1) Don’t put the fight in the judges hands

Every single time a fight goes to decision someone feels the need to say this. There is no doubt some fighters plan/hope/try for decisions, but many don’t. A simple fact of MMA is that it’s damn hard to finish a fighter that is trying to not lose. I know some came into MMA with this “ultimate knockouts” belief in MMA, but a hell of a lot of fights go to decision. Actually, let’s put some numbers to it…

About 18% of all MMA fights end in decision. That is about 1 in 5. Do people honestly think that in one out of every five fights neither fighter is trying to finish their opponent?

If we actually look back at this old rant…Weights and decisions
We see that for light heavyweights around one in every *FOUR* fights ends in decision.

As you skim over that old rant, take note of a few other things…

In the heavy handed list Shogun appears. To date 16 of his 18 wins have come via submission or TKO. Does that strike you as someone that “goes for the decision?” Does it seem like a guy that often “leaves it in the judges hands?”

As for something we’ll get into later, note the next section amusingly enough entitled, “Time to see if Cecil Peoples was watching the same fight as the rest of us…”. Yeah, I’m Evil, and I’m psychic, crazy right!?

Also, please take a quick second to look at:

Shogun Vs Machida Fighter Comparison

Notice how we see shogun with only 2 wins via decision and Lyoto with over *HALF* of his victories coming via decision.

The fact that some claim you shouldn’t leave the fight in the judges’ hands is bad enough given how often it happens in MMA. What makes it even worse is that some honestly seem to blame the “16 finishes out of 18 wins” MMA fighter over the “more than half his wins via decision” MMA fighter.

2) This was *NOT* an overly complicated fight to judge

One of the things that seems to get lost in this whole “judging” controversy is how straight forward the fight was. This wasn’t a fight that displayed the full spectrum of either fighter’s skillset. We didn’t have a single successful takedown, we didn’t have *ANY* submission attempts.

The above isn’t intended to take away from either fighter in anyway. They are both incredibly skilled and I would hope everyone can agree on that. It is important to realize though that the fight did not have some complex grappler vs striker situation. It wasn’t as though Machida won the standup and Shogun managed some takedowns. We didn’t see Machida come close to finishing it on the feet and Shogun almost finishing it on the ground.

This fight was far more of an apples to apples kind of fight than judges are often asked to score.

3) Machida doesn’t suck

This seems like a good place to point out that Machida doesn’t suck. He’s not a “can”, he shouldn’t fall outside the top 10 or anything silly like that. Machida is still crazy good and a favorite against almost anyone (possibly even Shogun in the rematch).

4) A rematch doesn’t make it right

Sometimes a rematch can do more harm than good. If Machida wins the rematch some will claim that the first fight didn’t matter. Some will even claim that Machida was clearly the better fighter even back then.

I also can’t comprehend how some people think a second fight “fixes” anything that went wrong the first time. If NFL refs don’t properly award a touchdown on first and goal, it’s not suddenly all better because the team scores on second and goal. We already have word that Machida is injured and the rematch will likely be delayed for who knows how long.

MMA fighters don’t get to compete every week or even every month. With such a small number of fights and such relatively short careers it is even more important that things are done right the first time.

5) Have to beat the champion…blahblahblah

Another tried and true line of horseshit that comes out in cases like this is basically that in order to “beat” the champion by decision you have to “really” beat him. Could someone please forgive my pooh like ignorance and explain this to me.

Does this mean that if the Steelers go back to the super bowl the team from the NFC has to win by five or more points to “really” become the champion?

Does it mean that if the Lakers go back to the NBA finals they only have to win 4 out of 7, but the other team needs to win 5!?

Does it mean that if both fighters stand in the middle of the ring and do nothing but exchange punches the “challenger” has to land 3 more punches than they take?

Is a challenger expected to score three takedowns to win a round, while the the champion only needs two?

Does close only count in horseshoes, hand grenades and while defending your MMA belt now!?!?

The fact that there is *NO* way to clearly score MMA fights currently only gets messier when we now have a plus-minus built into championship fights as well. Is it 10% more? 15% more?

It’s a frackin fight people, if you can declare a winner then it’s a decisive win. Maybe it’s not Fitch Vs GSP, but if a judge ever goes “well the challenger won the round, but they didn’t win it by enough” I swear to dog I’m done with the sport. “Oh I’m sorry Fighter B, you only landed 18 leg kicks, we need to see 21 for you to win the round”. Seriously, how fucking stupid does this sound!? Am I the only one that finds MMA scoring to be shitty enough without the the need for yet another arbitrary criteria piled on top!?

