Gleison Tibau won’t be in the playoffs but he still picked up a huge win in the PFL 5 main event after earning a controversial split decision over Rory MacDonald.
Just about everybody watching the fight was shocked by the scorecards after two judges gave Tibau the fight 29-28 with the third official giving MacDonald the nod by the same 29-28 score. A dejected MacDonald left the cage upset by the decision while Tibau was celebrating arguably one of the biggest wins of his career.
It was certainly a confusing call by the judges with MacDonald largely in control from the very start of the fight as he pushed Tibau around the cage with his slick striking while also mixing in several grappling exchanges that showed off his Brazilian jiu-jitsu skills.