Manager: Dhiego Lima to appeal UFC 243 split decision win, wants unanimous nod

Dhiego Lima’s team is not satisfied with his split decision win over Luke Jumeau at UFC 243.

And even though Lima won the fight, his team’s intent is to file an appeal in the hope of getting the split call changed to a unanimous one.

Lima (15-7 MMA, 4-5 UFC) appeared to get a clear-cut victory over Jumeau (13-5 MMA, 2-2 UFC) in their welterweight bout on Saturday, which took place at Marvel Stadium in Melbourne, Australia. One judge didn’t see it that way, though, scoring the fight against him for the split decision.

The Brazilian’s manager, Alex Davis, on Sunday told MMA Junkie that plans are in place to file an appeal looking into the judge who scored the fight for Jumeau. The ideal outcome would be to have the result overturned to a unanimous decision.

“Although Dhiego won, we have decided to appeal this decision,” Davis told MMA Junkie. “We are asking that it be changed from split to unanimous on a question of principle. Although we are happy with Dhiego’s win, we are intrigued at how a judge could have scored the fight for Jumeau. No disrespect to Jumeau – he fought a tough fight. But a split decision does not reflect the reality of the fight.

“Once again, this exposes a fundamental flaw in MMA judging and structure. The question again looms: Who are these people? What are their credentials? How did they get into such an important position, as to judge fights that affect these hard-working athletes’ lives and careers?”

UFC 243 was regulated by the Victoria Sport and Recreation board. Davis plans to bring the appeal to that sanctioning body, but a change in result under these circumstances might be unprecedented.

Lima, who extended his winning streak to three fights with the victory over Jumeau, appears to have grounds for the appeal, though. According to MMADecisions.com, which serves as a database for official and media scorecards, the three judges sitting cageside saw a vastly different fight than outsiders did (via Twitter):

Davis said he’s uncertain how this situation will play out, but after filing an appeal on Edson Barboza’s split-decision loss to Paul Felder at UFC 242 in September, he thinks it’s important to continue pressing the issue.

“These questions cannot stop being asked,” Davis said. “These decisions must be confronted for a better MMA.”