UFC Title fights will now be scored based upon:
- Octagon Control (more on that later)
- Agression (more on that later)
- How long you’ve held the belt?!?!??

Honestly, does an “interim” champion get half of the “champion modifier” that a full fledged champion gets? What if GSP (WW Champion) fights Anderson Silva (MW Champion)? Do their mods cancel each other out? Does it go by who’s held the belt longer? Does it go by who’s had the most title defenses?

Oh, and could someone please show me where on the books this “champion’s clause” is even listed?

6) Salt in the wound

With a vast majority of MMA fans upset and confused we were then treated to an “explanation” by one of the judges. Our ole buddy Cecil Peoples from above was kind enough to shed some light on the subject. The full interview can be found Here. I don’t want anyone to think I’m taking any of what he said out of context, so I’ll quote as much as I can and walk through it…

First of all what you need to understand is that from where the judges are sitting, we get to see things that the fans at home may miss.

That is *very* true. In fact, I would even go so far as to say that judges should be watching for things many “fans” at home are not. One of the things I’ve noticed over the years is that I watch MMA much differently than most. I watch both fighters, I pay attention to positioning and many other subtle details. Many fans, especially if one of their favorite fighters is competing tend to get a case of tunnel vision.

Having said that, I also think it’s important for Cecil to recognize that there are advantages that fans have when scoring a fight as well. We have replay, we have different views, we have more time to make our decision, etc.

Mauricio Rua was being aggressive but it wasn’t effective aggressiveness which is what we as the judges look for when scoring a fight. The way I saw it, Lyoto was landing the more cleaner and damaging strikes throughout the fight – if you take a look at the judging criteria clean strikes are valued more-so than the quantity of strikes landed.

The criteria for “effective aggressiveness” that I was last shown was basically:

1. This simply means who is moving forward and finding success.(scoring)
2. Throwing a strike moving backwards is not as effective as a strike thrown moving forward.
3. Throwing strikes and not landing is not effective aggressiveness.
4. Moving forward and getting struck is not effective aggressiveness.
5. Shooting takedowns and getting countered and fended off is not effective aggressiveness.

Taking a look at Shogun Vs Machida breakdown We see:

Shogun- 149 thrown 82 landed ~55%
Machida – 116 thrown 42 landed ~36%

That leaves us in a situation where everyone I know agrees Shogun moved forward more, threw more shots going forward, ate less shots going forward, and landed a higher percentage. Basically the only criteria not in Shogun’s favor here is that he never landed a successful takedown.

Even still, does failing to take down an opponent you are beating on the feet really completely offset the effective aggression of your strikes?

Although Rua threw a lot of low kicks they were not as damaging as Lyoto’s diverse attack in the earlier rounds which is why I scored the first three rounds for Machida.

Every single between round clip I saw of Lyoto had him leaning back against the cage getting his legs iced. Does anyone have shots of Shogun’s midsection getting iced repeatedly or his cuts on his face being tended to?

Later in the fight you even see Lyoto changing his stance. There are even moments where you can see his body physically reacting to the damage he has taken.

You have to keep in mind we always favour the fighter who is trying to finish the fight, and leg kicks certainly don’t do that.”

Seriously!? Serious-fucking-ly!? Ok let’s query the database real quick…

- TKO (Leg Injury)
- TKO (Leg Kicks)
- TKO (Leg Kick)
- Submission (Leg Kicks)
- Verbal Submission (Leg Kicks)

Yeah, fights neeevvvvvvveeeeeeeeerrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr end because of leg kicks. I mean, take a look at Brandon Vera. In March of *THIS FUCKING YEAR* he is credited with beating Michael Patt via TKO (Leg Kicks).

Seriously, I try to understand, I hope to learn, and I’m really…*REALLY* trying here, but what kind of misinformation driven bullshit is this?! Every time Hardonk steps in the ring we have to hear about his leg kicks. Do they keep talking about them because they aren’t serious weapons and have zero ability at all to end a fight?

All of this ignores the fact that leg kicks are a tool to *HELP* end a fight. Even if a leg kick doesn’t do it on it’s own it has numerous other benefits.

Also, since I’m just ranting away, how the fuck can a judge bad mouth leg kicks when so many judges slurp the piss out of the holy takedown-dick?!?! I’ve seen four minute and thirty second ass-whoppings completely offset by a weak single leg takedown in the final 20 seconds of the round. Yeah, clearly the guy was going for the takedown to “finish” the fight and not to slowdown the matrix-esqe assault to his dome.

