A shocking ending to Saturday night's UFC light heavyweight title fight saw neither Jan Błachowicz nor Magomed Ankalaev leave with the belt, as the judges scored the bout a split draw. Per ring announcer Bruce Buffer, the scorecards read 48-47 Błachowicz, 48-46 Ankalaev and 47-47.
Mark Puleo
December 11, 2022 at 2:04 AM EST
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Summary
A shocking ending to Saturday night's UFC light heavyweight title fight saw neither Jan Błachowicz nor Magomed Ankalaev leave with the belt, as the judges scored the bout a split draw. Per ring announcer Bruce Buffer, the scorecards read 48-47 Błachowicz, 48-46 Ankalaev and 47-47.
The decision clearly surprised both fighters, along with the audience and commentary team, as Ankalaev was the widely perceived winner. As Bruce Buffer read the scorecards, Błachowicz could be seen pointing to Ankalaev and dipping his head in acceptance of his assumed loss.
Paddy Pimblett emerged victorious via unanimous decision in the co-main event, although not without more scorecard controversy, as many fans thought Jared Gordon did enough to earn the upset.
Here is the full UFC 282 card:
- Cameron Saaiman defeats Steven Koslow via TKO
- TJ Brown defeats Erik Silva via submission
- Billy Quarantillo defeats Alexander Hernandez via TKO
- Chris Curtis defeats Joaquin Buckley via KO
- Edmen Shahbazyan defeats Dalcha Lungiambula via TKO
- Jairzinho Rozenstruik defeats Chris Daukaus via KO
- Paul Rosas Jr. defeats Jay Perrin via submission
- Ilia Topuria defeats Bryce Mitchell via submission
- Dricus Du Plessis defeats Darren Tillvia submission
- Santiago Ponzinibbio defeats Alex Morono via TKO
- Paddy Pimblett defeats Jared Gordon via decision
- Jan Błachowicz vs. Magomed Ankalaev ends in split draw
(Photo: Chris Unger / Zuffa LLC)
BetMGM betting odds
Here are the betting odds for Saturday night's main card:
- Ankalaev (-350) vs. Błachowicz (+260)
- Pimblett (-275) vs. Gordon (+210)
- Ponzinibbio (-185) vs. Morono (+150)
- Du Plessis (-190) vs. Till (+155)
- Topuria (-145) vs. Mitchell (+120)
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Błachowicz's first title reign
Jan Błachowicz won the light heavyweight title the last time the strap was vacated, back in 2020 at UFC 253 over Dominick Reyes. He would go on to defend the title at UFC 259 over then-middleweight champ Israel Adesanya, who was attempting to become a two-division titleholder. The win over Adesanya gave Błachowicz a five-fight winning streak and nine wins in his last 10 bouts, a sharp turnaround after he was nearly out of the UFC in 2017.
Błachowicz's reign ended in October 2021 at UFC 267 when he was submitted by Glover Teixeira.
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