Bohn: This was, in my opinion, the most straightforward round of the fight. Oliveira’s efforts to finish were unmatched on Tsarukyan’s end, and that guillotine choke was the closest we came to taking things out of the hands of the judges. Some will claim that failed submission attempts shouldn’t be worth much in the scoring criteria, but come on. Even without the guillotine, Oliveira had the better position and ground strikes to start this one strong.

Bohn’s score: 10-9 Tsarukyan

Samano: Both Oliveira and Tsarukyan had top control for nearly half the round, but it was Oliveira who easily was more dominant and did more damage. Oliveira created his dominant position with a knockdown on simultaneous kicks, then jumped a standing guillotine that took Tsarukyan back down to the mat and in SERIOUS trouble. For about 20 seconds, it looked like tap was coming, but credit to Tsarukyan for popping his head out. Oliveira got in some nice shots while he had the mount, too. Tsarukyan escaped about halfway through the round and finished out the majority of the second half on top, but his control time wasn’t close to being as impressive as Oliveira’s.

Samano’s score: 10-9 Oliveira

Wells: After the opening striking exchanges and kicking Tsarukyan off his feet, Oliveira went for the finish less than a minute into the fight by jumping on a guillotine. It was deep, and Tsarukyan knew it. He was trapped in the submission for nearly 20 seconds. Tsarukyan escaped, but that was a huge moment early in the fight. From there, Oliveira controlled from full mount, and added a couple of strikes before Tsarukyan reversed midway through the round. Tsarukyan was able to get a few solid elbows in before Oliveira connected with an illegal upkick with just over a minute to go. When the fight resumed, Oliveira did well to keep Tsarukyan wrapped up on the mat until they returned to the feet, where the former champ added a nice elbow in the closing seconds. Tsarukyan banked some top control time, but didn’t get off enough offense to surpass Oliveira’s own control and near-finish with the submission.

Wells’ score: 10-9 Oliveira

Bohn: After surviving the first-round scare, Tsarukyan couldn’t afford to lose back-to-back rounds, and he fought like it. He outlanded Oliveira 22-to-5 in significant strikes, landed the only takedown and racked up 3:49 of control time, which is just shy of 80 percent of the entire round. Oliveira’s late triangle choke attempt was a valiant effort to finish, but it was also probably the least threatening of his four submission attempts in the bout overall.

Bohn’s score: 10-9 Oliveira

Samano: Props to Tsarukyan in the early going as he hit a perfect level change and appeared to have the takedown easy, but Oliveira did an excellent job immediately scrambling to his feet. Tsarukyan was undeterred, though, and stuck with the takedown attempt and eventually got it with about three minutes left. Tsarukyan accumulated control time the rest of the way, though Oliveira mitigated the damage by over-hooking his arms. It wasn’t until the final minute that Tsarukyan finally got off some ground-and-pound that caused Oliveira to bleed from his hairline. Oliveira DID hit a triangle choke just before the buzzer. Maybe with more time, who knows? But alas, this was easily Tsarukyan’s round.

Samano’s score: 10-9 Tsarukyan

Wells: Oliveria landed a solid right hand early, but Tsarukyan answered with a beautiful axe kick a few seconds later. Then it was back to the grappling game when Tsarukyan changed levels, eventually getting Oliveira to the mat with just over three minutes left. In full guard, Tsarukyan remained heavy and added strikes when he could get his arms free from the grips of Oliveira. A nice series of elbows sliced open Oliveira in the final minute, scoring big damage points. Oliveira was able to wrap up a triangle armbar, but with only two seconds left, so the horn sounded before he could even crank. Another clear round, but this time it goes to Tsarukyan.

Wells’ score: 10-9 Tsarukyan

Bohn: This was a similar story to the first round in that Oliveira had the biggest moment of the round with his D’Arce choke attempt that forced Tsarukyan to flattened himself out on the stomach in order to alleviate some of the pressure. The optics of the defense where he essentially made himself go limp aren’t great, but the jiu-jitsu aficionados know what he was doing and how it actually wasn’t THAT dangerous a submission attempt, which is why Oliveira was sticking out his tongue and making faces to try to play up the moment to judges and crowd. Outside of that, though, it was mostly Tsarukyan’s round. He outlanded Oliveira 18-to-5 in significant strikes, again landed the only takedown, and had more than double the control time. Oliveira just wasn’t effective enough to take the round.

