A lot of the times there is a definitive ending to MMA fights, or the fight is a one sided beating so the winner is obvious. Also, there are times when the fights are really close...i.e. Andre Winner vs. Ross Pearson and Diego Sanchez vs. Clay Guida. These are the type of fights in which MMA judging comes into play heavily, and there are a great deal of questions that need answers in regards to the 10 point must system in MMA. Here's the current criteria is which MMA judges go by in regards to the unified rules:
E. Judging Criteria
1. Judges are required to determine the winner of a bout that goes to it's full time limit based upon the following criteria:
-Clean Strikes
-Effective Grappling
-Octagon Control
-Effective Aggressiveness
Let's get to the questions after the jump.
Clean Strikes
- What counts more...a punch/kick to the head or a punch/kick to the body?
- How much are kicks to the leg worth?
- Is damaged caused by a strike taken into account?
Effective Grappling
- If a fighter gets a take down(is put in guard afterwards) but doesn't advance position, attempt submissions, or land any significant strikes...How much is that take down worth?
- How much are submission attempts worth?
- How much are sweeps from the bottom worth? Wouldn't a sweep from the bottom be the equivalent to a take down from the standing position?
Octagon Control
- Shouldn't this part of the criteria just be tossed out? You could file this category under the other 3 in my opinion.
Effective Aggressiveness
- Just because a guy is moving the forward the whole time doesn't mean his aggressiveness is effective right? I mean Tito Ortiz was aggressive the entire time against Lyoto Machida and wasn't effective at all. This category needs to be defined more clearly.
All the categories need to be defined more clearly, or just start judging the fight as a whole like they do in Japan. I'd like to see a Damage Inflicted category implemented if the 10 point must system is going to continued to be used. It could take the place of Octagon Control in the criteria portion. Just because a guy is controlling space in the octagon doesn't necessarily mean he's winning the fight. Whereas if a guy is landing shots at a slightly lower percentage but is inflicting a lot more damage, then that should be taken into consideration and count for more.
What do you think about these points, and feel free to give your own? I'm all open to hearing opinions on topics like this, because there are a lot of things that could be down to improve the current judging system currently in use.
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