As a UFC ref, what would you do, to help make the sport and fights the best they can be?

[Threetrees]

I've always found the idea of reffing fighters different based on their past with regards to finishes stupid

I agree with anyone that says automatic point deducting for certain types of fouls

 

[lolsnar]

It's almost like they give up on certain things after the first round of warnings instead of enforcing the rules, so you get dudes spamming eyepokes and so on without ever getting points taken away.

The eyepokes thing is the worst for me because it's so debilitating, and easy to do defensively or offensively, it's just flicking your fingers forward.

This was the moment that they should have really come through on the eyepokes:

View attachment 417721 View attachment 417727

The man has a loss on his record to eyepokes ffs... And it really fucked him up. 10 years ago now.

Point deductions after one warning need to happen. It's getting ridiculous.

After seeing dc and stipe both going for each others eyes it pissed me off. These were ment to be 2 of the most fair and honest champs and they were blantantly cheating to get an edge. So i agree, 1 warning then point deduction.
Why use your jab when you can throw an open hand full of fingers at your opponents eyes to set up a power punch.

 

[Gambit MMA]

start taking points for eye pokes and cage grabs for one. guys do it 4-5 times and keep getting warnings

 

[Dorkman]

Instantly cattle prod any fighter breaking a rule. They'll learn quick.

 

[RetiredSlave]

You know its probably time for instant replay on every foul called. The sort of weird subtle bonus of that would be making it seem a little more legit sportish, but ffs deduct the points.

 

[empsim]

the good old wwf arm lift and drop when someone is getting choked

if it drops 3 times, he's out

something similar would probably work for gnp too

 

[Kumason]

Good thread

Without getting into to many things I guess what I just want to see as a fan is automatic points for breaking rules.Fence grab that is blatant especially to avoid a td is an automatic point.Reviewed by the ref in between rounds with a point taken before the start of the next round or after the end of the 3rd/5th if deemed blatant.If it's like a finger slipped through as you're legally pushing or posting against the cage while on the ground or something just a warning,no hooking it.

Eye pokes should be 1 is a final warning unless deemed intentional (ish) and the 2nd one always a point and again reviewing in between rounds even if this prolongs the start of the next round a tiny bit.

Ball shots happen but should be enforced much harsher.

A minute should be plenty for a ref to check,plus aren't ref's not technically in control inside the cage between rounds now with these new rules they just made?He can go review some shit.It should be as basic as possible for these idiots that the commissions keep sending back out there,but there are some good refs.They should have as few decisions as possible so they can fuck up less,a simple structure that's easier to follow.

I see people saying yellow cards for inactivity and losing 10% of your purse etc.Get that stupid shit out of here,pretty soon we'd have guys being as annoying as Yuji Shimada.Fight!Fight!Action..Action!Action...action ..ac ACTION!Action...fight fight Action!All while they are working.Fuck that,let them fight,give them a warning like they already do.Guys lose enough money to other shit,no ref should have that choice and to go to who,the commission?Somehow everyone would be losing 10% if you know what I mean.

I see SO much criticism of perhaps the most important man in the cage, besides the fighters themselves - The MMA referee.

Either fights are stopped too early, or too late.

If you had the job of being the only man in the cage deciding when the fight might be stopped, or enforcing the rules, what would you do differently?

I for one, would watch tapes on the fighters I am going to ref, to see what their fighting styles and ability to absorb damage and persevere were.

If there was a fighter who was 'chinny' and prone to being being brutally KOed, I would take that into account, and be mindful to jump in, if they were taking serious head strikes.

On the flip side, if a fighter was a known, come-from-behind warrior, I would give him every chance to continue, as long as he was defending himself in a decent manner.

If I were reffing a guy notorious for fouling, I would make sure to re-enforce the rules with he and his team prior to the fight, and let them know that I will enforce those rules, via strict warnings, and points deducted, as necessary, then I would follow through with it.


If you had a shot at being the 3rd man in the ring, what would you do differently to the current top refs? What aspects of their game would you incorporate?

Agree,and some ref's try to do this,but all should and some that do should probably do better.

 

[campbecc]

stand it up/reset when it is clear a fighter is just trying to hold position and not trying to land strikes, go for submissions or advance position. The more times they do it the faster I'd make them stand back up.

Take points way faster for fouls, they should also take into account if a guy is known to be dirty. If they next to never do it then give them more leeway. They should confirm all close fouls by replay. they could have a second ref watching the video and be available for a quick consult if they were worried about it taking too long.

They need to be more consistent about what is worthy of a stoppage. I know it's a judgement call but some times they'll stop it as soon as the guy hits the ground even if he is not completely out and other times they let it continue for a long time while a guy takes unanswered shots to the head.

 

[Gorkle]

I see SO much criticism of perhaps the most important man in the cage, besides the fighters themselves - The MMA referee.

Either fights are stopped too early, or too late.

If you had the job of being the only man in the cage deciding when the fight might be stopped, or enforcing the rules, what would you do differently?

I for one, would watch tapes on the fighters I am going to ref, to see what their fighting styles and ability to absorb damage and persevere were.

If there was a fighter who was 'chinny' and prone to being being brutally KOed, I would take that into account, and be mindful to jump in, if they were taking serious head strikes.

On the flip side, if a fighter was a known, come-from-behind warrior, I would give him every chance to continue, as long as he was defending himself in a decent manner.