Bohn’s score: 10-9 Tsarukyan

Samano: After what I would describe as inconsequential striking sequences, this round got interesting when Tsarukyan shot in and hit a double-leg takedown with about 2:40 left. Oliveira again, though, found a way to immediately mitigate damage by trapping Tsarukyan’s neck. It wasn’t until the 1:50 mark that Oliveira eventually let go of the neck, which allowed Tsarukyan into side control and eventually take his back – but aside from some knees to the body from behind, it was mostly just control time. Then things got REALLY interesting with about 50 seconds left. That’s when Oliveira shucked Tsarukyan off his back and immediately threatened a submission with a D’arce choke – and it was TIGHT. There was even a moment when it looked like Tsarukyan’s body went limp. He survived, though, and made it to the final bell, but that final sequence was enough for Oliveira to steal the round for me.

Samano’s score: 10-9 Oliveira

Wells: I like Tsarukyan’s striking in the exchanges that took place on the feet in the first minute. Working behind a left jab, he landed a nice right hand into a body kick combo. He then initiated a clinch, and added a solid short elbow on the exit. After another combination, Tsarukyan shot in again, but was denied. Tsarukyan continued to pop the left jab and then got the fight to the mat midway through the round. Oliveira held on to a guillotine, but Tsarukyan was in side control, so it wasn’t really there. In fact, Tsarukyan gripped his hands together for what could have been a Von Flue, but didn’t really go for it either. After trapping Oliveira’s right arm, Tsarukyan began elbowing which led to a short-lived crucifix position. Tsarukyan then stepped over for a clean back take as Oliveira attempted to turn. A few short knees to the body were landed here as Oliviera turtled while looking for an escape. Tsarukyan left an opening, and Oliveira exploded up to his feet with 48 seconds to go, but didn’t go far as he got back down on a front headlock. Tsarukyan tried to escape from the position, and in the process of turning, Oliveira slapped on a D’Arce choke with about 25 ticks left. Tsarukyan patiently defended and rode the time out. Flattening himself out is a smart defense in this position, but I understand why some don’t like the optics. But when the horn sounded and Oliveira released the hold, Tsarukyan immediately jumped to his feet and scaled the fence to celebrate. It was a solid moment for Oliveira late, but Tsarukyan seemed content with riding out the final seconds, given his actions after the horn.

Wells’ score: 10-9 Tsarukyan

Bohn: If we were using PRIDE scoring where more weight was placed on near-finishing moments, this decision probably goes to Oliveira. It was scored under the unified rules, however, so Oliveira’s choke attempts get less value from the judges. He knows this, and it’s why he didn’t show much in the way of outrage when the split decision was announced in Tsarukyan’s favor. It’s the risk of Oliveira’s style. Historically it’s paid off for him more often than not, hence his record for most submission wins in UFC history. However, the downside is if he can’t finish the fight, he likely finds himself on bottom. And against someone with the top game of Tsarukyan, it’s hard to get back up. It was a super close fight, but from my interpretation of the scorecards, it’s seems to be Round 2 and Round 3 were for Tsarukyan.

Bohn’s overall score: 29-28 Tsarukyan

Samano: Looking back at the fight, where was Tsarukyan’s big moment? He didn’t have one whereas Oliveira looked like he nearly finished the fight twice. As (mostly) dull as it was, the second round was clearly Tsarukyan’s. I suppose you could question the first round given each guy controlled about a half of it, but the key difference was Oliveira’s guillotine attempt compared to Tsarukyan’s lack of damage from top position. The third round is where the fight was decided, and if we were to boil it down, it goes like this: About two minutes of striking that wasn’t clearly better for one man, then about two minutes of Tsarukyan controlling Oliveira with little damage done after scoring a takedown, and then about one minute of Oliveira again threatening to finish with a tight D’arce choke. I value that final minute of a near-finish much more than two minutes of control time with little damage, and that’s why Oliveira was the rightful winner to me.

Samano’s overall score: 29-28 Oliveira

Wells: Oliveira had a couple of big moments with submissions. Well, one really big moment, and another that seemed like it was bigger than it actually was. The first-round guillotine choke was super deep. It was all over Tsarukyan’s face. He knew he had to get out and get out fast, otherwise it was game over. But I don’t believe the third-round D’Arce had nearly that same effect. Yeah, the crowd got into it and Oliveira played it up by sticking his tongue out. Yet the way Tsarukyan immediately popped up and scaled the fence to celebrate tells me he was waiting for the time to run out on an otherwise clear Round 3. Now, suppose it were a situation like we would see later in the evening when Zhang Weili had Yan Xiaonan quite literally out cold when she released the choke. In that case, I’d probably score Round 3 for Oliveira, but that simply didn’t happen here.

Wells’ overall score: 29-28 Tsarukyan

Official decision: Arman Tsarukyan def. Charles Oliveira via split decision (28-29, 29-28, 29-28)

Official individual judges’ scores:
Mike Bell: 28-29 Oliveira
Adalaide Byrd: 29-28 Tsarukyan
Ron McCarthy: 29-28 Tsarukyan