Rewatch Deconstructing MMADecisions Part 1 – Holloway vs Volkanovski 2

[Alexander_GOATanovski]

Thread Purpose: Determine the best scorecard for Holloway vs Volkanovski 2. Future inquiries into this fight will have this thread as a better reference than MMADecisions. As Volko builds his resume and solidifies himself among ATGs, UFC 251 will continue being used against him by his haters and this thread will be a great reference against those claims. This thread is broken into 5 parts:

1. How the Media Scored It
2. What Constitutes a Robbery?
3. Official Unified Rules - Scoring Criteria
4. The Scoring of each Round
5. Conclusions

1 – How the Media Scored It
IMPORTANT: this section only explores how the media scored each round of the fight. I’m only doing this to show how the media couldn’t agree on whether round 3 or 4 is the swing round

• 10/27 scored 48 – 47 Volkanovski (Steve Duncan's scorecard is incorrectly shown as 48 – 47 Holloway)
• 17/27 scored 48 – 47 Holloway

Spoiler: Round by round breakdown

9 media sources (2 Volkanovski & 7 Holloway scorecards) did not disclose the entire round by round scoring (TB_Money, iamjohnpollock, Steven_Kelliher, mdesantis24, PaulAceFontaine, CrooklynMMA, haad77, KendrickJohnso, KeithShillanMMA)

The eight 48 – 47 Volkanovski scorecards:

• 7/8 scored round 3 – 5 for Volkanovski (Phil_Sports, RobTatum303, MrMWells, DrakeRiggs_, Tristen Critchfield, MMAJunkie, ATSteveDuncan)
• 1/8 scored rounds 1, 4 & 5 for Volkanovski (Ben Duffy)

The ten 48 – 47 Holloway scorecards:

• 2/10 scored rounds 1 – 3 for Holloway (MMAFighting, Scott_Fontana)
• 7/10 scored rounds 1, 2 & 4 for Holloway (Jay Pettry, MMAMania, SeanSheehanBA, ryanjfrederick, grosenstein, NickBaldwinMMA, MMA_Jim)
• 1/10 scored rounds 1, 2 & 5 for Holloway (mmabrasil)

The swing round:

• 3/12 identified round 3 as the swing round (Phil_Sports, RobTatum303, MrMWells, MMAFighting, Scott_Fontana)
• 7/12 identified round 4 as the swing round (Jay Pettry, MMAMania, SeanSheehanBA, ryanjfrederick, grosenstein, NickBaldwinMMA, MMA_Jim)
• 2/12 identified rounds 3, 4 & 5 as swing rounds (Scott_Fontana, mmabrasil)

Spoiler: Round by round summary

1. 17/18 scored round 1 for Holloway
2. 18/18 scored round 2 for Holloway
3. 15/18 scored round 3 for Volko
4. 11/18 scored round 4 for Volko
5. 17/18 scored round 5 for Volko

2 – What Constitutes a Robbery?
3 big claims surround this fight:

Spoiler: The claims

1. Volko vs Max 2 was a robbery
2. Max has a better case for winning the fight
3. Max dominated his rounds unlike Volko; Max wins under PRIDE rules

There is no actual definition of what a robbery is in MMA or boxing which is the sport where the term originates from. The most basic premise for what constitutes a robbery is a bout that goes to the judge’s scorecards where the official loser has a better case for winning than the official winner.

Following this basic premise: if you can prove that the judges did get the winner right, then any claims of robbery are rendered meaningless. In other words, if you can prove that claim #2 is a myth, then claim #1 is by default a myth as well.

3 – Official Unified Rules – Scoring Criteria
The scoring criteria used in this fight is written within the 2017 Unified Rules of MMA

Spoiler: Relevant parts

Legal blows that have immediate or cumulative impact […] the IMMEDIATE weighing in more heavily than the cumulative impact. […] a successful takedown is not merely a changing of position, but the establishment of an attack from the use of the takedown. […] The next two criteria must be treated as a backup and used ONLY when Effective Striking/Grappling is 100% equal for the round.

Impact shall also be assessed when a fighter’s actions, using striking and/or grappling, lead to a diminishing of their opponents’ energy, confidence, abilities and spirit.

Apply this scoring criteria to the fight and you’ll find that effective striking is NOT equal in any round so effective aggression & octagon control will be ignored. No rounds were won by a large margin meaning that any given round will be scored as 10 – 9 Volko/Max (no 10 – 8).

