Juror associated with Gilbert Melendez's academy (right) caused controversy. Photo: Josh Hedges/UFC
In recent days, the fairness of the process of choosing judges for UFC on FOX 7, by the California Athletic Commission, the entity that sanctioned the event, has been questioned among MMA fans – due to the fact that Wade Vierra, only juror who gave victory to Gilbert Melendez in the fight against Ben henderson, is associated with the same gym where the last Strikeforce champion trains. In view of this, the entity's commissioner, Andy Foster, spoke out last Monday (23), defending the choice of Wade for the role.
“I choose people who know what they are looking at. I will not choose public servants again to be jurors in the California fights. I have two brown belts and a purple belt judging a title fight, and they all have striking experience. You can’t ask for anything better than that,” Foster said in an interview with the website MMA Junkie.
The commissioner also clarified that, according to the entity's ethics policy, all jurors are questioned about possible situations that could interfere with their ability to judge the fights that are scheduled. The representative also stated that he did not see a problem with the markings defined by the judges. At the end of the five rounds, Ben henderson beat Gilbert Melendez by split decision (48-47, 48-47 and 47-48) and defended the UFC lightweight division title for the third time.
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