MMA Betting Review Part 3: 5 Unluckiest Losses Of 2014

**WARNING: This article contains whining, bitching and moaning. If you don’t like to see a grown man acting like a total cry baby I strongly advise you to stop reading now** Bad luck is inevitable in sports betting and over the years I have learned to embrace it. Becoming comfortable with losing has enabled me to become an expert at betting on MMA, because I never get emotional, I never chase losses and I understand that luck will always balance out in the end. I personally feel like I handle my losses well, but like anything in life, there are always going to be situations that push your buttons. The 5 losses in this article were enough to raise the blood pressure of even the calmest of individuals and I’m not ashamed to admit that I came close to throwing my TV out of the window after each of these losses. A combination of bad luck, bad judging and stupid fighters make up my 5 unluckiest losses of 2014… Click here to checkout my 5 luckiest bets of 2014… Click here to checkout my 5 worst bets of 2014… [divider]

5. JESSICA EYE vs LESLIE SMITH [OVER 2.5 ROUNDS]

There’s no doubt that Jessica Eye was destroying Leslie Smith in this fight, but there’s also no doubt that this fight was still going to go the distance. Leslie Smith was getting badly beaten up by Jessica Eye, but she’s so tough and so difficult to finish that you just know she would have hung in there until the end. In all my years of watching MMA, I’ve never seen a fighter’s ear explode. In fact, I’ve never even heard of anyone’s ear exploding! Leslie Smith’s ear injury was the definition of a freak accident and if her ear hadn’t have exploded, I have no doubt that this fight would’ve gone the distance and we would’ve won this bet… This loss came in the middle of my worst losing month in over 6 years and the freak nature of the injury summed up the bad luck that I received throughout the whole of November. Jessica Eye vs Leslie Smith Betting Tip [divider]

4. CATHAL PENDRED vs GASAN UMALATOV [UMALATOV TO WIN]

This loss was frustrating because it highlighted how clueless MMA judges can be. Cathal Pendred won this fight by split decision and all he did in 15 minutes was land one takedown. Umalatov completely controlled the striking exchanges and he stuffed the majority of Pendred’s takedown attempts. The decision to award Pendred the win was truly baffling. This loss annoyed me because the judges showed a lack of understanding for the sport of MMA. Octagon control shouldn’t be scored in favour of the guy who stands in the middle of the Octagon. It should be scored for the guy who controls where the fight takes place. Umalatov stayed on the outside and completely neutralized Cathal Pendred, but he lost because he decided to implement a counter striking strategy. This loss was really annoying, because the fight played out almost exactly how I said it would and we still ended up losing!!! Cathal Pendred vs Gasan Umalatov Betting Tip [divider]

3. LIZ PHILLIPS vs MILANA DUDIEVA [PHILLIPS TO WIN]

Liz Phillips clearly won this fight after dominating Milana Dudieva from top position for 2 out of the 3 rounds. Unfortunately, the judges must have fallen asleep, because they awarded Dudieva the win, despite the fact that she did nothing. This bad judging call led to Dana White removing one of the judges, which later led to him having to issue a public apology… Liz Phillips vs Milana Dudieva Betting Tip [divider]

2. LEONARDO SANTOS vs NORMAN PARKE [PARKE TO WIN]

This fight featured some of the most corrupt refereeing that I’ve ever seen. In the first round of this fight, Norman Parke was hit with a low blow and there was no punishment issued to Leonardo Santos [and rightly so]. Several minutes later, Parke held onto Leonardo Santos’ shorts and without any warnings the referee deducted a point. Parke was cruising to a unanimous decision victory, but the point deduction cost him the fight and it ended up being scored a draw. Leonardo Santos is Brazilian, the referee was also Brazilian and this fight took place in Brazil and you’re telling me this wasn’t cheating? There was no reason why the referee should have deducted a point from Parke without warning, when he let a previous foul go without any punishment. At the time, I was surprised that there wasn’t more talk about how corrupt this refereeing decision was and it still makes me angry when I go back and watch the fight. Leonardo Santos vs Norman Parke Betting Tip [divider]

1. DIEGO SANCHEZ vs ROSS PEARSON [PEARSON TO WIN]

This list would not be complete without featuring one of the biggest judging robberies that I have ever seen. The judging was so bad in this fight, that Dana White awarded Ross Pearson his win bonus, despite the fact that the judges scored the fight in favour of Diego Sanchez. None of the losses on this list hurt anywhere near as bad as this loss, because the fight played out EXACTLY how I said it would in my betting tip and yet I still lost the bet. I was angry over this loss for days and I can’t remember the last time I got this angry over losing a bet… Ross Pearson totally dominated Diego Sanchez in this fight and it proved that you can’t afford to leave anything in the hands of the judges… Diego Sanchez vs Ross Pearson Betting Tip