After his competitive fight at UFC Edmonton which ended in a split decision, Canada’s Serhiy Sidey has admitted he did not deserve the nod from the judges over Garrett Armfield.
This is obviously rare, confidence is a must for the career of an MMA fighter, so most athletes who step into the octagon are naturally loath to admit they could have lost a close fight.
However, Sidey has now won respect from fans and fighters alike who agree with his admission. Famous colleagues of his, like former champion Aljamain Sterling, took to Twitter to express their opinion on the score of the fight, which took place on the prelims of the latest UFC event, the first in Edmonton since 2019.
Close fight but I felt Armfield took RDs 1&3. Another reason why judges should explain their ruling so that us fighters and coaches can assess the fights in real time to help us make decisions to possibly win back the RD or finish the fight.
— Aljamain Sterling (@funkmasterMMA) November 2, 2024
Serhiy lost his UFC debut by split decision, which itself was a rematch of a Dana White’s Contender Series fight where he won by TKO but the fight was stopped prematurely.
In his bout with Armfield, the two were well matched. They had similar amounts of strikes landed but the American had a small edge. He had a larger one with his wrestling, as Garrett landed four takedowns to Sidey’s zero, with Armfield totaling over four minutes of control time.
That is not to say the Canadian did not have his moments in the grappling; Sidey had three submission attempts and a reversal as well.
This fight will still go into the record as a win for Serhiy but he may have to prove himself more in the UFC given his two split decisions in two fights.
As for Armfield, who also felt he was robbed, he joked that the judges needed to be investigated, but took to social media to explain it was a joke.
