Krause on judge’s ‘conflict of interest’: ‘This is a disgrace’

Steven Branscombe-USA TODAY Sports

James Krause vents out his frustrations after reading about judge Joe Soliz’s previous ties with UFC 247 opponent Trevin Giles.

One of the few controversial decisions rendered at UFC 247 was the middleweight prelim fight between Trevin Giles and James Krause. Giles was awarded a split decision victory, snapping Krause six-fight win streak.

On Tuesday, one of the judges in question Joe Soliz went on record and admitted to having previous ties with Eric Williams, Giles’ trainer and cornerman for the night. Both parties did confirm that they’ve long been disconnected, but questions about a possible conflict of interest have been raised.

Krause eventually found out about the connection between Giles and Soliz, which he vented about in a recent Instagram post.

If this isn’t the most frustrating shit for me in the world I don’t know what... how is this not a conflict of interest? Training at someone’s gym for 10+ years and receiving a black belt from the coach corner my opponent.

I no way am I mad I lost the fight, it was close. 1 was mine, 2 was his, and 3 was a toss up. But round 3 was given to me on 2/3 cards. It was round 1 they scored for him. After a take down and almost 4 minutes of back control, not to mention almost finishing the RNC, I don’t know how they would give that round to him.

This sport has been around for too long to not start making changes. I know the Texas State Athletic Commission wont do a damn thing about my fight. They never do but I hope the @ufc, @danawhite, and the state commissions can come together to actually make the judging for OUR sport, not boxing and hold the people doing these jobs accountable.

This is a disgrace to our sport. Not just my fight but multiple examples of incompetence from the same judge.

So frustrated to even read this shit... and remember I lost half my purse because of this guy.

Krause took home an extra $50,000 for Fight of the Night honors.