UFC featherweight Josh Culibao was disappointed not to have his hand raised on home soil, especially given his view on the judges’ scoring.
Culibao was among the Australians in action at this past weekend’s UFC 305 pay-per-view event in Perth, facing Ricardo Ramos during the preliminary card. The Sydney native’s most recent win came in the promotion’s previous visit to the city in February 2023, with Culibao submitting Melsik Baghdasaryan at UFC 284.
After that result, the 30-year-old fell to his first career skid, dropping consecutive decisions to Lerone Murphy in London and Danny Silva in Las Vegas. And UFC 305 saw “Kuya” fall on the wrong side of a split verdict for the second straight fight.
Culibao’s clash with Ramos was extremely close, with the Brazilian coming back into the fight after appearing in danger of getting finished early on. The Aussie received criticism from some for his showboating during the bout, with many pointing to it as the reason he was unable to secure victory.
Culibao, though, believes he still deserved the nod…
Culibao Apologizes To Fans After Narrow UFC 305 Loss
Hours on from his defeat at the RAC Arena, Culibao took to social media with his first comments since having his run of losses extended to three.
After giving credit to his opponent, “Kuya” apologized to his supporters. Culibao did, however, still express disagreement with the score reached by two of three judges cageside.
“It is what it is, hats off to you @ricardoramosmma you brought the fight and made a great dance partner,” Culibao wrote. “Sorry to all my fans and supporters out there. I couldn’t get it done. I felt I still won the fight but that’s not up to me to decide. Glad I still got to go out and perform and put on a show for the Aussie crowd.”
It remains to be seen what will come next for Culibao, who is months away from his first winless year in the UFC since 2020, in which he was stopped by Jalin Turner at lightweight and fought to a split draw with Charles Jourdain in his return to 145 pounds.