4 – The Scoring of each Round
The format for a given round will be like this:

Spoiler

Round X (Live Scorecard): (Head strikes landed, Body strikes landed, Leg strikes landed) vs (Head strikes landed, Body strikes landed, Leg strikes landed)

• Clock time - Strike 1
• Clock time - Strike 2
• etc

Every single round is summarized into bullet points with each one being an instance of effective striking & the corresponding clock time. I didn’t document missed strikes or ones that hit the guard, except for one. I dedicated one bullet point specifically for inside leg kicks at the top of each list for both fighters because of how many landed. These leg kicks fall under cumulative striking so not much weight is put on them for scoring.

Red text is used for Volko and blue text is used for Max. I boldened any strike that I considered very impactful. A note about ufcstats: my numbers don’t perfectly match up because (1) I’m limited to 1 angle and (2) ufcstats might not be 100% accurate.

If you have a dispute with a specific bullet point or think I'm missing something, please let me know.

Round 1 (10 – 9 Max): (5, 0, 14) vs (9, 6, 4)

Spoiler: Round 1 Effective Striking

• 4:38, 3:44, 3:21, 2:50, 2:42, 2:10 (x2), 1:10, 0:35 (x2), 0:28 – Inside lead leg kick

• 4:41 – Right hook to the head: Max rushing in greatened the impact
• 4:41 – Left hook to the head
• 3:25 – Front kick to the body: Significant because it was near at the solar plex
• 3:20 – Front kick to the shin
• 2:59 – Front kick to the chest
• 2:55 – Calf kick
• 2:48 – Calf kick (x2)
• 2:29 – Right uppercut and left hook to the head
• 2:09 – Outside leg kick
• 2:06 – Lead jab to the head
• 2:01 – Left hook to the head
• 1:58 – Left hook + right hook to the head: bothered Max since he wagged his finger to dissuade Volk
• 1:45 – Outside leg kick
• 1:20 – Left jab + right hook to the head
• 1:09 – Body kick
• 1:05 – Jab to the chest
• 0:54 – Right hook to the head: looked like an arm punch
• 0:48 – Oblique front leg kick
• 0:46 – Right hook to the head
• 0:26 – Front kick to the body
• 0:11 – Spinning back kick to the body
• 0:09 – Head kick: strike of the round but Volk immediately gets up, doesn’t seem wobbled at all
• 0:07 – Left jab to the head

Spoiler: Round 1 Highlights

Spoiler: Round 1 Summary

Least active round overall. Volk had his moments with right hooks and it was even until the last 12 seconds. Volk did get dropped to one knee by that head kick but immediately got back up & started swinging back & wasn’t stunned.

Round 2 (20 – 18 Max): (6, 1, 15) vs (7, 5, 10)

Spoiler: Round 2 Effective Striking

• 4:12 (x2), 3:49, 3:41, 2:52, 2:31, 2:20, 2:03, 1:42, 1:26, 1:05, 0:21, 0:15 – Inside lead leg kick
• 4:10, 3:23, 2:51, 2:47, 2:17, 2:13, 1:40, 1:25 – Inside lead leg kick

• 4:20 – Right cross to the body
• 4:07 – Lead leg sweep
• 4:06 – Outside lead leg kick
• 4:01 – Right uppercut + Left hook to the head: Volk acknowledges it
• 3:41 – Left uppercut to the head
• 3:21 – Front kick to the body
• 2:55 – Right cross + left hook to the head
• 2:44 – Left jab to the face
• 2:39 – Oblique lead leg kick
• 2:30 – Left hook to the chest
• 2:25 – Punch to the chest
• 2:08 – Left jab to the face
• 2:08 – Left hook to the head
• 1:55 – Knee to the body: not on the liver side but still very strong
• 1:26 – Outside calf kick
• 1:23 – Left hook to the head
• 1:10 – Body kick
• 1:05 – Right cross to the head: Volk’s chin was tucked but still landed flush
• 1:00 – Left jab to the head
• 0:26 – Head kick (partial)
• 0:12 – Left uppercut to the head: drops Volk who was squared up in his stance, doesn’t appear wobbled just like the last round

Spoiler: Round 2 Highlights

Spoiler: Round 2 Summary

Very inactive for the first minute. Max mostly gets the better of him and lands the best strike that drops Volk down to one knee again. Volk repeatedly has success with that lead left hook to the head.

