Something I’ve noticed recently while attempting to rant, and while attempting to talk about MMA in general is that it’s almost never the “right time”. Lets just jump right into some examples…
Judging in MMA
A little while back I wrote a rant about the scoring of MMA. This is a flawed system that has messed up before and will messed up again. Although I’m infinitely thankful to those that read the article and understood what I was saying. I’m afraid there were lots that fell into two main categories:
1) The fight is in the past, so don’t worry about it.
2) The right person won, so don’t worry about it.
If you can’t talk about something before it messes up (again) and you can’t talk about something after it happens (in the hopes of preventing it from happening again) that doesn’t leave a very large window for discussion. *shrugs*
It might just be how I am, but I tend to treat all flawed systems like they are brake systems on a car. I want it fixed *NOW*. The thought of a mechanic looking at someone and going, “Wow those brakes are flawed to holy hell and back……..but they haven’t caused you an accident yet so we’ll leave them on there” is kind of troubling in my opinion.
UFC 88
Although not an issue with the scoring system, UFC 88 provided another example of an ongoing issue in MMA. During the batman fight there was a point where his opponent tapped… maybe… sorta… uhhhh, yeah. *shrugs* This situation could have been used to illuminate a potential problem in MMA and helped bring about change. Sadly, a lot of people simply dismiss the situation by saying, “the right guy won, don’t worry about it.”
A referee missing a tap, or misunderstanding a tap can be the difference between a win and a loss. In recent history I can think of several controversial “taps” and I don’t think it’s unreasonable to consider measures to ensure fights in this situation are properly stopped/re-started if necessary. Unfortunately, most people don’t want to fix the system before it happens again, and they don’t want to hear about it after it happens either.
Injuries
Injuries in MMA are one of those situations that often feel like a bad relationship. There apparently is never a “right time” to talk about them.
- If a fighter losses a fight and then mentions an injury then he is simply making excuses.
- If a fighter *WINS* a fight and then mentions an injury he is being disrespectful to his opponent. (some claim he’s taunting his opponent by claiming to have beat them at less than 100%)
- If a fighter is preparing for a fight you can’t mention an injury because then you are just making potential excuses for why a fighter might lose.
Some will say that fighters should simply not fight if they are injured, but that is unrealistic. There are numerous cases of fighters requesting fights being rescheduled and being told no. In some cases replacements can’t be found in time, in others the fighters simply need the money.
Honestly, when is the “right time” to talk about these injuries? When is the “right time” to get this flawed scoring system looked at and improved?
Tags: mma
I don’t many ways to adjust the tap rule. It’s a fight, emotions are running high and things happen. Maybe some sort of three tap rule? You have to tap three times? There are many flaws and dangers involved here. Another possibility is the verbal tap, the fighter has to actually say “tap.” Again, it’s hard to talk when you’re being choked. Although a combination may work, a situation where both options are available. There is always going to be controversial stoppages, and submission verification is a slippery slope that could lead to serious injuries. I think it’s in all of the fighter’s best interests to err on the side of caution here: it’s better to lose the fight controversially than suffer ligament/cartilage damage. Another option may be some sort of challenge, where the ref and judges watch the replay and decide whether the fighter tapped or not? Although, this could easily get out of hand with fighters offering an ambiguous tap to get out of a solid submission for the opportunity to challenge on replay. I just don’t see any realistic adjustments to clean up these “mistakes.” Do you have any ideas?
Mentioning injuries is another very slippery slope. Mentioning an injury before a fight may give your opponent an advantage in terms of a game plan. This is another query I just don’t see a resolution to. I think fighters should just keep injuries to themselves. If it’s going to affect you during the fight and you’re aware of it, then bring it up in pre-fight interviews or cancel your fight. Otherwise, don’t mention it. If you really need the money that bad, then you’re doing what you have to do to survive and you don’t need to explain to anybody why you lost. If you think you can win with the injury and dont, then you overestimated yourself and should keep it to yourself because that’s how people with interpret it. Mentioning an injury after a fight is not disrespectful if someone asks you about it: “how was your camp coming in to this fight” “well, I got hurt.” I don’t see that as disrespectful at all. I think the problem with this injury crap is the fans. The WWE(no offense to people who enjoy it) fans like the drama and live for certain fighters: they’ll bash people they don’t like for anything, regardless of whether it’s warranted or not. Now if I guy says “yea, I was hurt coming in but I knew I could beat him anyway” that I would consider disrespectful, but I’m not sure I’ve ever heard anyone say that. You know, that’s actually what fighters who lose and bring up and injury actually sound like.
Solutions:
-bring it up before a fight, roll the dice and hope your opponent can’t exploit it.(worst possible idea in my eyes)
-don’t bring it up, after a loss, and deal with people harassing you.
-bring it, up after a win, if asked about it and deal with people harassing you.
-Don’t bring it up after a win and it’s like it never happened.(best possible scenario)
There’s really no way to talk about an injury in MMA. It all comes down to fan reaction, something no fighter can control.
For the tap rule I think a basic replay should suffice. If a ref misses a tap, then the fight should be stopped and the proper fighter awarded the win. If a ref calls a tap that didn’t really happen, then the fight should be restarted (in the same position of the stoppage though).
One potential issue might be if the ref stopped the fight intentionally, even though the fighter hadn’t tapped. A fight like tim sylvia versus frank mir for instance. The fight wasn’t stopped because sylvia tapped, it was stopped because sylvia’s arm went “pop”. Even in this case some pretty clear rules could be put in place.
The issue with “injuries” I think carries over to other factors too. If a fighter was injured and their cardio looks like poo (not the evil kind, the smelly kind). Obviously a fighter doesn’t want their opponent to know which leg to kick. However, for the people discussing the fight in the time leading up to it many comments are frowned upon. Often times people see them as excuses before the fact. A couple examples I can remember are:
- Hughes having a horrible game plan for GSP in the second fight. In a couple different interviews hughes had alluded to and carried himself in a way that lead me (and I’m sure others) to believe he was about to make a huge tactical mistake in his fight. Shockingly enough, he came out in the second fight and got ran over.
- Cro cop in the UFC. After watching sanchez do the water sprinkler and circle away for most of the fight I made several comments about cro cop’s performance. Lots dismissed it as “he won, don’t worry about it”, and others fell into the category of “you’re just making excuses and he hasn’t even lost yet”. /boggle
In terms of injuries/status I think talking about frank mir returning after the accident falls into a similar category. Obviously some people will “make excuses” for their favorite fighters, but I think in general a bit more honest discussion prior to fights could be useful. If after every loss there is an excuse then I think it gets excessive. However, talking about a fighter’s status, game plan, previous fights, etc. leading up to another fight doesn’t seem unreasonable to me. To some though the practice is seen as making excuses before the fight even happens.