Outside Source
On Saturday night, UFC 247 took place in Houston, TX, and though both Valentina Shevchenko and Jon Jones retained their titles, the biggest talking point coming out of the event was the horrible judging that plagued the card.
Of the 12 fights on the evening, four went to split decisions, with two of them being the variety that fans will justifiably scream robbery over. And then there was the main event. Though Jon Jones ultimately walked away with a unanimous decision win over Dominick Reyes, the general feeling among fans and media seemed to be that Reyes had done enough to claim the title. It certainly didn’t help that in such a close fight, one judge scored the bout four rounds to one for Jones.
The myriad issues that plagued UFC 247 of course reignited the oft-discussed topic of MMA judging and its various shortcomings, and that conversation was started again almost immediately by none other than the UFC’s commentary team – Joe Rogan and Dominick Cruz.
Following Jones’ controversial win, Rogan and Cruz waxed poetic on the PPV broadcast (per ESPN) about the problems with the 10 point must scoring system and how it can be fixed to better work for MMA.
“It’s unfortunate because it’s one of the biggest sports in the world [and] in my opinion, it’s the most exciting sport in the world,” Rogan said
“A lot of money on the line and the judging is . . .” Cruz continued.
“Incompetent judging,” said Rogan. “Incompetent judging and a poor system. If we got together the best minds in mixed martial arts, the best journalists and fighters and they tried to figure out a way where we can agree on some sort of scoring system that makes more sense, it would be nice.”
“We need to work together with these commissions and they’ve got to let us in,” Cruz added. “They won’t let us in. They want to control everything and that’s the issue. Why can’t we just all work together towards one common goal of creating an amazing sport. That’s what we need to do and stop being separate – commission’s here, we’re here – no. We’re all one.”
“Clearly it’s a giant issue with people judging that really don’t understand martial arts,” Rogan concluded. “They have judged boxing. Boxing you’re dealing with two weapons, a variety of ways of using them, but two weapons. With mixed martial arts, there’s just so much more to it.”
Rogan has been a vocal opponent of the 10-point must scoring system for years, and when there are controversial decisions on major cards, he tends to kick the conversation back up into prominence. However, he’s rarely as vocal as he was following UFC 247 and this could have something to do with the judge who was reportedly not paying attention during the Andrea Lee–Lauren Murphy fight that ended up being one of the more egregious split decisions of the evening.
Regardless of why, Rogan and Cruz have a point. The 10-point must scoring system is not optimized for MMA. Even UFC President Dana White agrees about the problems with UFC 247, though he seems to be putting it down to the commissions to fix. After all, White has already solved the issue of judging in MMA, and he’s been telling it to fighters for years, don’t leave it in the hands of the judges.
Results. Jon Jones and Valentina Shevchenko retained their titles at UFC 247.
Sure. Jon Jones: ‘It was close’ but Dominick Reyes lost UFC 247 headliner, open to future rematch.
Robbed. Dominick Reyes feels ‘disrespected’ after UFC 247, wants word with 49-46 judge for Jon Jones.
Judging. Dana White discusses controversial UFC 247 main event: ‘The scoring was all over the map’.
No sell. Kamaru Usman: Jorge Masvidal couldn’t KO Nate Diaz, so I’m not worried.
UFC 247 Post Show.
Post-fight presser.
Lookin’ for a fight.
Izzy.
Kamaru Usman in Saudi Arabia.
Chocolate wasted.
6th Round. Immediate post-fight analysis of UFC 247.
Severe MMA. Discussing UFC 247, Jon Jones, judging, and Shevchenko.
Reactions.
The decisions tonight were all wrong . They need vet fighters to become judges for our sport
— Eddie Alvarez (@Ealvarezfight) February 9, 2020
Is our sport the only major sport where you don’t see score until game is over? What would harm be in judges showing their scores after each round? Honest question not a diss
— Max Holloway (@BlessedMMA) February 9, 2020
Complaining about mma decisions is stupid. You mutha fuck@$ act like you didnt know we used a flawed, antiquated boxing system with unclear criteria and no accountability from the judges. We have billion dollar industry and these dudes still writing scores with crayons.
— Din Thomas (@DinThomas) February 9, 2020
Except, this is not how it works. There are rules. You score according to them.
I know I’m wrong to do what I do because I’m not a trained judge but I will always weight later rounds more heavily than earlier ones. I ask myself who would survive a no time/rule encounter. Because of that it was a clear @JonnyBones victory for me. https://t.co/OLSelSU4QG
— Coach Kavanagh (@John_Kavanagh) February 9, 2020
Nah.
As @kennyflorian texted me, “watching fights to watch vs. watching to score is much different.”
I’d encourage anyone gettin’ loud about Jones-Reyes decision to watch it back. I just re-racked Rd. 2 and now understand why a judge could give it to Jones. One fan’s opinion…
— Jon Anik (@Jon_Anik) February 9, 2020
Andrea Lee not taking this laying down.
Handling the loss well.
Today i did something i don’t usually do after a fight , especially a loss. I read all of the comments and nessages, even the bad ones, and i only gave energy back to the positive ones. You can never eliminate negativity, but i lost the desire to respond and that’s a big step.
— Juan Adams UFC (@chosenjuan285) February 9, 2020
Back to middleweight.
Would watch.
Spoke with the @ufc last night you gonna take the fight @NateDiaz209 ? 170LBS May in California or July international fight week? Come get this work
— The Diamond (@DustinPoirier) February 8, 2020
Make this the poster.
Alistair Overeem (45-18) vs. Walt Harris (13-7); UFC Portland, April 11.
Carla Esparza (15-6) vs. Michelle Waterson (17-7); UFC Portland, April 11.
Vicente Luque (17-7-1) vs. Randy Brown (12-3); UFC Portland, April 11.
Julia Avila (7-1) vs. Karol Rosa (12-3); UFC Portland, April 11.
Alessio Di Chirico (12-4) vs. Abu Azaitar (14-2-1); UFC Portland, April 11.
Tristan Connelly (14-6) vs. Alex da Silva (21-2); UFC Portland, April 11.
Dontale Mayes (8-3) vs. Rodrigo Nascimento (7-0); UFC Portland, April 11.
Man. Jon Jones really has not looked good in a while. The Thiago Santos fight was close, but Reyes definitely beat him. Won’t be long before someone takes the belt from him at this rate.
Thanks for reading and see y’all tomorrow.
Poll
Who did you score the fight for?
- 29%
Jon Jones
(114 votes)
- 70%
Dominick Reyes
(269 votes)
383 votes total Vote Now
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This article first appeared at MMA Fighting – All Posts
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