 

[Alexander_GOATanovski]

Round 3 (29 – 28 Max): (10, 2, 12) vs (3, 3, 8)

Spoiler: Round 3 Effective Striking

• 4:54, 4:35, 4:14, 3:44, 3:29, 1:58, 1:30, 1:13, 0:53, 0:29, 0:16 – Inside lead leg kick
• 4:52, 4:50, 4:05, 3:28, 3:09, 0:53, 0:15 – Inside lead leg kick

• 4:45 – Calf kick: throws Max off balance after the impact
• 4:02 – Partially blocked flying knee: lands on the guard but pushes Volk back to the fence. Not counted as landed but has a lot of stopping power behind it.
• 3:55 – Knee stomp
• 3:31 – Left straight to the head: forces Max on the backfoot but didn’t stumble
• 3:24 – Left hook to the body
• 3:24 – Right uppercut
• 3:00 – Left hook to the head: most impactful of the round, Max wipes his eye
• 2:43 – Right knee to the body in the clinch: turns his knee to land and doesn’t have much power
• 2:10 – Right knee to the body in the clinch: similar to previous one
• 2:07 – Knee to body + left jab to the head: not much power behind either
• 1:56 – Right uppercut: puts Volk on back foot
• 1:40 – Left hook to the head: 2nd most impactful of the round, Max got caught square in stance
• 1:30 – Right cross to the body: close to the liver side of the body
• 1:24 – Left jab to the head
• 1:17 – Left hook to the head
• 1:12 – Left hook to the head: 3rd most impactful of the round, lands on the temple as Max leans into the punch
• 0:43 – Left jab to the head
• 0:25 – Left jab to the head
• 0:09 – Left jab + right cross to the head

Spoiler: Round 3 Highlights

Spoiler: Round 3 Summary

The “swing” round of the fight. Significant strikes shows that Volk beat Max in quality & quantity. 4 of the 5 most impactful strikes were landed by Volk. The lead hook to the head was money and Max dipping into some of them made them more effective. Max’s body strikes were all aimed towards the right side and away from the liver and were generally weak. Max was mostly neutralized for the final 2 minutes.

Round 4 (38 – 38 DRAW): (15, 1, 17) vs (11, 5, 5)

Spoiler: Round 4 Effective Striking

• 4:52, 4:39, 4:29, 4:08, 3:58, 3:48, 3:24, 3:23, 3:15, 2:36, 2:00, 1:27, 0:59 – Inside lead leg kick
• 4:51, 4:26, 3:23, 3:21, 0:57 – Inside lead leg kick

• 4:48 – Leg stomp
• 4:43 – Spinning back kick to the body: Volk does good job of bracing for it to lessen the impact
  4:36 – Left jab to the head
• 4:35 – Left hook to the head: might not have landed
• 4:33 – Left jab to the head: Max wipes his eye after getting hit
• 4:21 – Calf kick
• 4:07 – Left jab to the head
• 3:52 – Lead leg sweep: Max falls down to 1 knee
• 2:59 – Calf kick
• 2:54 – Right hook to the head: arm punch that didn’t have a lot of stopping power
• 2:49 – Partial right hook to the head: inside elbow makes contact with right side of Max’s head
• 2:31 – Left jab to the body
• 2:29 – Left jab to the body: stronger than the 2:31 jab
• 2:21 – Right uppercut + left hook to the head: most impactful strikes of the round, forces Volk back to the fence
• 2:18 – Spinning back kick to the body: lands around the waist
• 2:09 – Left jab to the head
• 2:00 – Body kick: lands on pelvis
• 1:38 – Left jab to the head: right after Max breaks from clinch
• 1:26 – Left hook + right hook to the head: 2nd most impactful combo
• 1:16 – Left jab to the head: Volk landed more cleanly
• 1:16 – Left jab to the head
• 1:14 – Left jab to the head
• 0:49 – Three uppercuts in the clinch: arm punches that didn’t actually have a lot of power behind them because he’s hopping on 1 leg
• 0:43 – Left jab to the head
• 0:41 – Right uppercut to the head
• 0:34 – Right hook to the head: catches Max while squared up
• 0:32 – Jab to the head
• 0:28 – Jab to the head
• 0:24 – Jab to the head
• 0:07 – Flying knee to the body: partial connection near the liver
• 0:06 – Right hook to the head
• 0:02 – Partial head kick

Spoiler: Round 4 Highlights

Spoiler: Round 4 Summary

Most difficult round to score. When I first saw the fight, I actually though Max won this round and the fight. He had some of the biggest moments like the uppercut + left hook to the head + spinning back kick (2:21) and also uppercuts in the clinch on Volk’s TD attempt (0:49). After actually writing down all significant strikes and evaluating their collective impact, I lean towards Volk cause his effective strikes were more consistent throughout the round and had as many high impact strikes.

