Nurullo Aliev took his first professional loss at UFC 333, falling to Grant Dawson by unanimous decision (29-27 on all three cards) in a lightweight prelim in Abu Dhabi. Aliev entered the bout 12-0 and left 12-1, while Dawson moved from 24-3-1 to 25-3-1.
Thanks to Referee Marc Goddard, the fight drew significant attention amidst a crowded main card after he deducted a point from Aliev in Round 1 for landing strikes to the back of the head.
Now, days after the loss, Aliev has taken issue with the referee’s decision, which he believes potentially cost him a possible finish.
Nurullo Aliev Says Marc Goddard’s Point Deduction Cost Him a Finish
Aliev posted his case on Instagram after the fight. He said he was one step from finishing Dawson in Round 1 and questioned why the referee penalized him. He accepts the ruling but says he disagrees with it. Dawson found a second life after the deduction, landing clean strikes on the feet before securing a takedown late in the round.
Aliev wrote, “I truly believe a warning would have been enough. I respect the referee’s decision, but I don’t agree with it. What do you guys think? Was taking a point really necessary?”
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Goddard stopped the fight, ordered Aliev to stand, and immediately issued the penalty. The cage microphones picked up the referee explaining he had already warned Aliev multiple times before marching him to the center to deduct the point.
On the broadcast, Daniel Cormier supported the strict call. “Wow, Marc Goddard ain’t playing, boy. I like that!” he said, adding that the point deduction was completely justified.
Fans online echoed that praise, arguing that other officials need to enforce fouls with the same consistency. Enforcement has been a massive running topic in the UFC this year. Most rrcently, Alex Pereira criticized referee Herb Dean for failing to penalize Ciryl Gane for similar back-of-the-head strikes at UFC Freedom 250.
However, after the point loss and two rounds that favored Dawson, he needed a finish in Round 3, and he moved forward with reckless abandon to start the final frame. He did not get it, and all three judges had Dawson ahead.
This is not Aliev’s first dispute over an in-cage penalty. He previously lost a point for biting Rafael Alves in his UFC debut in 2023, though he still managed to win that bout by majority decision.
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At the post-fight press conference, Aliev denied the foul entirely, saying, “There was no bite. I was controlling him with my head and he was trying to get me off by putting his hand in my mouth. So I was trying to spit his hand out, and as I was spitting it out, his finger caught one of my teeth… But there wasn’t a bite.”
Dawson’s victory broke Aliev’s undefeated record, making the point deduction much more frustrating. Despite the high stakes, Aliev cannot appeal the penalty or sue the official. Under athletic commission rules, the referee is the final authority inside the cage. Because officials cannot legally overturn a referee’s judgment call on a foul, Aliev has no legal recourse.
