How to fix the scoring

RobertV12

White Belt
@White
Joined
Jan 3, 2016
Messages
14
Reaction score
0
Ok, so after last night's fight I was thinking how to fix the scoring system in MMA. It is clear that it can't be like in boxing. It just isn't the same output. You have 12 rounds vs mostly 3 rounds, scored mostly 10-9. While in boxing it evens out, in MMA it doesn't. Because of the reduced number of rounds, you have to have a more clear cut difference between a close round, a dominant round, and so on.

First of all, we should reduce the 10 point system to a 5 point system. It is way easier to make a good difference between rounds. So here we go:

5-5 - A round where you can't decide on a clear cut winner. Fighters may feel one another and don't engage so much. A good example that comes to my mind is Round 1 Dos Santos vs Reem. Almost no strikes, Reem had a couple of good punches while Dos Santos was the one pushing forward and controlling the fight.

5-4 - A typical round where one fighter is more dominant then the other. He lands more strikes or the better strikes or he lands some takedowns but the fight isn't no where near to being stopped and the opponent isn't overwhelmed at any point. Moussasi vs Leites rounds from last night.

5-3 - A round where only one fighter clearly dominates his opponent, landing shots over and over again and hurting his opponent. This is not one fighter just landing more than the other, but overwhelming and rocking him either with strikes, or manhandling him with wrestling or grappling. Good examples: Conor vs Holloway round 1, Maia vs Nelson round 2 and 3, Jones vs Shogun, or any round when a fighter is almost finished via submission ( Jones vs Vitor ). I consider almost getting finished by subs not as bad as almost getting finished by strikes because usually it does not affect a fighter's performance later in the fight.

5-2 - A round when a fighter is almost finished by strikes or gnp. He either survives by clinching or he gets saved by the bell. Cormire and Rumble rd 1, Weidman - Rockhold rd 3, Anderson - Bisping rd 3.

5-1 - Something that won't happen often. A round where a fighter gets dropped multiple times but somehow the fight is not stopped. Like Silva vs Griffin but without the stoppage.

Also, if let's say a fighter is dominating a round and is about to be a 5-3 round for fighter A but fighter B manages to connect and drop his opponent at the end of the round it should be like this: 5-3 fighter A for dominating, 5-2 fighter B for almost finishing the fight. Add the numbers and you have a 8-7 round for the fighter that almost finished the fight, and then scale it to a 5-4 round.

So let's take Anderson vs Bisping:
Rd 1: 5-5. They did not really engage, both hit a couple of shots but mostly moving inside the cage.
Rd 2: 5-3 Bisping. He was more aggressive, landed more and rocked Anderson towards the end.
Rd 3: 5-2 Anderson. If not for the bell, the fight would have been over.
Rd 4: 5-4 Bisping. This is hard to decide. Anderson let him recover and even hit him while on the fence, it was an odd round, it could go either way.
Rd 5: 5-4 or 5-3 Anderson. Bisping face was a mess and he was clearly in danger on a couple occasions, when Anderson landed some punches and that front kick that almost dropped him.
Decision: Anderson - Bisping 22 - 20/21. More accurate with how the damage was inflicted during the fight. Yes, Bisping landed more and was more aggressive, but Silva was the one that almost stopped the fight.

I am not saying that this system is perfect, but I think it could be a base for a better way to judge an MMA fight.
 
So a rd where Andy did nothing for 4 minutes and 30 seconds he gets a 5-2 rd. Was rd 2 a 5-2 rd too? Andy was rocked and eating some ground n pound as time expired
 
If used properly the 10 point must would be what you suggested. However judges are too hesitant to score rounds 10-8, and almost no judge ever scores a round 10-10.

Having said that I'd like to see them go to a PRIDE style system of judging. Keep the rounds in tact obviously, but score the fight as a whole instead of who wins 2 of 3 or 3 of 5 rounds.
 
Better for a fighter to finish a fight and not rely on the judges. There are always gonna be times when judges don't agree on rounds so it's always in a fighters best interest to finish the fight.
 
even if you are more free to use 10-8 rounds, the fight is a draw. silva still doesn't win as much as I love silva.

round 1 10-9 bisping
round 2 10-8 bisping
round 3 10-8 silva
round 4 10-9 bisping
round 5 10-8 silva
46-46
 
With the name of that topic and the length of the thread we are going to have to charge you a fee to read it because their is only one way to fix the scoring and that is do away with judging and time limits like it should be and like a real fight happens, fight till somebody submits, quits, gets knocked out, or TKO by ref stoppage for whatever reason. Keep the rules they have in place and let them fight. Anytime you have human beings judging a fight, a dive contest, Cutest dog contest, and the list goes on and on their opinion can be influenced and or swayed. Let me repeat the only way to fix scoring is to remove the human element. When Computers or machines can judge fights by all means bring em back. Lets also make a note they get it right more than they get it wrong just like the refs but nobody mentions that they are only all over a close fight like Bisping vs Silva and I have watched every interview etc and I am seeing basically a 50 % split in opinion its not like Shogun vs Machida 1 but you would think it was that bad.

Damn now I am going to have to pay a fee to get somebody to read my post but god damn if it was so easy to fix all this shit it would be fixed by now.
 
I think in a different kind of scoring. 10-9, 10-8, 10-7 and 10-6.
Head to Head round, won by detail, like one takedown in the end or a little bigger aggressiveness 10-9 for the winner.
Round with a good and clear domination, 10-8.
Huge domination, with knockdown, hornsaving, etc, 10-7.
Massacre, 10-6.
 
I hate 10-10 or in this case 5-5 rounds. Someone has to win the round even by the slightest margins. For real people, I can imagine how many draws would happen if judges were recommended to give out even pointed rounds. You'd start getting more fighters with records like 19-4-7. Can't happen. Someone has to get the 9 or in TS's scenario the 4. It would really clog up and stagnant divisions.
 
Pride judging.

Have judges held responsible for who they award the fight. Make them attend press conferences after events to explain themselves.
 
Back
Top