Round 5 (48 – 47 Volk): (24, 0, 9) vs (14, 4, 4)

Spoiler: Round 5 Effective Striking

• 4:53, 3:40, 1:16, 0:39 – Inside lead leg kick
• 4:52, 3:59, 2:46 – Inside lead leg kick

• 4:50 – Partially blocked head kick: big toe lands behind the ears
• 4:48 – Push kick to the body: near solar plex but not much power
• 4:41 – Left jab to the head: lands first and is a bit more impactful
• 4:41 – Left jab to the head
• 4:37 – Knee to the body
• 4:20 – Left jab to the head
• 4:14 – Partially blocked head kick
• 4:10 – Outside lead leg kick
• 4:10 – Right cross to the head
• 4:10 – Left jab to the head
• 3:56 – Left jab to the head
• 3:44 – Left straight to the head
• 3:39 – Right jab to the head: noticeable torque on Max’s head
• 3:31 – Left hook to the head
• 3:31 – Left jab to the head
• 3:29 – Left jab to the head: step in that grazes the forehead
• 3:27 – Right hook to the head: might have hit shoulder, Volk’s head doesn’t move
• 3:22 – Left hook to the head: caught squared up
• 3:07 – Calf kick
• 3:04 – Outside leg kick
• 3:03 – Left hook to the head
• 2:50 – Left straight to the head: caught Max while on one leg
• 2:40 – Left hook to the head
• 2:38 – Right cross to the head
• 2:24 – Left jab to the head
• 2:22 – Left jab to the head
• 2:18 – Left hook to the head
• 2:18 – Right cross to the head
• 2:08 – Calf kick
• 2:05 – Left jab to the head
• 2:00 – Right cross to the head
• 1:55 – Left jab to the head
• 1:47 – Knee to the body
• 1:24 – Left hook to the head: jolts the head while Max was retreating
• 1:16 – Left hook to the head
• 1:07 – Outside leg kick + right hook to the head
• 1:04 – Left jab to the head
• 0:57 – Left hook to the chest
• 0:49 – Calf kick
• 0:49 – Left jab to the head
• 0:49 – Left jab to the head
• 0:41 – Left hook to the head: partial connection to the neck
• 0:39 – Left jab to the head
• 0:35 – Left jab to the head
• 0:27 – Left jab to the head
• 0:21 – Left jab to the head
• 0:19 – Left jab to the head
• 0:05 – Notable takedown landed ends with Volk standing above the guard

Spoiler: Round 5 Highlights

Spoiler: Round 5 Summary

Volk almost completely overtook the last two minutes. Max was pretty much figured out at this point and this appears to be the most dominant round. The final takedown was notable unlike the first 2 of the fight since Volk did establish a smash position, but didn’t get to use it.

5 – Conclusions

1. No 10 – 8 rounds occurred
2. Max clearly won rounds 1 & 2 and Volk clearly won rounds 3 & 5
3. Round 4 is the actually the closest round but reviewing total impact suggest that Volk had the edge in effective striking and won the round
4. The most to least decisive rounds are 5 > 2 > 3 > 1 > 4
5. The most basic premise for a robbery in boxing & MMA is that the loser has a better case for winning, this is not the case in Volkanovski vs Holloway 2
6. Volko has a stronger case for winning this fight when evaluating the impact of all significant strikes

 

[Chubi]

Didn't read, but looking at your profile I guess you think Alex won, even though Max did.

 

[Masturbin]

According to the rules Volk won but small rule changes could change the results to a draw or loss for volk.
If judges could score 10-10 or 9,5-10 round for example.

Imo Volk won but I can see how someone could think he lost

 

[TJ Dillashank]

Volk won IMO 3rd got it for him

 

[TIMELESS TRUTH]

There are so many more MMA myths, why start at this boring recent one?

 

[Megatronlee]

I’m not reading that. I watch Luke Thomas. Did you get this from BWEEENDEN SCHAWARB

 

[LetThemBleed]

Didn't read, but looking at your profile I guess you think Alex won, even though Max did.

Outstanding rebuttal. Truly outstanding.

 

[LetThemBleed]

Round 3 (29 – 28 Holloway): (10, 2, 12) vs (2, 4, 7)

Spoiler

• 4:54, 4:35, 4:14, 3:44, 3:29, 1:58, 1:30, 1:13, 0:53, 0:29, 0:16 – Inside lead leg kick
• 4:52, 4:50, 4:05, 3:28, 3:09, 0:53, 0:15 – Inside lead leg kick
• 4:45 – Calf kick
• 4:43 – Front kick to the body
• 4:39 – Front kick to the body
• 4:02 – Flying knee to the body
• 3:31 – Left straight to the head
• 3:24 – Left hook to the body
• 3:00 – Left hook to the head
• 2:56 – Left jab to the body
• 2:07 – Body kick + left jab to the head
• 1:56 – Right uppercut
• 1:40 – Left hook to the head
• 1:30 – Right cross to the body/liver
• 1:24 – Left jab to the head
• 1:17 – Left hook to the head
• 1:12 – Left hook to the head
• 0:43 – Left jab to the head
• 0:25 – Left jab to the head
• 0:09 – Left jab + right cross to the head

