Judge ‘relieved of his duties’ during UFC 305 after extraordinary moment in unprecedented move
There was major controversy at UFC 305.
A judge was relieved of his duties in an extraordinary moment before the UFC 305 co-main event.
Judge Howie Booth was overseeing the heavyweight fight between Jairzinho Rozenstruik and Tai Tuivasa, which Rozenstruik won by split decision.
The verdict baffled those watching the event, especially when it was announced that Rozenstruik was up 29-28 and 30-27 with two of the three judges.
But Booth called it as a 30-27 victory for Tuivasa, with all three rounds going to the Australian - and UFC fans were left furious.
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Thankfully for Rozenstruik, the fight was still called as a victory for the Surinamese man, with yellow judge David Lethaby giving all three rounds to him and green judge Charlie Keech awarding him the final two rounds.
But the UFC then decided to take action against Booth.
He was due to oversee the fight between Kai Kara-France and Steve Erceg later in the night, but combat sports journalist Kevin Iole reported that Booth had been pulled from the event entirely after the Rozenstruik vs Tuivasa saga.
He wrote: "Howie Booth, who had Tuivasa winning 3-0, was scheduled to work co-main even between Kara-France and Erceg, but I have told been he has been PULLED from the bout. He's done for the night."
It was then confirmed on the official UFC broadcast by announcer Jon Anik that Booth had indeed been relieved of his duties for the rest of the show in Perth, Australia, meaning he would not be returning to the cage. He was replaced by Ben Cartlidge.
As it turned out, New Zealander Kara-France defeated Erceg in the first round via a technical knockout, breaking a streak of two consecutive losses that dates back to July 2022.
In the other co-main event, Dricus du Plessis managed to retain his UFC Middleweight Championship against Israel Adesanya, winning in the fourth round via submission.
Ryan Smart