Is the 10-Point Must System really the best way to judge MMA?

[Rampage_Jackson]

the system could be improved but even as it stands it would be fine if they utilized it better

 

[Francis Rossi]

PRIDE rules>10 point must system.

It's not perfect but its clearly the superior system

Pride's refs and judges worked for Pride, and were prone to making fucking horrible decisions based on who Pride wanted to win (such as a star name or someone Japanese).

 

[TheMMAnalyst]

not when they only go as low as 9 in the vast majority of the time. they have 10 points to use and only use 1 or 2.

it makes sense in boxing because with knockdowns you can make a HUGE difference, and its across more rounds so you have time to make up lost rounds. in mma, you have to almost kill the guy to differentiate between edging him out., if you get a point deducted, you have to have a shut out or finish in order to win the fight.

10-9 should be for very close rounds
10-8 should be for clear winner
10-7 should be for very dominant rounds
10-6 should be for absolute destruction (lesnar vs carwin, rd.1)
10-5 should be frankie vs maynard rd.1

you'll get more draws but imo the current system is pretty stupid

Beautifully said, I've been preaching this for years!

If the scoring was done like this it would greatly handle the variance of mis-scoring in most cases.

 

[emperor]

Yes. Judging is based on opinion. The judges would've scored it for Diego whatever system they were using. You gotta fix the judging before the judging criteria.

This is absolutely correct. It will take a tidal wave to make it happen though.

 

[BabyBlue_Bomber]

I think the system is fine but the judges don't know what they are looking at. There should also be more 10-10 and 10-8 rounds awarded.

THIS... I hate how one fighter can dominate a fighter and get a 10-9 round while a very close round can get the same score...

Then again, I'm sure that we would see A LOT more draws in MMA if that were the case.

 

[Donald Keys]

The fighter who finishes, or who comes closest to finishing, should win the fight. If neither fighter comes close, then you can look at the point-fighting stats and will have to rely on the views of the judges a bit deeper. You're not going to get "better judges", so simplify it and let them make an easier decision.

 

[Phrozenspite]

as some others have said judges need to be changed first. if you scored the fight only on damage or closest to finishing, having an idiot for a judge will still yield a bad result. the 10 point must system is fine if used properly.

Pride's scoring weighed the end of the fight too heavily. In a real fight the dude doing the best when the fight ends would be the winner, but if you have stand ups and artificial stoppages due to rounds then it can't be judged the same way.

 

[VolkHan]

imho a close round should be a 10-10.
Can't understand this hostility against draw matches in a lot of sports

 

[TheRassler]

bring back Pride judging, along with the Pride judges.

 

[egk]

Yes. Judging is based on opinion. The judges would've scored it for Diego whatever system they were using. You gotta fix the judging before the judging criteria.

That's true it's judged based on opinion but that's why they have 3 judges. One bad judge can get overruled by the other two. If they have more than one bad one, it's gonna be a bad decision no matter what.

You can't say for sure that Diego would have won anyway though. I'm not saying he wouldn't have but if the judge who gave Sanchez two rounds thought the rounds had little action, Pearson might have made up for it in a system judging the fight as a whole.

It's not like Pearson really went after it himself but that latter point is why I hate the 10pt system. Fighter A can win round 1 by running and landing a few jabs or getting a single takedown he does nothing with. Fighter B then catches him in rd 2 and beats him up badly but doesn't get the stoppage. Fighter A gets back on his bike and finally he looks at the clock with 10 seconds to go and shoots and lands a takedown. Yayy! Fighter A wins the decision. meh!

Score the fights as a whole with damage being the primary judging criteria and I think it will help a lot in ending the points fighting we see so much of now. The fighters are often just looking to game the scoring system and you can't really blame them. They see what the judges appear to be looking for the same way we do.

 

[kpt018]

I don'tike rounds (1 timed round say 10 or 15 mins, judge it as a whole).

That rant aside, it's really the quality of judging that's bad.

 

[cleber]

the problem is not the system (wich i fair for all fighters) but the persons applying it

human mistakes ruin all

more judges = less probability of sitty decisions

please note this problem is present in all sports, judging is very complicated

the only way to solve this is no time limits an no judges

BUT

commissions will never ever allow this again and will obligue UFC to use their judges

 

[Which Doctor]

There's nothing wrong with the 10 pt must system itself, what's broken about MMA judging is the idea in many judges, fighters, coaches, fans and promoter's heads that if one guy lands one more punch or hits a TD he has "won" the round. That mentality produces point fighters who's goal is to land one more punch than the opponent and win boring sparring contests.

What MMA really needs is to separate real wins (finishes and dominant performances) from "one punch more" wins by counting the latter as no better than a draw.

100% with you on that. But everyone is so afraid of "the draw".

 

[GearSolidMetal]

The judging system is irrelevant when the athletic commission employs retards as judges.

 

[tsully]

it can work just fine if you have people who can understand it, and the actual sport.

 

[One4Deuce]

10-point must system is an awful system for three round fights and especially awful when there's such minimal usage of 10-8s and 10-10s.

 

[Kanster]

Do you not see the word 'must' in there?

 

[Ninjapunch209]

Pride rules

 

[mangokush]

No not at all OP

PRIDE had the right idea when it came to judging

As well there is no point having a "system" if the people behind the "system" are either incompentant or possibly corrupt (or both)

 

[Magnum1978]

No, the system is flawed in numerous ways. I have discussed this at length numerous times.

It needs to be scrapped and a new common sense system written up that aligns with the spirit of MMA fighting (Vale Tudo).

Pride's system was much better than the Unified System, particularly the criteria and the way that it influenced the way fights were fought a lot less, but it still could be improved.

The thing with the 10-point must, there really is no 'judging' it's 'scoring'... evaluating individual segments of a fight added up is not actually JUDGING anything. It may work better for a longer fight broken up in many segments where one aspect of fighting is considered (i.e. 12 rounds of boxing), but for MMA, it's shockingly inadequate. Even with judges scoring rounds appropriately and correctly, you can still end up with terrible results and fights being overly influenced by how rounds might be scored (particularly this is due to the criteria).