One of the judges who controversially scored Paddy Pimblett's recent fight in the Brit's favour has refused to comment on his scorecard.
Douglas Crosby flew across America from Conneticut, where he handed in an unheard of 50-45 card in favour of the losing fighter at a Bellator event, to make it to Las Vegas for Pimblett's fight earlier this month. And he was one of three judges who scored the bout in favour of the Brit despite it being a very close contest.
Crosby appeared on Chael Sonnen's You're Welcome Podcast to speak about the controversy, but was bound by rules around officials speaking on specific fights. But he did implore any fighter to undergo the proper protocol to find out why a bout was scored how it was, with Gordon likely included in that advice.
"There is a system and protocols in place for officials to comment on fights that they have judged," Crosby explained. "And I respect that. There is a process in place for any fighter who is interested in information about how their fight was judged. That information is based upon the officials using the scoring criteria.
"Any fight, not just this past weekend [Pimblett's fight was two weeks ago] but any fighter is welcome to contact the administrators and ask them about that process. As far as me commenting on particular fights right now, or maybe ever, that is up to the discretion of the administrators. That's not me trying to duck out of hard questions about me judging fights, but there is a process and I respect the process."
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Asked specifically about his decision to fly across America to judge a second event within hours of his controversial Bellator showing, Crosby rambled about the "working class" and speaking directly with fighters. He didn't comment specifically on either Pimblett vs Gordon, or the Raufeon Stots vs Danny Sabatello bout that he is also under fire for from the previous night.
Stots was given a razor close decision of 48-47 on the other two judges', Eric Colon and Bryan Miner, scorecards. But somehow, Crosby found that not only did Sabatello win, but took every single round, which shocked pundits and fighters around the sport.
The Bellator card is believed to be considerably more controversial than the Pimblett one, with all three judges of the Brit's fight scoring it in his favour. Crosby, who is no stranger to controversy, became the first judge ever in a major promotion to score a five-round fight 50-45 in favour of the loser with his call for Stots vs Sabatello.
