Whats wrong with mma scoring?

Question

i asked this question and i deleted it so im not going to write it all over again with detail but how is mma scored.. brock lesnar beat the c**p out of herring and fight was scored 30-26 but brock beat the c**p out of herring who didn't really do anything the whole fight.. how did he get such a close score... same with the rampage vs griffen fight 48-46 when griffen dominated him how did the score get so close? can someone explain this to me?

Answer 1

I've read that it's simply a custom in many parts of the country that fighters receive no fewer than seven points. In the Herring fight, it seems that Herring scored nine on two rounds and eight on another. You only get fewer than nine points when you get hurt, like cut open or almost finished, or when you have a point deducted, in my experience. So, a good example of a round where a 10-8 score would be awarded would be when Fedor beat Herring mercilessly and busted him open a few years ago. Only fights where one guy is really stalling or running would result in a 10-7 round. It seems Lesnar only really hurt Herring in one of the three rounds.

Jackson seems to have won two rounds. Seems like the judges would disagree with you. (Keep in mind, I didn't watch either fight).

Answer 2

Most rounds are scored 10-9.  If one fighter has a slight edge during the round, he gets 10 points and the other fighter gets 9.  However, even if one fighter clearly wins the round - i.e., lands more punches and kicks, gets more takedowns, and controls the ground action - the judges will still usually score the round 10-9.  In order to get a 10-8 round, one fighter will have to totally beat the cr@p out the other, i.e. almost knock him out, or ground and pound him the entire 5 minutes, with lots and lots of damage done.  10-8 rounds are very rare, because usually when a round is that one-sided, the ref will step in and stop the fight.  I can't imagine what a 10-7 round would look like.  I guess one fighter would have to be just about dead, and the other completely untouched...  

I agree this system is dumb, but that's the way it works.  

Answer 3

MMA scoring is done on "10 point must" across the board.  This should have never happened in the sport, but I don't run the big commerical UFC monster so it is that it is.  All sports involving any type of kicking what so ever should have "Kick Judges" as well as "Score Keepers" and also the regular three judges like MMA uses. All these, the Kickjudges, the score keepers and the boubt judges should all tabulate their scores together.  MMA should have a six ( 6 ) power kick per round rule .... just like in kick boxing man.  Punches thrown and landed percentages are not counted in MMA, but d**n well should be.  I understand that control and aggressiveness are imporatant to the judging in MMA and that aspect should never be taken out of MMA, but in the same token they should not be the final and deciding factor in the cage.  There are a ton of problems with the current scoring sytem in MMA and more and more fighters are coming to blows with organizations over their scoring.  One the other hand there's crappy refereeing because of clearly undifined rules such as where is the rule for dropping a knee down onto a grounded opponent clearly layed out in writing?  No where that's where  you may not stomp downward but the knee is a "ify" area at best.... so referee's can either majorly miss a foul or call a foul where there really isn't even one clearly defined in the first place.  Refereeing is another story all together though.  It's "10 point must" that's s******g the sport up and especially since total thrown and landed aren't counted any way.  Food for though ..........

Answer 4

It's a ten point must system.

Meaning the fighter who wins the round gets 10 points, the other fighter gets 9.

The only way it is possible to get 10-7 is through penalties.

A 10-8 round isn't defined by damage, it is defined by lack of action, or complete domination.

A 10-8 round would be where one person not only completely controlled the other person, but the other person offered no offense what so ever. Take for example the Kalib Starnes vs. Nate Quarry fight, where Starnes essentially ran around the ring, offering no fight.

I imagine the 1st round was scored 10-8, not just because Brock dropped him, but because he dominated him in such a fashion and Herring offered no offense.

Hope that helps.

Edit: for William P: I mean ?:

I disagree about the need for kick judges as really, kicking isn't heavily utilized in MMA enough to warrant needing any kind of scoring based off it.

While percentage thrown and landed would be nice, it is hard to really include that as an incarnation into MMA, because of the variety of techniques, and the fact that not everyone is a striker, or is going to use striking to "outpoint" their opponent, some would just use ground control. Additionally would you count the tippy tap punches a guy on the bottom is throwing as scoring blows? Despite the fact he is controlled, taking more damage from harder but less frequent blows? Also landing percentages are much higher in MMA, as not nearly as many punches and kicks are thrown, again it would be a waste. Also I think the whole point system in kickboxing and boxing is flawed, you end up with very boring fights in which the person concentrates on outpointing their opponent instead of finishing them. ( ala Lennox Lewis)

While I don't agree totally with a 10 point must (other organizations have used judges to judge the fight as an entirety instead of round by round, which is also flawed. The truth is no matter what scoring system is used, there is always going to be complaints. My biggest complaint is that the judges from MMA aren't always the best judges for it, they are former boxing or kickboxing judges, sometimes they come up with bizarre scores.

Also the dropping of a knee to a ground opponent is laid out.

15. Kneeing the head of a grounded opponent.

Pretty much any pro organization you can drop a knee on a guy anywhere but the head, the same as kicking. But most of them do not allow any stomping.

No matter what the sport, referees are going to be the scapegoat. There are good refs, there are good calls, and sometimes like all human error there are bad calls. Just part of the game, the truth is if you are doing what you are supposed to the refs impact is going to be minimal, and if a guy gets away with a dirty shot, then that is just part of the game. You repay him by whippin his @ss without having to resort to dirty shots.