Good fucking god. Seriously, maybe I’m a bit more upset than some fans about this, but how the hell can anyone sit there and accept total, false, wrong bullshit like “and leg kicks certainly don’t do that”.

When both fighters are engaged in a striking match what I always look for is the fighter who is being judicious, picking his spots, being accurate and landing the cleaner strikes which ultimately is what Lyoto did more effectively than Rua.

Yes, this was a STRIKING match, as I said above. Now scroll back up to the numbers that show Shogun landing more strikes and at a higher percentage and explain to me how the hell you can go from “picking his shots, being accurate, and landing the cleaner strikes” and somehow conclude Shogun lost. What is more “effective” about throwing fewer shots, missing a higher percentage and taking more damage!?

Lyoto made Shogun come after him, he determined where the fight took place which in my opinion constitutes as effective Octagon control.

I honestly don’t know how to respond to this without mentioning Kalib. Look, I’m a *HUGE* fan of counter punchers. Quick counters, great straight lefts, etc. all are awesome. Watching an MMA fighter find their range, get their timing down, etc. that is great to watch in my opinion.

To somehow ignore the “effective aggressiveness” that Shogun clearly demonstrated and award Lyoto much of anything for backing away from striking exchanges that he was losing is beyond me. I’m not a very smart Pooh, I don’t claim to be (just Evil). However, I am at a total loss here. Are we honestly being told that all other things being equal the fighter moving backwards wins?

Let me also be clear that had this been a more diverse fight I could maybe understand this better. If Shogun were losing the stand up, but winning the ground game with some great ground and pound. Then this would make more sense to me. Then I’d look at Machida keeping it standing, I’d look at Shogun not being able to get it to the ground, etc.

The problem with that is it ignores the fact that Shogun landed more strikes, at a higher percentage, while inflicting more damage! Almost this entire arguement seems to hinge on Machida having dominated the stand up and I’ve yet to see any proof of that at all.

I’m just glad the other judges on the panel saw it the same way and I’m sure the fans who understand the technicalities of the sport agree with the decision too

Despite one judge scoring it exactly how Cecil did, the other judge scored two rounds differently. That’s 40%. If I am in a relationship where we disagree 40% of the time, I don’t think I’d call us “compatible” and clearly we do not “see things the same way”.

Additionally, I want it clear that it’s not Shogun fans that are complaining here. It’s not his mom. The crowd in attendance was *VERY* much in favor of Machida. At several points during the fight you can hear them cheering for him. Yet somehow the boos come pouring into the ring once it’s announced he is the winner.

I’ve followed MMA for a long time and I can admit when I get it wrong. Sadly, I still see no evidence that me, most of the fans in attendeance, most of the professional MMA writers, most of well everyone got it wrong.

I read the interview hoping for a better understanding. I’ve re-watched the fight several times. I’ve looked at the stats and talked to everyone I could. Sadly, I still have no closure and that’s why the voices haven’t shut up yet. If this interview had shed some light on the scoring system I’d have been happier. Instead I get told lies like “Leg kicks can’t end fights”. Yet again, SERIOUS-FUCKING-LY!?!?!

Hopefully some quiet

That’s about all I’ve got. Hopefully I can get back to work now and put all of this behind me. I think it’s sad and scary and shitty and a bunch of other “s” words how this all played out. Cases like this are becoming more and more common and nothing seems to be getting done. The “10 point must system” is a horrible way to score MMA, but nothing gets done. The three judge system has serious flaws (including those allowed to judge). The athletic commissions don’t seem to care and some fans have sadly gotten to the point where they don’t either.

If MMA is going to be seen as a legitimate sport and not just some barbaric spectacle then things need to change. The rules need to be updated, they need to be clearer and the oversight needs to be stronger. If the commission genuinely feels that “nothing” was wrong with the decision then a vast majority of fans (new and old) clearly need to be reeducated about the sport they are watching.

As a final plea I yet again request that scoring information be made available between rounds. At least that way the fans could have boo’d sooner and I could have went looking for sex after the third round when the judges’ scorecards showed that even if he won the last two rounds Shogun still would have lost the fight. I mean, I know at the end of the third I was prettttyyyyyyyy sure Shogun had totally lost that fight, but I wasn’t absolutely certain. If only I could have seen the scorecards to confirm it. /boggle