A view to a score

My view as a judge for MMA

So I had an opportunity to judge an amateur MMA event on the Friday night before the Hendricks vs GSP fight. The fights were okay and I was definitely a little nervous going in. I really wanted to make sure that I was judging fairly. I have a lifetime of experience with striking, and about about 6 years experience grappling, etc.. As the fights went on there was plenty of one sided fights and early stoppages so it was pretty easy and then there came a fight where both fighters were well trained. One of the fighters pushed the pace from beginning to end and landed strikes with reckless abandoned, the other fighter fought going backwards landing strikes out of desperation but none of which were enough to slow down his opponents forward momentum. At one point during the second round the fighters ended up on the ground the dominant fighter on top and looking for a submission, he locked the submission in but it was being defended well. The fighter on the bottom was able to sweep into top position but the dominant never let go of the submission and shortly after the bell rang. The dominant fighter continued his aggressive attack all the way through the third round. I had no doubt of the outcome as I handed the scorecard through the cage but as the announcer began to read "We have a split decision"... I was in shock, the dominant fighter went on to win but I was confused. I looked at the judge next to me and said "split decision?", he walked over to me and said "the other guy was on top in the second round". That's when it hit me, this kid knows his striking and watches fights, is a fighter, however he didn't know what was going on during the grappling portion of the fight. Now i've already done a blog on judging and I have had my own issues with judges with fights i've had, but now i've judged and it is in no way an easy job, but how do you do a job that you're not trained for?

GSP vs Hendricks scorecard

        And then UFC 167 happened. Everybody will have there own opinion on the fight but the overwhelming majority of people have voiced there disgust with the judging in that fight. The champ, George St. Pierre won and retained his title but looked as if he got run over by two trucks and three busses. There are whole slew of problems with the point system, some say with the rounds and time limits, but the reality is even if those things were fixed and the fight goes to the judges scorecards at this point you still just don't know what will happen. Like the guy that judged the fights along side me, the majority of the judges out there judging MMA fights just don't have the training. I don't believe it's relegated to just MMA we see it in boxing, and in some team sports which is why replay is becoming popular. Even the well trained ones get it wrong sometimes, but at least they're trained. I have plenty of experience teaching and competing and I still felt the pressure of judging, I can't imagine having to judge squarely a world title fight. It must be an assault on your senses. Now all that being said, there has to be a solution, furthermore there needs to be. When it affects whether a fighter is going to be paying his rent or couch surfing for the next three months while awaiting the next possible fight to pop up. Most of these guys aren't rich and a loss on their record in a fight they should have clearly won could possibly reshape their careers. Some for better and others for worse, but should that be left in the hands of someone who quite possibly has never taken a Jiu Jitsu or Muay Thai class or for that matter even stepped inside a gym? Sounds crazy but unfortunately it's true. Bad decisions and judging put a huge black mark on the sport of boxing and continues to do so and now it seems as if it's starting to seep into MMA judging. Hopefully this undereducated judges pool is held accountable for their actions and then maybe we'll see some proper scores on those cards. Until then every time it goes to the cards both fighters will grit their teeth and cross their fingers while the scores are read.