Round 3 Summary: Despite commonly being considered the swing round of the fight, this round was clearly for Volk. The lead hook to the head was money and Max dipping into many of them made them much more impactful. Outside of the first minute, Max accomplished very little. 10 – 9 Volk

Round 4 (38 – 38 Even): (14, 2, 17) vs (11, 5, 5)

Spoiler

• 4:52, 4:39, 4:29, 4:08, 3:58, 3:48, 3:24, 3:23, 3:15, 2:36, 2:00, 1:27, 0:59 – Inside lead leg kick
• 4:51, 4:26, 3:23, 3:21, 0:57 – Inside lead leg kick
• 4:48 – Leg stomp
• 4:43 – Spinning back kick to the body
• 4:36 – Left jab to the head
• 4:35 – Left hook to the head
• 4:33 – Left jab to the head: Max wipes his eye
• 4:21 – Calf kick
• 4:07 – Left jab to the head
• 3:52 – Lead leg sweep
• 3:44 – Left hook to the liver
• 2:59 – Calf kick
• 2:54 – Right hook to the head
• 2:49 – Right hook to the head
• 2:31 – Left jab to the body
• 2:29 – Left jab to the body
• 2:21 – Right uppercut + left hook to the head
• 2:18 – Spinning back kick to the body
• 2:09 – Left jab to the head
• 2:00 – Body kick
• 1:38 – Left jab to the head
• 1:26 – Left straight to the head
• 1:16 – Left jab to the head
• 1:16 – Left jab to the head
• 1:14 – Left jab to the head
• 0:49 – Three uppercuts in the clinch: these were arm punches so they didn’t actually have a lot of power behind them
• 0:43 – Left jab to the head
• 0:41 – Right uppercut to the head
• 0:34 – Right hook to the head
• 0:32 – Jab to the head
• 0:28 – Jab to the head
• 0:24 – Jab to the head
• 0:07 – Flying knee to the body
• 0:06 – Right hook to the head
• 0:02 – Partial head kick

Round 4 Summary: Hardest round to score if you were watching it live imo. When I first saw this fight, I actually though Max won cause of this round. He had some of the biggest moments like that uppercut + left hook to the head followed by a strong spinning back kick (2:21) and also uppercuts in the clinch on Volk’s TD attempt (0:49). After actually writing down all the strikes and going over the whole round, I lean towards Volk because he had as many heavy strikes landed as Holloway, they were just more sporadic and less flashy. The repeated jabs landing in the final minute was enough for me to give it to Volk. Very very difficult fight to score tho. 10 – 9 Volk


Round 5 (48 – 47 Volkanovski): (24, 1, 9) vs (13, 4, 4)

Spoiler

• 4:53, 3:40, 1:16, 0:39 – Inside lead leg kick
• 4:52, 3:59, 2:46 – Inside lead leg kick
• 4:48 – Push kick to the body
• 4:41 – Left jab to the head
• 4:41 – Left jab to the head
• 4:37 – Knee to the body
• 4:20 – Left jab to the head
• 4:14 – Partially blocked head kick
• 4:10 – Outside lead leg kick
• 4:10 – Right cross to the head
• 4:10 – Left jab to the head
• 3:59 – Punch to the chest
• 3:56 – Left jab to the head
• 3:44 – Left straight to the head
• 3:39 – Left jab to the head
• 3:31 – Left hook to the head
• 3:31 – Left jab to the head
• 3:29 – Left jab to the head
• 3:27 – Right hook to the head
• 3:22 – Left hook to the head
• 3:07 – Calf kick
• 3:04 – Outside leg kick
• 3:03 – Left hook to the head
• 2:50 – Left straight to the head
• 2:40 – Left hook to the head
• 2:38 – Right cross to the head
• 2:24 – Left jab to the head
• 2:22 – Left jab to the head
• 2:18 – Left hook to the head
• 2:18 – Right cross to the head
• 2:08 – Calf kick
• 2:05 – Left jab to the head
• 2:00 – Right cross to the head
• 1:55 – Left jab to the head
• 1:47 – Knee to the body
• 1:24 – Left hook to the head
• 1:16 – Left hook to the head
• 1:07 – Outside leg kick + right hook to the head
• 1:04 – Left jab to the head
• 0:57 – Left hook to the chest
• 0:49 – Calf kick
• 0:49 – Left jab to the head
• 0:49 – Left jab to the head
• 0:41 – Left hook to the head
• 0:39 – Left jab to the head
• 0:35 – Left jab to the head
• 0:27 – Left jab to the head
• 0:21 – Left jab to the head
• 0:19 – Left jab to the head

