Opinion
An MMA contest can come to an end in many ways. The most popular and exciting is a clean knockout, technical knockout or crafty submission.
Conversely, when fighters can’t get the job done within the time frame, three judges are called upon to decide a winner.
How do judges score an MMA contest?
In brief summary, in most MMA organisations the ’ten point must’ system is employed. Originally crafted for boxing, the system is based on the idea that each round of a fight should be judged independently, with the winner of each round receiving ten points and the loser receiving nine points or fewer, depending on the margin of victory.
The many things considered when scoring rounds include effective striking and grappling, effective aggression and output and, if need be, octagon control (positioning). Therefore if a fight goes the distance, three judges hand in their round-by-round scorecards to determine a winner.
But there’s a problem with the ’ten point must’ system in MMA.
Deep within the MMA community and around the world the consensus is that the system is extremely flawed and inconsistent. Fighting for the most part is transparent, and a dominant performance does not tend to separate the masses.
When a fight is a razor close, however, is when the system shows its flaws. Whether or not some judges agree, fighting will always be subjective. What one judge deems as effective ground control, another believes grappling without damage isn’t round-winning material.
What you and I believe can win rounds and is classed as ‘effective’ will often be different. Many fans and critics suggest that judges should be previous fighters, as judges often have never been punched in the face. Furthermore, although never acceptable, judges will never admit that they may often be swayed by the crowd’s reactions or the popularity of a particular fighter.
One of the clearest examples of this was on full display at the weekend at UFC 282, headlined by Magomed Ankalaev and Jan Blachowicz in Las Vegas for the light heavyweight title.
It was marred with controversy thanks to “one of the worst decisions in UFC history”, in the words of Ariel Helwani.
Beginning with the co-main event, Paddy Pimblett (20-3-0) defeated Jared Gordon (19-6-0) via a unanimous decision.
Being the UFC’s extremely popular cash cow, Pimblett was given this fight to further fuel the hype train – it seemed a guaranteed victory over Jared Gordon, who hasn’t finished an opponent in half a decade.
Unfortunately for UFC president Dana White, Pimblett did everything but run over Gordon. Pimblett was on the wrong side of a dominating performance and over the three rounds was outstruck and outgrappled. For the majority of the fight he displayed major holes in his game, which Gordon was able to capitalise on.
It was a dominant performance – and a stressful one for Dana White, who couldn’t even stomach facing the octagon when the scorecards were read out by Bruce Buffer. However, to his relief, all three judges scored the fight 29-28 for ‘everyone’s favourite fighter’, Paddy Pimblett.
With 24 of 25 established MMA journalists scoring the fight for Gordon, the community was outraged, including commentators Joe Rogan and UFC hall of famer Daniel Cormier, who believed Gordon did enough to secure his win bonus.
Extreme conspiracy theorists screamed about corruption, but many more screamed about incompetent judging, especially over Douglas Crosby, who for years has handed in bad scorecards. The night before UFC 282 he judged a high-stakes Bellator fight and scored every round for the losing fighter. He then flew to Vegas and judged the Pimblett fight. How did the commission allow this?
Is the UFC starting to lose credibility with these decisions? Despite being as popular as ever, the UFC has faced criticism and lost credibility among some of its fighters following a series of controversial scorecards. Former bantamweight champion Petr Yan and light heavyweight title contender Magomed Ankalaev have both publicly stated that they may not fight for the organisation again due to their dissatisfaction with the judging system. Despite this, the UFC has not seen a significant drop in viewership, though it’s receiving only receiving negative social media comments and backlash.
Overall, the inconsistencies and flaws in MMA judging have led to a lack of trust among fighters, who are often forced to go for finishes in their fights in order to avoid having their victories left to the discretion of the judges. The system needs to be thoroughly reviewed and investigated to determine potential changes that can be made to improve its fairness and accuracy.
Until then, the issue of unreliable judging will continue to plague the sport and undermine the credibility of its decisions.
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