5 Ways to Improve the UFC

The UFC puts on a tremendous show. No one disputes that. It's non stop action from the opening fight right up until the main event.

The truth is, once you fall under the spell of mixed martial arts, it's very hard to look at other sports the same way. I used to watch SportsCenter multiple times a day. At night, you'd find my TV locked on TNT or the Deuce, watching basketball to the point I knew the players in the garbage West Coast conferences like the WAC.

The UFC changed all of that. Who can watch a guy bouncing a ball or one fat redneck hurling a ball at another fat redneck who will attempt to hit it with a stick? Those are kids' games.

The UFC has guys fighting. Locked in a steel cage! With very limited rules to protect them from being maimed. It's the perfect sport for kids raised on violent video games and the music of Ice Cube.

Well, almost perfect. There are some changes I would make to take a good thing and make it even better. How would I propel the UFC into the hearts and minds of the world's sports fans?

Strap in and find out.

Provide a Rankings System

The UFC blurs the line between sport and spectacle. In other athletic endeavors, the path to a championship is clear. In a playoff system, when you win, you continue until only a single team remains standing. In individual sports like tennis, tournament play works in much the same way.

Even boxing's corrupt sanctioning bodies release rankings and use them to choose challengers to a title belt. The UFC has no such athletic architecture. They publish no official rankings, and there is not always any rhyme or reason associated with title challenges or in the matchmaking.

It's time to end that. Let's get a peak into the mind of matchmaker Joe Silva. A fighter should know where he stands and what he needs to do to advance to title contendership. That all starts with rankings that matter.

Adopt an Open Scoring System

Imagine you were watching the Super Bowl. The Giants were up on the Patriots 22-17—or at least you thought they were. See, there had been a close play in the end zone earlier in the game. No one was quite sure whether the officials had counted it as a touchdown because the official scoring was a closely guarded secret until the final scores were released after the fourth quarter.

Ludicrous, right? In almost every sport, athletes know where they stand. Need three runs to tie the game in the bottom of the ninth inning? Well, you know exactly what needs to be done.

In mixed martial arts and boxing, the athletes have no idea if they are winning or losing. For five rounds last weekend, Nick Diaz believed he was winning his title fight with Carlos Condit. The decision came as a huge surprise.

What if, like in all other meaningful contests, Diaz had known exactly where he stood, if he had known that he needed to do more to win? Could he have come out on top? We'll never know, because the judges' scorecards are not revealed until the fight is all over.

It's time to change that. I know the Association of Boxing Commissions hates the idea of open scoring. Institutions like that hate all change; not that long ago, they even hated the idea of mixed martial arts.

But a new era of combat sports has dawned. We don't need to be tied to all of boxing's bad decisions. Boxing simply hasn't kept up with the times. It makes no sense to follow their lead because "that's how it has always been done."

Open scoring makes sense. It should be adopted for mixed martial arts.

Make the Cage Smaller

Remember when you were a kid, in middle school or high school, and you and your friends would come across a basketball court with eight-foot rims? Was there anything cooler? Everyone could dunk and take it to the rim like their favorite NBA stars.

Sure, the court was in tatters within a week, and the elementary school kids had no place to play after both rims came down after someone mimicked Daryl Dawkins a little too well. But while it lasted, it was awesome.

That's how the UFC should be. The fights should be exciting beyond belief. There was nothing wrong with what Carlos Condit did last weekend. He used a spacious Octagon to stay out of Nick Diaz's reach. Bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz also uses his mobility as a tactic. It's paid off with a title reign that may last into the foreseeable future.

But defensive fights are bad for the fans. Mainstream sports realize this too. When football gets too defensive, they pass rules to give the quarterback a better opportunity to score points. In baseball, they juice the ball. In hockey, they adjust zone-trap rules.

The UFC can make an adjustment too. A smaller cage would be a good start.

Improve the Officiating

UFC president Dana White has been after the officials for years. But, event after event, fights are marred by incompetent or inconsistent officiating.

Look no further than last weekend's event. In one undercard bout, referee Herb Dean issued a single warning to fighter Alex Cacares, then took away two points after a subsequent low blow.

In a maincard fight between Josh Koscheck and Mike Pierce, Dean warned Koscheck multiple times for pawing towards Pierce's face with an open hand. When the inevitable eye poke occurred, taking a point from Koscheck didn't seem to cross Dean's mind.

Why? No one seems to have a particularly good answer. There is no clear standard, and Dean and others have wide leeway in this area.

Mistakes are naturally going to occur when fallible humans undertake a very difficult job. Perfection is impossible. But MMA officials need to be reigned in. Better training and a more active athletic commission could help keep officials on their toes.

And if an official is consistently failing? Time to replace them with someone new rather than circling the wagons. In the end, it's in the hands of state athletic commission officials.

Reinvent Strikeforce as a Feeder League

Let's be honest, Strikeforce will never again be a major player in the mixed martial arts landscape. It's been devoured for parts by the UFC, and when Gilbert Melendez finally makes the journey to the Octagon, it will be bereft of top-10 contenders.

Instead of hiding what Strikeforce has become, why not embrace it? Recognize its titles, but as regional-level belts. Borrow from pro wrestling. If the UFC belt is the world title, why can't the Strikeforce title be the equivalent of the old TV title? Use it to create new stars and rehabilitate old ones.

Instead of stocking UFC undercards with anonymous fighters, why not reserve those spots for guys who earn their place in the big leagues in Strikeforce? Sure, you will be announcing to the world that Strikeforce doesn't feature top competition, but fans aren't stupid. They know that already.

Fighters can work their way to the top in Strikeforce. Then, when they've developed a bit of a name with hardcore fans and learned how to interact with fans and the media, they will be ready for the big show.