Round 5 Summary: Not much to say other than Volk almost completely overtaking the last two minutes of this round. Max was pretty much figured out at this point and I’d say this is the most dominant round. The final takedown was notable unlike the first two of the fight since Volk did establish a smash position, but didn’t get to use it cause time ran out. 10 – 9 Volk


Conclusions

1) None of the rounds can be scored as a 10 – 8
2) Rounds 1 & 2 were clearly for Max and rounds 3 & 5 were clearly for Volk
3) Round 4 is the closest round but reviewing all the strikes suggest that Volk won that as well
4) The most to least decisive rounds are: 5, 2, 3, 1, 4
5) Since Volk has a stronger case for winning this fight based on evaluating every single strike that landed, it cannot be considered a robbery in any way


A message to my Sherbros:

Spoiler

I wanna make more of these dispelling MMA myths posts. If you have a specific one in mind, please send me a pm and I’ll respond on whether I can do it or not. It doesn’t have to be scorecard reviews and I prefer that they aren’t cause these take a lot time to do. I’m not educated in everything when it comes to MMA so it’s not a guarantee that I’ll do it, however I will give you a response regardless.

100 percent agree thought it was clearly 3 rounds to 2 to Volk and the 3rd round, but for Bisping's ridiculously biased commentary about how Volk couldn't win a decision and how dominant Holloway was affected many viewers, was clearly Volk's. Funny thing is no salty Max fanboy is claiming Max won the 4th, it's the third they claim he won.

Not sure the threads needed though mate, only salty Max fans are still moaning about the result. Just wait till the inevitable third fight where Volk beats him by decision again. Will bring em back to their moaning.

 

[CasualBot]

I watch Luke Thomas.

 

[Eric Silva 2.0]

Plenty of threads have already been made about Volkanovski vs Holloway 2. None of the ones I saw actually gave detail about why they think who won. Since ppl generally didn't give much detail, I’ve decided to make the thread to end all threads about this fight. As Volk continues to build his resume and solidify himself among ATGs, this fight will continue to be used against him by his haters and hopefully this thread will be a great reference against those lazy claims.

The myths regarding Volk vs Max 2:
1) Volk vs Max 2 is a robbery
2) Max has a stronger argument for winning the fight than Volk
3) Max dominated his rounds while Volk squeaked by his rounds (Max wins under PRIDE rules)

Before attempting to dispel any of these myths, I need to:
1) Set a reasonable definition for robbery
2) Review the UFC scoring criteria (July 2020)

What Constitutes a Robbery?

Since MMA’s scoring criteria is closely based on boxing, I chose to look for a concrete definition of robbery in that context. I couldn’t find any online so I decided to make one up:

Spoiler

A robbery is an MMA fight where the loser is unanimously considered the winner in that fight by an audience well educated in the scoring criteria who scored that fight live while watching it for the first time. The “closeness” of a fight has no bearing on whether a fight is a robbery or not.

Going over my definition:

Spoiler

1) The opinions of people who actually know the scoring criteria and watched the fight in real time are the ones that are important.
2) Watching the fight live for the first time is a very important condition. Hindsight is 20/20 and the decisions that ring side judges make are all in real time. They don’t have the privilege of being able to rewind the fight and see if they missed something. For this reason, it’s important that the audience in question is subject to the same conditions as those judges.
3) The audience must unanimously disagree with the result. Even if a fraction of the audience agrees with the judges, it cannot be considered a robbery. MMAdecisions is a decent proxy for determining robberies but it must be very obvious like Maverick vs Barber or Sanchez vs Pearson.
4) Whether the consensus is 50-45 or 48-47, a robbery involves the unanimous agreement of this audience. Just because one incorrectly scored round is enough to change the result doesn’t mean that it isn’t a robbery.
5) By my definition, if the winner has a stronger case for winning than the loser, then it cannot be considered a robbery.

