Retired mixed martial arts fighter Bas Rutten poses on arrival for the 27th annual Sports Spectacular in Los Angeles on May 20, 2012 in California. The event was established in 1986 in response to the promise of genetic research leading to the understanding of numerous genetic diseases found in children and adults, and since then raising more than 21 million USD to benefit the life-saving work of the Ceders-Sinai Medical Genetics Institute. AFP PHOTO/Frederic J. BROWN (Photo credit should read FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP/GettyImages)

Bas Rutten knows a thing or two about fighting. He also knows a thing or two about controversial victories.

After all, the UFC Hall of Famer and former UFC heavyweight champion won his UFC title in 1999 with a narrow split decision over Kevin Randleman, where fans saw the Dutchman being worked with a take a significant amount of punishment from his back. His victory met with criticism from both fans and pundits as many scored the fight Randleman.

Fast forward 18 years and Rutten is witnessing the crowd in attendance at UFC 209 boo welterweight champion Tyron Woodley after judges awarded him the split decision win over Stephen Thompson.

In the past both men fought to a draw, with many, including Rutten, believing their second fight was actually closer than the first.

“The first time they fought I thought actually that Woodley won the fight and now I thought Wonderboy won the fight,” said Rutten during a appearance on Submission Radio. “And I love both these guys, it’s not anything like bagging people down, it’s just you’re saying what you’re seeing and that’s what I thought. The first two rounds I would say, well it’s Thompson cause he was pushing. Yeah they didn’t throw a lot of punches, they didn’t do anything, but if somebody was pressing the action the whole time, it was him. Was it really pressing? Was it really baiting for him to throw a strike? Because that’s what I think he was doing of course, to throw a strike so he could counter that. “Yeah, but [Thompson] had the illusion that he was pushing it, he was pushing him backwards the whole time and Woodley had his back against the cage the whole time. So then you have to go give it to him [Thompson]. And then of course round number three, I thought that was Woodley. Round number five of course [went to Woodley]when he started unloading and connecting, but it was not a 10-8 round. It was not like he was dazed and almost out. That would be a 10-9 round. So yeah, I thought it was three rounds for Thompson and two rounds for Woodley…But listen, Woodley’s got the win, he didn’t lose. Last time it was a draw. So whatever happens, he’s still got the W.”

While Woodley’s lackluster decision over Thompson certainly didn’t help elevate his stock in the eyes of the fans, the fact the highly anticipated interim lightweight fight between Khabib Nurmagomedov and Tony Ferguson fell apart one day before the event, certainly didn’t help either.

The two red-hot fighters were slated to do battle in the co-main event before Nurmagomedov withdrew due to complications with his weight cut. Needless to say, many fans were too heartbroken to tune into he card at all, creating a black cloud that hung over the entire event.

For Ferguson and Nurmagomedov, this marked the third time they were scheduled to fight and the third time the bout was cancelled. The two were slated to meet at The Ultimate Fighter 22 Finale in December 2015 before a broken rib took Nurmagomedov out of the bout. The fight was then re-booked for a second time, this time at UFC on FOX 19 April, but it was Ferguson who pulled out with a rib injury.

So with no guarantee either man will be able to make the walk to the Octagon, Rutten questions whether UFC officials will even want to risk booking the fight a fourth time.

“Well, the UFC needs to do that,” said Rutten. “But yeah, if this is already the third time, it’s very hard for [Nurmagomedov] to [cut to] 155. I don’t think he should fight at 155. I mean you have to understand, Nurmagomedov, he’s a badass. If he decides to go to hospital, you can only imagine how bad it has to be at that moment, because this is not a guy who’s going to complain, “oh I feel a little sick”. I guess it was really scary, otherwise you don’t go to a hospital. So with that said, I don’t think he should fight at 155. Or, like what everybody else says, get a really good diet guy, dietician and then hopefully start cutting out way before, and then you can make it. “But the UFC can put their foot down, they can say okay, well we’ll try it one more time because everybody wants to see the fight, but if you’re not going to make weight it’s over. It’s either stop at UFC or you gotta go to 170. But you can’t take that risk anymore because everybody, including me, was looking forward to seeing that fight.”

In terms of his professional career, Rutten (28-4-1) hung up the four-ounce gloves for good following his first round TKO win over Ruben Villareal in 2006. While this victory did extend unbeaten streak to an astounding 22 straight, it also marked his first fight in seven years.

Given the fact, former welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre is returning from a three-year hiatus to move up in weight and challenge for the middleweight crown, Rutten had to give his two cents on the French Canadians’ chances in the new landscape of MMA.

“A long layoff to me, it was nothing, seven years,” said Rutten. “But it was also because my sparring is completely different. I spare every day, two times a day. That’s what I do because that’s what I’m gonna do in the fight, so that’s what I’m gonna do in training. And that’s besides all the other training that I do. So I think that’s very important. If you do that – I had no ring rust or cage rust, or whatever you want to call it, at all. I felt great. But for him just to come back after a while “It’s a different platform of fighters right now. And I think fighting one weight class up, he’s gonna be the smaller guy now because him making that weight, I mean, in the past he couldn’t do it. We wanted to see it at a catchweight against Anderson Silva. That didn’t happen. I thought that was maybe gonna be the fight that made him come back. But of course he right away wants to go for a title. And I, deep down inside – well this is my conspiracy theory. I think he wants to be a two-division champion as well. So I have the feeling that once he has this, I don’t think [he’ll stay at middleweight]. I feel really bad for Yoel Romero if – I’m saying if he wins this fight, which is gonna be very hard for him to win I think – but if he wins this fight, I don’t think he’ll face Yoel Romero. He might actually drop in weight and go for another belt and try to do that.”

St-Pierre (25-2) has not competed since defending his 170-pound title against Johny Hendricks at UFC 167 in November 2013. This victory marked the his ninth consecutive title defense and 19th total win under the UFC banner. However, immediately after his win, “Rush” announced he would be taking an indefinite hiatus from competition. Now, more than three years later, St-Pierre will square off against reigning 185-pound champion Michael Bisping on a future event later this year.