Phil Davis d. Lyoto Machida, UFC 163 Phil Davis' unanimous decision win over Lyoto Machida was one of the most lauded judging decisions of the year. Davis scored two take-downs on ten attempts and was less accurate in his striking but Machida didn't engage as often as he should've. Frankly, both fighters could've done more. Diego Sanchez d. Takanori Gomi, UFC on Fuel TV 8 Diego Sanchez missed weight and in the eyes of many stole a split decision from Takanori Gomi in Japan in March, including Dana White who Tweeted "how the fuck did Diego Sanchez win that fight? crazy". If Machida didn't engage enough with Davis, Sanchez demonstrated the other end of the spectrum, that ploughing forward can earn credit with judges even when your offence is less effective. Georges St-Pierre d. Johny Hendricks, UFC 167 UFC 167's judges unanimously scored rounds 2-5 (Hendricks, GSP, Hendricks, GSP). Two of three saw round one for GSP. This fight might be the biggest indictment on the ten-point must system MMA has adopted from boxing wherein a slim round and a wide one are scored the same most of the time. Jon Jones d. Alex Gustafsson, UFC 165 Jon Jones took time out of his schedule to watch the fight back the next day and declared his victory complete, suggesting Gustafsson had no right to an immediate rematch. It wasn't just one man's opinion--all three judges gave the fight to Jones. In the case of this fight it might be that wanting to see one fighter lose can tilt the decision in the eyes of the fans but not the judges.
I think Sanchez/Gomi was up there with Garcia/Phan and Hamill/Bisping. I don't think you can argue that Hendro/GSP and Jones/Gusto weren't close fights.
