Online sportsbook FanDuel made a surprising announcement Monday that it’s refunding anyone who placed a bet on Max Holloway winning after his “controversial” split decision loss to Alexander Volkanovski in their featherweight title fight at UFC 251.
Come again? You read that correctly: A sportsbook is giving back money (OK, site credit) to customers who lost fair and square.
This past Saturday in Abu Dhabi, Holloway attempted to reclaim the 145-pound title after losing it to Volkanovski last December, but he came up just short as the judges scored it 48-47, 47-48, 48-47 for the champion, much to the dismay of fans on social media – as well as this writer.
But here’s the thing: As much as I believe Holloway won the fight, it’s not difficult to see why it went the other way. The problem is that no rounds were won more clearly than Holloway winning the first two rounds with crisp striking and knocking down Volkanovski in each. Round 5 also was definitely in favor of Volkanovski. Rounds 3 and 4, however, were tightly contested and could’ve gone either way.
Coming out of this fight, it feels like a lot of people need to hear this, so I’ll just say it: A close fight doesn’t always have to end in “controversy” or be a “robbery.”
That’s what makes FanDuel’s decision a curious one. Again, without any actual controversy – as in, there’s no evidence of a fix or conflict of interest or bias, etc. – Fan Duel is refunding customers essentially on the basis that it doesn’t agree with the judges.
Which, you know, is an interesting precedent to set as a sportsbook, but hey, nice win for the little guys. Hopefully some of you can turn it into even bigger winnings.
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