"Judges get smooth-brained when they see blood" - Chris Curtis shares verdict on Dricus du Plessis beating Sean Strickland at UFC 297

Sean Strickland could not retain the middleweight title as Dricus du Plessis defeated him via split decision at UFC 297. Chris Curtis, who is close friends and training partners with the former middleweight champion, recently revealed that he believes the judges' decisions were influenced by a cut above 'Tarzan's eye.

Speaking to Ariel Helwani of The MMA Hour, 'The Action Man' stated:

"I had it 3-2 Sean. I think the blood was a big factor in judges' scoring. This is going to sound disrespectful as f**k but I think a lot of times judges get smooth-brained when they see blood. Sean says it was a head clash, somebody else says it was a punch that cut him, so that’s where I’m like what caused it? Because if it’s a punch, s**tty, whatever, but you lose that round. If it’s a head clash, that’s even f**king worse, I know that."

The No.13-ranked middleweight noted that damage from previous rounds should not factor into the scoring before adding:

"I think a lot of judges have a hard time differentiating if you’re still bleeding heavily in Round 3, like, ‘Oh, he’s still damaged.’ Yes, he’s damaged, but you don’t score the next round’s blood on what happened before. I think a lot of times, unfortunately, blood does sway a lot of opinions. I think in rounds that were close, I think the fact that Sean ended up looking worse on the eye test just because of the blood at the end may have worked against him." [h/t MMA Fighting]

Check out Chris Curtis' full appearance on The MMA Hour below:

While the bout was closely contested, the third round proved to be the deciding factor, with two judges ruling in favor of du Plessis. In his post-fight press conference, 'Stillknocks' shared that he believes takedowns were the difference in the bout.

Check out the official Sean Strickland vs. Dricus du Plessis scorecard below:

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Dana White believes Sean Strickland defeated Dricus du Plessis

Sean Strickland's UFC 297 split decision loss to Dricus du Plessis was closely contested. At the post-fight press conference, UFC CEO Dana White revealed that he disagreed with the judges, stating:

"I had it two to two going into the last round and I thought Strickland won the last round. The guys who were sitting at the same table had it the other way. It was a close fight... I had it even going into the fight round and I'm like this is the round to see who wants it and they both started to turn it up a little bit. It just was one of those tight fights, but I'm also one of these guys I believe you have to take it from the champion."

Check out Dana White's comments on Sean Strickland vs. Dricus du Plessis below:

While Dana White believes Sean Strickland did enough to retain the middleweight title, he revealed that the promotion is not looking to book an immediate rematch. Israel Adesanya appears to be next in line to challenge for the middleweight title as he looks to become just the second fighter in promotional history to win the title three times in one weight class.