Official Unified Rules – Scoring Criteria
Now for the official scoring criteria that has been in place since 2017, I will paste only the relevant parts you need to know:

Spoiler: Effective Striking/Grappling

Legal blows that have immediate or cumulative impact with the potential to contribute towards the end of the match with the IMMEDIATE weighing in more heavily than the cumulative impact. Successful execution of takedowns, submission attempts, reversals and the achievement of advantageous positions that produce immediate or cumulative impact with the potential to contribute to the end of the match, with the IMMEDIATE weighing more heavily than the cumulative impact.” It shall be noted that a successful takedown is not merely a changing of position, but the establishment of an attack from the use of the takedown. Top and bottom position fighters are assessed more on the impactful/effective result of their actions, more so than their position. This criterion will be the deciding factor in a high majority of decisions when scoring a round. The next two criteria must be treated as a backup and used ONLY when Effective Striking/Grappling is 100% equal for the round.

Spoiler: Impact

Impact: A judge shall assess if a fighter impacts their opponent significantly in the round, even though they may not have dominated the action. Impact includes visible evidence such as swelling and lacerations. Impact shall also be assessed when a fighter’s actions, using striking and/or grappling, lead to a diminishing of their opponents’ energy, confidence, abilities and spirit. All of these come as a direct result of impact. When a fighter is impacted with strikes, by lack of control and/or ability, this can create defining moments in the round and shall be assessed with great value.

Spoiler: 10 - 8 Round

A 10 – 8 Round in MMA is where one fighter wins the round by a large margin.

The link to the rules in case you wanna read it all

Applying this scoring criteria to the fight, you’ll find that effective striking & grappling is NOT equal in any of these rounds and therefore effective aggression & octagon control shouldn’t be considered. You’ll also find that not a single round was won by a large margin and therefore cannot be scored as a 10 – 8. In other words, any given round can only be scored as 10 – 9 for either Volk or Max.

The Scoring of each Round

And now to review the fight itself. I break every single round in bullet points with each bullet point being an instance of effective striking/grappling & the corresponding clock time. I didn’t document missed strikes or ones that hit the guard. Because I don’t have all the camera angles to this fight, my view is limited to the angles that were available for the fight pass video. This means that I might miss a landed strike here or there. If I you have a specific dispute with a bullet point, please let me know.

The format for a given round will be like this:

Round X (Live Scorecard): (Head strikes landed, Body strikes landed, Leg strikes landed) vs (Head strikes landed, Body strikes landed, Leg strikes landed)

• Clock time - Strike 1
  
• Clock time - Strike 2
• etc

A lot of inside lead leg kicks were landed in this fight so I dedicated one bullet point specifically for inside leg kicks at the top of the list for each fighter along with corresponding clock time. Since these leg kicks fall under cumulative striking, I didn’t put much weight on them. Red text is used for Volk’s strikes landed and blue text is used for Max’s strikes landed. I boldened any strike that I considered very significant. A note about ufcstats: my numbers don’t perfectly match up because I’m limited to 1 angle and also because ufcstats might not be 100% accurate.

Round 1 (10 – 9 Holloway): (5, 0, 14) vs (9, 6, 4)

Spoiler

• 4:38, 3:44, 3:21, 2:50, 2:42, 2:10 (x2), 1:10 – Inside lead leg kick
• 4:41 – Right hook to the head: Max rushing in greatened the impact
• 4:41 – Left hook to the head
• 3:25 – Front kick to the body: Significant because it was near at the solar plex
• 3:20 – Front kick to the shin
• 2:59 – Front kick to the chest
• 2:55 – Calf kick
• 2:48 – Two calf kicks
• 2:29 – Right uppercut and left hook to the head
• 2:09 – Outside leg kick
• 2:06 – Lead jab to the head
• 2:01 – Left hook to the head
• 1:58 – Left hook + right hook to the head: bothered Max since he wagged his finger to dissuade Volk
• 1:45 – Outside leg kick
• 1:20 – Left jab + right hook to the head
• 1:09 – Body kick
• 1:05 – Jab to the chest
• 0:54 – Right hook to the head: looked like an arm punch
• 0:48 – Oblique front leg kick
• 0:46 – Right hook to the head
• 0:35 – Two Inside front leg kick
• 0:28 – Inside front leg kick
• 0:26 – Front kick to the body
• 0:11 – Spinning back kick to the body
• 0:09 – Head kick: strike of the round but Volk immediately gets up
• 0:07 – Left jab to the head

Spoiler: Round 1 Summary

The most inactive round of the fight. Volk had his moments with right hooks and it wasn’t dominant. Volk did get dropped to one knee by that head kick but immediately got back up & started swinging back & wasn’t stunned. Clear 10 – 9 Max

Round 2 (20 – 18 Holloway): (6, 1, 15) vs (6, 5, 10)

