UFC: Fight Night 18

Last night the UFC held it's eighteenth Ultimate Fight Night and not without controversy.

To start off the judging in the Rafael Dos Anjos versus Tyson Griffin fight was bad. The judges gave Griffin the unanimous decision 30-27 on all three cards. Dos Anjos clearly won the first round nearly taking Griffin's left leg home with him while having his back. The second round was close and the third round went to Griffin.

A unanimous decision?

No, it should've been 29-28 or a split decision but Griffin shouldn't have been awarded a clear cut unanimous decision. 

The major disappointment in my eyes was the Carlos Condit versus Martin Kampmann bout. 

I had the fight two rounds for Condit and one for Kampmann that being the 3rd round. 

The judges however gave Kampmann the split decision. Condit busted up Kampmann in the 1st round and landed the crisper punches. Kampmann did have a tight Guillotine in the 1st, but Condit escaped the attempt.

The 2nd round saw Kampmann work on top of Condit while Condit possessed a active guard attempting sweeps and submissions. Condit also landed a few standing elbows in the clinch and kicks outside of the clinch.

Towards the end of the second round Condit transitioned to Kampmann's back and tried transitioning to full mount as the round ended. Finally, the 3rd frame saw Kampmann work a takedown and keep Condit on his back for the majority of the round where Condit caught Kampmann in a tight guillotine as the bell sounded.

The fight was close enough that it could have went either way, but I felt that Condit was the more active fighter that landed the crisper strikes and possesed the more active ground game. Overall, the fight card was good and it broke the attendance record for a Ultimate Fight Night.

Judging in mixed martial arts isn't up to par by any means.

For instance, take UFC 75 when Michael Bisping was awarded a split decision over Matt Hamill. Hamill clearly dominated the first two rounds both standing and on the ground. The 3rd round saw Bisping out strike Hamill, but that wasn't enough to award him the victory as the judges saw it differently.

When announced the victor, Bisping was booed in his home country. Judges don't seem to award points for submission attempts, which in my eyes are more work than taking a guy down and holding him with no intention of trying to advance the position. I'm sure that there are more fights that judges have gotten terribly wrong.

At last, if you leave it up to the judges, then you can't expect a win no matter what. We all know this. If a fighter wants to win, then they no doubt have to finish the fight and not expect the judges to get it right.

I may be wrong, but I felt the judging for UFN 18 was off and is off quite often. Feel free to critique this and speak your mind on what you think of officiating in combat sports.

Up next for the ZUFFA brass UFC 97: Silva vs. Leites, which I would imagine won't go to a decision.