Nurullo Aliev doesn’t agree with Marc Goddard’s decision to take a point from him during his UFC 333 loss.

This past Saturday, the premier promotion returned to Abu Dhabi for UFC 333, and in the main event, Alexander Volkanovski knocked out Movsar Evloev to hand him his first ever professional loss.

During the prelim portion of the fight, there were a few controversial moments, one including a fight Volkanovski and Petr Yan’s teammates, which ended in a questionable decision.

Another involved lightweight contenders Grant Dawson and Nurullo Aliev, as the Tajik fighter looked to continue his undefeated streak in the promotion.

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Fans think Petr Yan's 11-0 teammate was robbed at UFC 333

Aliev disagrees with Goddard’s decision to deduct a point for back of the head strikes

In the first round of Aliev’s fight against ‘KGD’ Dawson, the longtime lightweight contender went for a takedown on the 25-year-old, which Aliev did well to stuff and scramble into a dominant position on Dawson’s back. From there, the ‘Tajik Eagle’ began raining down some ground and pound from the back position, with several of the shots seemingly landing on the back of the head of Dawson.

Veteran referee Marc Goddard immediately called a pause to the action and stood Aliev up. “Three times I told you to watch the back of the head. Another three, very clear, come here,” Goddard could be heard saying to Aliev as he walked him to the center of the Octagon to take a point.

“Wow, Marc Goddard ain’t playing, boy. I like that! I like that! I think he should’ve (taken a point),” Cormier reacted during the official broadcast.

Since then, fans online have been applauding Goddard for his no-nonsense officiating, claiming that all other referees should take a leaf out of his book in regards to back of the head strikes. It has seemingly been a topic of conversation all year in the UFC, after Alex Pereira launched a verbal attack on Herb Dean for him not punishing Ciryl Gane during their UFC Freedom 250 fight for back of the head strikes.

And despite the praise Goddard is receiving, Aliev doesn’t agree with the veteran referee’s decision, claiming that it resulted in him losing the fight as he was a few shots away from a finish. “I was just one step away from getting the finish. But one thing I still can’t understand is why was a point taken away? 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?” Aliev wrote on Instagram.

The 25-year-old went on to lose via a unanimous decision, however, he lost rounds two and three on all three of the judges’ scorecards, meaning the point deduction didn’t affect the result.