Spoiler

• 4:12 (x2), 3:49, 3:41, 2:52, 2:31, 2:20, 2:03, 1:42, 1:26, 1:05, 0:21, 0:15 – Inside lead leg kick
• 4:10, 3:23, 2:51, 2:47, 2:17, 2:13, 1:40, 1:25 – Inside lead leg kick
• 4:20 – Right cross to the body
• 4:07 – Lead leg sweep
• 4:06 – Outside lead leg kick
• 4:01 – Right uppercut + Left hook to the head
• 3:41 – Left uppercut to the head
• 3:21 – Front kick to the body
• 2:55 – Right cross + left hook to the head
• 2:44 – Left jab to the face
• 2:39 – Oblique lead leg kick
• 2:30 – Left hook to the chest
• 2:25 – Punch to the chest
• 2:08 – Left jab to the face
• 2:08 – Left hook to the head
• 1:55 – Knee to the body
• 1:26 – Outside calf kick
• 1:23 – Left hook to the head
• 1:10 – Body kick
• 1:05 – Right cross to the head
• 1:00 – Left jab to the head
• 0:26 – Head kick (partial)
• 0:12 – Left uppercut to the head: drops Volk who was squared up in his stance, doesn’t appear wobbled just like the last round

Spoiler: Round 2 Summary

Very inactive for the first minute. Max mostly gets the better of him and lands the best strike that drops Volk down to one knee. Volk repeatedly has success with that lead left hook to the head. 10 – 9 Max

Robbery thrown out the window, it was a close fight. I originally thought Max won but watched the fight a second time recently and now I think Volk won. I'm a Max fan. Volk is very underrated and is entering the ATG talk.

 

[Eiger]

I haven't rewatched the fight since viewing it live, but I distinctly remember thinking that Max was letting the fight get away from him after the 3rd concluded. And that after the final bell, I was confident Volk had pulled off the comeback. That's all I gots to offer.

 

[JustBleed69]

I see that you are a Volkanovski die-hard fan, which makes your post less then credible.
However, you did apparently put a lot of time and effort into this post and I actually read it.
Well done and I generally agree, although I do still think Round 3 was the swing round.

I kinda think this fight could've gone either way.
The commentary that night was complete trash and warped the narrative of the fight. Max also has an incredibly toxic fan-base.
Max is fucking awesome man, but guess what? So is Volk.
These lunatics need to stop performing hero worship over specific fighters and watch the scrap for what it is; an insanely close and competitive fight between 2 incredible featherweights.

 

[jeff7b9]

 

[legkicktko]

It all depends how you define robbery. As you said yourself, you made that definition up.


Another way to look at it, is that of 27 media scores, 66.67% scored it for max (18/27). In other words, twice as many of the MMA media thought Max won than Volk.


You might say, but who cares? Who are the mma media? Well, that’s where the point falls apart. The MMA Media are spot on compared to judges. In fact, regardless of who you ask, if you ask a seasoned mma fan or fighter, they will tell you some of the worst people to possibly have judge a fight are the current judges. No matter who your favorite fighter is, we all have seen dramatically bad decisions on a much too frequent basis. We all know the current MMA judges are unqualified. That may be the only thing everyone on the forum agrees on!


In addition, there are 27 mma media judging compared to 3 judges. In other words, it becomes more compelling to believe since even though that in addition to being more qualified as they understand the sport much better as writers and personalities who actually watch, we are human and subject to bias, so having 27 people instead of 3 helps to weed out those who are dramatically biased towards one fighter.


So basically, of 27 media judges, 66.67& scored it for Max and of the cageside judges who we know for a fact notoriously suck, that number is flipped. For fans, 64.4% think Holloway won, but only 1/3 in terms of judges who we know suck. Looking at this in context, it is clear. There is consensus. If you are anyone besides the cageside dorks who we all agree suck, there is about 2/3 chance you think Max won. Period.


From that perspective, the judges did rob him from a decision that he should have won over 64% of the time whether from fans or MMA media. That makes the cage side dorks the minority and people who have Max winning the majority. Hence, the only thing keeping him from victory was being robbed by 2/3 judges who are of minority opinion.

 

[RockyLockridge]

Max is an awesome fighter and has gain a lot of fans not just because of his fighting style and personality these individuals cant separate their feelings from reality. Max lost 3 round to 2. the bias towards max is huge not that i blame people because he really is a great fighter Anyone should want to see win, but i can't take the opinion of someone who thinks max won round 3 of that fight seriously

 

[Aegon Spengler]

Max definitely beat Volk easily in the 2nd fight, settle down.

 

[ferrisjso]

Correct.

Nice work.

 

[Ares Black]

Max definitely beat Volk easily in the 2nd fight, settle down.

Lol. Did you watch the fight?

 

[Aegon Spengler]

Lol. Did you watch the fight?

Yeah, did you?