Klidson Abreu does not agree with the judges who scored his fight at UFC Moscow.
The Brazilian light heavyweight spoke with MMA Fighting hours after a split-decision loss against Shamil Gamzatov, and he was adamant the wrong call was made.
“I did not lose this fight – I won this fight,” Abreu said. “I don’t know where the judges saw him attacking me more. The first round was mine; I even opened his head. The second round was clearly mine. He won the third, but it wasn’t by that much. I think it was 2-1 for me.”
Lukasz Bosacki was the sole judge to score it for the Brazilian, giving him the first two rounds. But Howard Hughes and Paul Sutherland scored the first and third rounds for Gamzatov, giving him the split call. The majority of fans and MMA media gave Abreu the win, according to MMADecisions.com.
“We were in Russia, but I was confident that I had won,” Abreu said. “The way I fought, the fact that he didn’t do anything, I thought the judges would give me the victory.”
Abreu is happy with his performance despite the controversial result. He said he had to overcome a few “adversities” back at the UFC host hotel during fight week.
“Fighting in Russia is never easy,” he said. “I had Russians banging on my door at 4 in the morning. When I got there and opened the door, they said it was the wrong room and apologized. They turned the sauna off on Thursday while I was there cutting weight. But nothing shook me. They are not good people, man, but that motivated me. They were trying to intimidate me, but that didn’t work.
“All I was thinking was, ‘I’m here to fight –this is nothing for me. Let’s put on a war with this guy and win.’ I won the fight, but they gave it to him. But I’m happy with what I’ve done. I showed everyone I have what it takes to win.
“I’m a young guy, 26 years of age, and I’ll continue working hard to win and grow in the company. You either win or you learn, and I’ve learned a valuable lesson in Russia. Rest assured that they will shake every time they hear my name.”
At 1-2 in the Octagon, the former Brave CF light heavyweight champion will return to training in a week hoping to fight “as soon as possible.”
“I want to get rid of this taste of defeat,” Abreu said. “We won the fight, but came out defeated.”