Why We Need to Support MMA Judge Cecil Peoples

The fight between Lyoto Machida and Shogun Rua was a very close fight. While I've tried to shed some light on the scoring of the fight, to show how close and competitive it was, at this point, I don't even care about that anymore.

The fight was a great fight, and we're going to see a rematch. That's two big positives, and more than we could have hoped for.

At this point, my main issue is with the way some people have been treating Cecil Peoples following the decision. Frankly, I'm disgusted.

First of all, Peoples was only one of the three judges, who all submitted 48-47 scorecards for Machida.

Secondly, the rounds were scored nearly identically by all three judges. They all saw the fight in virtually the exact same way.

Whatever other reasons people have for being upset, things have gone beyond criticism of a decision, and have now extended into the realm of personal attacks. Franklin McNeil of ESPN wrote a good piece on the judging as well, that's worth reading.

This is not what the sport of Mixed Martial Arts is supposed to be about. No matter what you think of the fight decision.

One of the things that I like about MMA is that for the most part, the people involved conduct themselves with respect, dignity, and honor.

Somewhere over the past week I've been at a loss in my attempts to find that spirit alive and well inside the MMA fan community.

MMA fans should be above vilifying a judge just because they don't agree with a decision.