landed directly on Zahabi`s face. Zahabi went down briefly but immediately got back up.
Aldo continued his attack aggressively, landing another right that clearly hurt Zahabi. A running knee and subsequent punches put Zahabi in survival mode. And survive he did! With three minutes remaining, the fight took a turn for the worse for Aldo, who was visibly fatigued. Zahabi easily defended a desperate takedown attempt, pushing Aldo down and maintaining top control for the remainder of the round.
Zahabi settled into Aldo`s closed guard, delivering heavy ground-and-pound, including elbows that caused cuts on Aldo. Aldo remained active enough from the bottom to prevent a finish, but the final minutes must have felt excruciatingly long for him.
This phase was reminiscent of his fight against Mark Hominick at UFC 129, though unlike that bout, Aldo didn`t have a clear lead here. He made it to the final bell, but the disappointment wasn`t over.
Judges Mike Bell, Pasquale Procopio, and David Therien all scored the bout 29-28 for Zahabi, giving Round 1 to Aldo and Rounds 2 and 3 to Zahabi.
While statistics often reinforce observations, let`s examine them briefly.
Total significant strikes show a significant advantage for Zahabi (99-68), though this number is boosted by his final round onslaught. He outscored Aldo 52-20 in Round 3, with 25 being ground strikes. Excluding ground strikes, Aldo won R1 23-21, Zahabi won R2 26-25, and Zahabi won R3 27-20 in standing strikes.
Aldo was officially credited with one knockdown in the third round. Despite some claims of three knockdowns, reviewing the footage confirms only the one from the soccer kick.
While the earlier right hand and knee clearly hurt Zahabi, it`s not certain he was dropped by them. After the acknowledged knockdown from the soccer kick, Aldo`s subsequent attack, including another kick attempt, caused Zahabi to scramble but didn`t result in another knockdown.
Among media outlets, there was strong support for Aldo. Sixteen out of 20 recorded scores favored Aldo 29-28, with two scoring it 29-28 for Zahabi and two calling it a draw (one explained their draw score was based on a 10-8 round for Zahabi).
Public polling showed 62.4 percent of votes for 29-28 Aldo, with 29-28 Zahabi receiving 13.4 percent. Another 10.3 percent voted for 30-27 Aldo.
On the Verdict app, fan scoring indicated the fight was extremely close.
According to Verdict scoring, Aldo held a narrow lead (28.72 to 28.24), a margin too small to justify strong outrage, arguably.
My personal live score for the fight was 29-28 for Aldo.
After re-watching the fight with the ability to pause and rewind, my score remained 29-28 for Aldo.
Honestly, my view didn`t change much upon review. Round 2 required closer examination, and I still found it very difficult to score even under scrutiny. My leaning towards Aldo was based on a few impactful jabs and strong body strikes. However, Zahabi also landed numerous clean punches, making a score for him in that round entirely justifiable.
Many argue that Aldo should have won Round 3, but I disagree. While his soccer kick sequence was impressive and, ideally, would have earned him significant credit, Zahabi quickly recovered and dominated the remainder of the round.
Given that Aldo was subjected to heavy ground strikes for two minutes, it`s difficult to justify scoring that round for him. While prioritizing the near-finish gives Aldo points for his earlier flurry, Zahabi`s sustained ground attack arguably came just as close, if not closer, to stopping the fight. Fatigue and age likely played a role for Aldo, but Zahabi actively inflicted damage and caused bleeding. Zahabi recovered quickly from Aldo`s peak moment, whereas Aldo couldn`t recover once he was in trouble on the ground.
The poignant image of a bruised Aldo sitting against the cage afterwards didn`t convey anger at the decision to me. It looked like a fighter who felt he hadn`t done quite enough to secure the win.
Ultimately, it wasn`t a “robbery”. And writing that feels particularly difficult.
Marcus Blakely