MMA Judging

[bushido_man96]

Here is a brief article from an interview with Demian Maia after a loss to Jake Shields, and some comments about the judging in MMA, and the judges in general:

http://www.mixedmartialarts.com/news/439229/Maia-Judges-need-to-show-up/

Now, to be honest, I'm not totally up on the judging system used by MMA organizations. But, I have heard here and there that some feel the system isn't a very good one. Joe Rogan has been one that has had some complaints about the system, as well.

What are your thoughts on the judging system? What would be a better solution?

[ineluki]

What are your thoughts on the judging system? What would be a better solution?

I'm no expert for MMA either, but my idea would be some kind of continuous and tracable scoring instead of the retroactive declaration of the winner of the rounds.

Basically I'm imagining something similiar to the old scoring in Amateur Boxing.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amateur_boxing

Each of the five judges has a keypad with a red and a blue button. The judges must press a button for which ever corner they feel lands a scoring blow. Previously, three out of the five judges had to press the button for the same boxer within a one-second window in order for the point to score.

But I guess, judges simply don't want their decisions to be transparent...

[Wastelander]

The judging system currently used in MMA is definitely bad. The way they say it works is that each fighter goes into each round and earns points (up to 10) for being the better striker/grappler, for pushing the pace, and for controlling where the fight ends up. If it actually worked that way, it might not be so bad.

The way it actually works is each fighter starts each round with 10 points, and gets them taken away. If the judge feels one fighter is outclassed in the category that judge feels is most important (striking, grappling, aggression, or cage control) then that fighter gets a point taken away. If there is a drastic difference in ability, that fighter may lose an additional point. The scoring system technically allows for more outcomes than this, but this is what typically happens. Because the scoring is done by taking away points for what the judge feels is important, everyone has a different opinion on the outcome.

I would much rather see a weighted categorical rating system used to judge MMA. By that, I mean that each judge should have a list of categories--a direct carry-over could be a striking category, a grappling category, an aggression category, and a cage control category. The judges would then have specific criteria for rating those categories as "Effective," "Neutral," or "Ineffective." Those ratings would correspond to point values, and each successive round would be worth more points. This would result in scores that reflect actual results, in my opinion.

[bushido_man96]

Interesting thoughts. Thanks for sharing them. I wasn't sure how it exactly worked, but have heard complaints none the less.

[sensei8]

Thanks for sharing that with us Brian; I enjoyed it!!

[bushido_man96]

You're welcome, Bob! I find these articles interesting at times.

[sensei8]

You're welcome, Bob! I find these articles interesting at times.

As do I!!