Iaquinta: UFN 63 Judge Crosby ‘wasn’t giving me nothing’

UFC lightweight Al Iaquinta appeared recently on Ariel Helwani’s The MMA Hour, and took issue with the judge at UFC Fight Night 63 who was on the other side of the Split Decision win. All three judges – Dave Tirelli, Cardo Urso, and Doug Crosby – are highly experienced and respected figures. Curiously, however, all three judges at the Virginia event were New York/New Jersey based.

Tirelli and Urso both scored the fight identically, giving Jorge Masvidal the first, and Iaquinta rounds two and three. Crosby scored it 30-27 for Masvidal. A reasonable case can be made for both scores, and the vast majority of media figures agreed with Crosby that Masvidal was the winner.

Iaquinta explained to Helwani in detail why he thought the fight was his.

“He’s landing a punch going backwards and it’s just touching me on my head,” said Iaquinta as transcribed by Shaun Al-Shatti for MMAFighting.com. “I’m slamming leg kicks. What does that count for? There’s just so many different ways you can score a fight like that. It could’ve went either way depending on who you ask. There were a lot of respectable fighters who tweeted that I won that fight, and that’s what I take most of anything – people who know about fighting, people who know in the second and third round when things get tough, what it’s like to just keep coming forward and really want it and not shy away from a battle.”

“I think the second round, third round, he took off. He wasn’t fighting, and I was pushing forward. Even the first four minutes of the first round, I think I came after him. I pushed the pace. The last minute of that first round, he beat my ass, I’m not going to lie. But that’s what I’m made of.

“The second and third round, I came to fight. I think he was fighting like he wanted a paycheck, and that was the difference in the fight.”

Here is where things take an unusual turn. Iaquinta charges that judge Crosby is biased against his Serra/Longo team.

Coach Ray Longo also appeared on the MMA Hour and alleged that Crosby had “inappropriate relationships” with more than one figure associated with the gym, including a woman who, Longo alleges, got a “court order of protection” against Crosby.

Crosby is a highly-regarded stunt coordinator, stuntman, and actor, who has worked on countless pictures including Noah, MIB 3, Black Swan, Zombieland, Twelve Monkeys, American Gangster, I Am Legend, The Departed, The Good Shepherd, War of the Worlds, The Ice Storm, The Jerky Boys, and Natural Born Killers, as well as numerous television series. Iaquinta alleges that Crosby sought the fighter’s services for a film, and that Iaquinta declined.

“It’s been documented, Doug Crosby has a long-going feud with — well, not a feud, but whatever, he hates on us, most particularly Ray Longo,” alleged Iaquinta. “He’s got a problem, and this is where it gets serious. The whole thing, MMA, this whole thing is kind of like a joke. Everyone thinks, oh, boo, I cursed them, it’s funny. But this is where it gets serious.

“I turned down an offer from this guy, whatever the reason being, and then he’s judging my fight. So right there, I don’t know, it’s just not right. I don’t know how that happened. After the fight, I was looking around the cage and I then I saw him sitting down and I said to Ray, ‘Why is this guy judging my fight?’ I knew right away, I’m down one judge. I’m down. Three judges are supposed to be objective, see the fight how it is. I knew right off the bat, this guy wasn’t giving me nothing.”