UFC fans were outraged after Brit Arnold Allen suffered a decision loss to Jean Silva.
The Suffolk strangler returned to the octagon early this morning following an 18-month injury-enforced layoff on a stacked UFC 324 card in Las Vegas.
Allen, 32, went to war with the Brazilian for three-straight rounds and seemed on course to earn a decision victory.
But all three judges scored the fight in favour of Silva, turning in 30-27, 29-28, 29-28 score cards.
MMA fans were left stunned by the judges’ interpretations of the main card opener.
One wrote on X: “Refs robbed Arnold Allen. I LIKE Jean Silva too!! But he didn’t win that fight!”
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Another said: “30-27 is a gross scorecard. I had it 29-28, favouring Silva, but it was close.”
And another said: “Arnold Allen got robbed.”
Allen looked to operate on the outside early doors, throwing probing jabs and low kicks to the lead leg of the stance-switching Silva.
Patience was the world Silva in the first as he stood coiled looking to uncork a big shot.
Allen snapped back the head of the Brazilian bruiser with a stiff left hand straight to the dome.
And he nearly took it clean off with a huge high kick that narrowly missed its target.
Silva began to open up late in the round and stunned the Brit with a big right hand, which he followed up with a head kick and an elbow.
A confident Silva flowed with his strikes in the second, which once again saw Allen look to operate on the outside and land his left hand.
Allen seemingly got rocked again by a right hand but got his wits about him and went back to work.
A beautiful left elbow from Allen reddened the face of Silva before he sent the arena wild with a beautiful flying knee straight off a head kick.
Silva responded with a big right hand and continued to march forward.
A clinch against the cage allowed Allen to land a big left knee, but he soon found himself fending off yet another barrage of Silva strikes – including a spinning back elbow with less than 30 seconds remaining.
Silva’s right hand caused Allen trouble in the third, prompting the Brit to initiate a clinch against the cage and look for a takedown
But Silva defended well and initiated a clinch of his own midway through the round, which led to the briefest of takedowns.
Silva tried to bait Allen into a war in the final minute, but Allen was wise to not engage in a slugfest.
But he found himself swept to the ground in the final seconds of the stanza, prompting Silva to mock him by standing on his back before the final horn.
One fan said of Silva’s late antics: “What was that?”
Another said: “Jean Silva using Arnold Allen’s back as a launch pad.”
And another said: “This is Photoshopped.”
One remarked: “Bro did Jean Silva just stand on him.”
Another chimed in: “Jean Silva stood on Arnold Allen’s back and jumped off to end the round. Nah this is DIABOLICAL.”