Daniel Cormier believes that Borrachinha was wronged by the referee in the fight against Vettori

M. Vettori defeated P. Borrachinha in the UFC Las Vegas 41 (Photo: Reproduction/Instagram)

Last Saturday (23), Paulo borrachinha e Marvin vettori put an end to a week full of confusion and rivalries in the main fight of the UFC Las Vegas 41. However, anyone who thinks that the controversies surrounding the duel are over are mistaken.

See too

After defeat to Vettori, Borrachinha exudes confidence: 'The addictive middleweight is back'

Video: In an unusual scene, fighters face each other in a 'pillow fight' at a Brazilian event

Whittaker questions Borrachinha's justification about weight and speaks out against the Brazilian

Defeated by unanimous decision (49-46, 49-46, 49-46), Paulo borrachinha was not satisfied with the score given by the judges and he even stated that he believes he won the fight against Vettori. The Brazilian also complained about referee Jason Herzog, who punished him by deducting a point in the second round after accidentally punching the Italian in the eye. According to Daniel Cormier, former champion and current UFC commentator, Borrachinha is right to complain.

“(Paulo) Costa was doing a good job in the second round, he kicked Vettori in the head, had his best round of the fight and then punched him in the eye. I understand he hit him in the eye, but when he had the point deducted, I immediately thought that Jason Herzog must have seen the news before the fight. He was aware of the whole story surrounding the fight and knew that everyone was hating Costa. The poke in the eye didn't really seem intentional to me, so I think he followed the headlines and allowed the emotion of Costa being the villain to make him act too quickly,” said Cormier.

Paulo borrachinha wasn't the only fighter punished by Jason Herzog in the UFC Las Vegas 41. Also on the main card of the event, the referee removed a point from seung woo choi for an illegal knee against Alex Caceres. MMA's unified rules allow the referee to deduct points from fighters for any breach of the rule, but officials often choose to verbally warn athletes before punishing them. According to Cormier, that should have been the case in the main event.

“It should have been a warning. We've seen much worse fingerprints happen in fights. I've done it myself. I've poked more eyes than this guy gave Vettori and I've never lost a point. As a referee, you can't read the headlines. Everyone pays a lot more attention than you think. The fighters, the judges, the commentators, everyone. They hear things they shouldn't hear. So sometimes we make decisions that are not right for the occasion. In this case, I think Herzog read the headlines and may have judged Costa unfairly”, he concluded.