If I were reffing a guy notorious for fouling, I would make sure to re-enforce the rules with he and his team prior to the fight, and let them know that I will enforce those rules, via strict warnings, and points deducted, as necessary, then I would follow through with it.


If you had a shot at being the 3rd man in the ring, what would you do differently to the current top refs? What aspects of their game would you incorporate?

How would prejudging a fight make it better? Every fight needs to be treated as a new fight.

Just because someone has historically been able to take a hit or has been a bit chinny, or has had a few questionable actions doesn't mean you should treat them differently. It's not fair on either side.

If anything that would literally make you a shitty ref.

 

[SSJ16]

Good thread

Without getting into to many things I guess what I just want to see as a fan is automatic points for breaking rules.Fence grab that is blatant especially to avoid a td is an automatic point.Reviewed by the ref in between rounds with a point taken before the start of the next round or after the end of the 3rd/5th if deemed blatant.If it's like a finger slipped through as you're legally pushing or posting against the cage while on the ground or something just a warning,no hooking it.

Eye pokes should be 1 is a final warning unless deemed intentional (ish) and the 2nd one always a point and again reviewing in between rounds even if this prolongs the start of the next round a tiny bit.

Ball shots happen but should be enforced much harsher.

A minute should be plenty for a ref to check,plus aren't ref's not technically in control inside the cage between rounds now with these new rules they just made?He can go review some shit.It should be as basic as possible for these idiots that the commissions keep sending back out there,but there are some good refs.They should have as few decisions as possible so they can fuck up less,a simple structure that's easier to follow.

I see people saying yellow cards for inactivity and losing 10% of your purse etc.Get that stupid shit out of here,pretty soon we'd have guys being as annoying as Yuji Shimada.Fight!Fight!Action..Action!Action...action ..ac ACTION!Action...fight fight Action!All while they are working.Fuck that,let them fight,give them a warning like they already do.Guys lose enough money to other shit,no ref should have that choice and to go to who,the commission?Somehow everyone would be losing 10% if you know what I mean.



Agree,and some ref's try to do this,but all should and some that do should probably do better.

When reading this thread, I was thinking of implementing VAR (video assisted ref), like what FIFA did this world cup which has a second set of refs watching the fight behind the scenes and they can inform the in-cage ref of anything egregious that he can check and subsequently add any penalties during any stoppages during the fight or between rounds.

 

[Son of Sonnen]

 

[Kumason]

When reading this thread, I was thinking of implementing VAR (video assisted ref), like what FIFA did this world cup which has a second set of refs watching the fight behind the scenes and they can inform the in-cage ref of anything egregious that he can check and subsequently add any penalties during any stoppages during the fight or between rounds.

That's pretty cool!That would work for sure when it comes to what I was saying.

 

[ifindgifsforjackslack]

Go over to their corner in between rounds and aks if they heard what opposing fighter said about their mum. Chiesa would be title holder by now.

 

[777 Others]

I see SO much criticism of perhaps the most important man in the cage, besides the fighters themselves - The MMA referee.

Either fights are stopped too early, or too late.

If you had the job of being the only man in the cage deciding when the fight might be stopped, or enforcing the rules, what would you do differently?

I for one, would watch tapes on the fighters I am going to ref, to see what their fighting styles and ability to absorb damage and persevere were.

If there was a fighter who was 'chinny' and prone to being being brutally KOed, I would take that into account, and be mindful to jump in, if they were taking serious head strikes.

On the flip side, if a fighter was a known, come-from-behind warrior, I would give him every chance to continue, as long as he was defending himself in a decent manner.

If I were reffing a guy notorious for fouling, I would make sure to re-enforce the rules with he and his team prior to the fight, and let them know that I will enforce those rules, via strict warnings, and points deducted, as necessary, then I would follow through with it.


If you had a shot at being the 3rd man in the ring, what would you do differently to the current top refs? What aspects of their game would you incorporate?

It’s a thankless job mate that no one can get right.

I for one, would watch tapes on the fighters I am going to ref,

Some of these refs are working multiple fights a night, various days of the week in different locations around the country and/or world.....there wouldn’t be time to watch the required amount of tape.

Even if you could you are then potentially making yourself biased towards the outcome you are looking for.

 

[oldschoolmmafan]

Refs need to be better selected, judges need to be better selected. Implement one foul warning rule followed by point deduction and yellow card penalty system. Of course a ref really can't implement any of these other than the control of fouls and points.

 

[x__stylez__x]

Yep, eye pokes may be the worst foul that NEVER truly gets punished currently.

They should also modify the gloves like other orgs, to keep fighters from extending their fingers out.

1 point deduction for the first infraction



2 points for the second

 

[ortizgnp]

I would bring Mazzagatti back.

 

[ralphus1]

Consistency, especially when calling fouls and penalizing fighters.

 

[HaikenEdge]

Instant point deduction for rule violations, be it eye pokes, fence grabs, groin shots, etc. I shouldn't need to warn the fighter, since I already went over the rules with them in the locker room.

I'd err on the side of caution and fighter safety when stopping fights, but I'd also warn defending fighters they need to put up an intelligent defense if they're in jeopardy of having the fight stopped due to TKO. I'd say 3-4 strikes that aren't defended intelligently is enough to stop the fight; there's no need for a guy to eat 10-15 shots when they're not even defending themselves.

 

[Thc Sargon]

If you eye poke then the ref (myself) will poke your eye.