Methods to Improve MMA Judging: Part Two

After a slew of razor-thin decisions at the past few UFC events (read: Franklin-Silva, Fisher-Uno, Davis-Hardy, Sanchez-Guida, Hughes-Serra, Blackburn-Garcia, Guillard-Tibau), I feel that now is an appropriate time to release the second article in my series which focuses on different ways that the judging system in MMA can be rectified.

Like its predecessor, which can be found here or under my profile if one missed it, this article highlights two unique proposals.

The first aims to facilitate the quality of the scoring format, while the second contains a provision for improving the excellence of refereeing, which is arguably just as important since the number of stoppages usually outweighs the quantity of decisions on each card.

I have chosen the ideas represented in this series based on perceived efficiency, applicability, ease of employment, and originality.

There are a lot of changes that could be made to the judging system, but in these articles I have tried to provide adequate justification for a select handful of what I think are the most practical and enduring solutions to the problem at hand.

What we need now, most of all, is to brainstorm on how the judging can be improved. Then we need to work towards achieving this goal so that in the future, MMA can have a fair and equitable scoring system for the benefit of everyone involved.

Lastly, as I stated in part one, these proposals are mainly geared towards the North American theatre and the state athletic commissions which control MMA here. The Japanese organizations employ their own distinct rules, sets, and customs.

I have already talked too much, so here are the designs that I had in mind.

Proposition:  Implement Five Rounds of Four Minutes Each

The International Fight League may no longer exist, but it taught us a valuable lesson: an MMA fight can be contested using four-minute rounds without any hitches.

There are numerous advantages towards using four-minute rounds, instead of the customary five-minute format, which I believe certainly outweigh any potential drawbacks.

While some fans may prefer to see only three rounds in total like in the IFL, I think that five rounds of four minutes each would be more suitable and would make scoring much simpler. For title fights, seven rounds of four minutes apiece would suffice.

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