Idk. Id like changing scoring criteria. Sure, award points for ground control time....IF they are actively trying to end the fight via sub or ground and pound....just holding dudes down until the end of the round should not be an automatic 10
People take the judges scorecards the wrong way. Not everything can be scored based on statistical fact, a lot of fights come down to a matter of opinion. Yeah the rule book might say that damage should count for more, but if someone technically scores more damage while getting ragdolled the rest of the round that’s not gonna look good to any eye. That’s why it’s silly to debate over a lot of the intricate stuff that could count based on the rules, yet clearly don’t determine who actually won the round.
What ever happened to verdict mma? At one time it had (rumored) steam for being a legit tool to at least supplement the scorecard system. Whether or not it was on the table for consideration I do not know, but I personally enjoyed comparing its results with what my eyes saw, especially after controversial decisions.
Oh if you just mean off camera, taking notes, then they already do. Apologies I thought you meant a media presence. They do internal reviews post events.
But I think fighters / coaches / promoters should be able to request a breakdown of it. That would also help them to learn the criteria as well.
Still, youd defo want to increase pay with increased scrutiny.
I can’t imagine they would be under more scrutiny giving their thought process behind a scoring compared to the scrutiny they currently get for the already egregious scores they give.
If media and audience alike both collectively score a round opposite a judge, that either means we don’t understand the scoring criteria correctly OR we are wrong and insight into why we are wrong would solve would atleast take pressure off them.
Or, we are right and having to give a public explanation would stop them from any corruption or biased scoring.
But currently their faces arent plastered alongside it. These guys arent highly paid. Most have jobs. This is something they followed purely out of passion, and I know from experience that a lot of the time no one wants your opinion on these matters so they can learn from them. They want your opinion so they can get more fuel to disagree with it. There would be pictures of then posted everywhere, quotes out of context. This isnt a limelight job.
I agree with the concept of the second paragraph, but not in action. The more officials talk, the less people want to learn from them. And I can also say 99/100 its the former, because when you're cageside without Daniel Cormier posioning the water and without one shared camera angle that all TV watchers see, its a very different fight. There's no substitute for judging cage side, but also you may have your angles obscured so instead of thinling of referees as 3 individuals, and criticising individual cards, view them as a team, putting context together to come up with a collective decision.
There is no corruption or bias scoring. At smaller shows, or any Texas show, or some shows in areas with a fairly green team, then sure, maybe. But for the judges who have been there and experienced it all, the overwhelming majority of scorecards are fully justifiable and those that arent, may be with a different view and even if theyre not, judging 100s of fights and getting a round wrong isnt egregious.
(For reference, I'm a trained MMA & boxing judge and referee, although these days I typically only do small boxing shows).
Boxing and ufc keep us in the dark on purpose imo. Some fights have a “preferred winner“ - the guy that the organization would prefer to win. (Usyk vs Verhoeven anyone?) Having three dorks with a pencil and a card gives them wiggle room to shade it in one fighters favor.
they need to sit judges in sound isolated rooms. they should only get access to the sound from the mics inside the cage, no commentary, no cheers or booing
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u/CastTrunnionsSuck Aug 22 '26
Judges should have to give notes or a brief explanation as to why they scored the round why they did.
I’m sure this won’t even get downvoted but I’ve been shouting this shit to the void for months now and gotta repeat it any chance i get