MMA Judges

Open scoring in the UFC? Count Dana White out

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UFC, Dana White

One of the most controversial topics in the UFC is judging. Really, it’s a problem in combat sports as a whole. How many times have we seen fights where someone was robbed because the judges seemed incredibly incompetent?

We’ve seen UFC President Dana White on a number of occasions blast the judging. After UFC 251, White was very vocal about the fact that he believed Max Holloway defeated Alexander Volkanovski. 

With so many bad decisions in the world of MMA, open scoring has been a topic that is discussed. Open scoring would allow the fighters to see where they stand in between rounds.

It would completely take away the suspense from UFC fights in terms of scoring, however, at least the fighter would know where they stand. There would be no heartbreaking surprises whenever Buffer reads off the scorecards.

However, there are some major concerns about open scoring as well. In a live Q&A on ESPN+, White was asked about his take on open scoring making it’s way to the UFC. White was adamant that he’s not a fan of the concept.

White said, “If a guy knows that he’s up two rounds and you’re a professional fighter, you can absolutely stay away from a guy for an entire round and make the fight completely horrible. Would make for a lot of bad third rounds.”

Should the UFC do open scoring?

I don’t always agree with Dana White, but I’m 100% behind him here. Yes, there would be a big advantage for fighters knowing exactly where they stood in between rounds during their UFC fights.

However, from a fans perspective, this would be a nightmare. As White mentioned, if fighters know that they are up 2-0 or 3-1 in main events going into the final round, they would essentially run for five minutes and secure the win.

There would be so many UFC fights that would lack action in the final round. The exciting part of a lot of fights is the unknown. The unknown pushes fighters to put exclamation points on their potential victories in the final round.

However, without that suspense, you’re going to see a lot of fighters playing it safe. There would be a lot of booing (assuming fans are back) and a lot of evasive tactics. Now on the other hand, you might see the losing fighters go crazy knowing they need a finish.

You would see extremes in those situations. One fighter would be trying to run while the other would be desperate for a finish or a 10-8 round. In my opinion, the cons outweigh the pros and for that reason, I don’t want to see open scoring make it’s way to the UFC.

UFC: Should athletic commissions show live scores in between rounds?

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How many times have we heard UFC President Dana White tell his fighters or the media that you cannot leave fights in the hands of the judges. The reality of the situation is judging in MMA is far from a perfect science. Think of all of the terrible decisions we’ve seen over the years in MMA. Well, the Kansas Athletic Commission is trying something out that just might change the game.

That’s right, at tonight’s Invicta event, fighters will be able to know the scores after each round. Now, the fighters and their corners are not left guessing at what’s going on in the judges head. This is something that I’m a huge fan of. Think about it from the fighters perspective. A fighter might believe they have two rounds in the bag so they might try to coast in round three, but two judges have the fight 1-1. Now the fighter is forced to go all out in the third round knowing it’s do or die.

The UFC has been filled with terrible decisions over time. The UFC has also been filled with a bunch of fighters who completely take their foot off the gas when they think they have the fight won. Let’s think about a couple of tough decisions that went against former UFC welterweight champion, Johny Hendricks (18-8).

Decisions that could have changed UFC history

Bigg Rigg’s first tough decision loss came at UFC 167 against the great Georges St. Pierre. Anyone who was watching that night knew that Johny Hendricks was winning that fight. All 16 analysts from MMADecisions.com gave the fight to Hendricks. Going into the fifth round, everyone on those scorecards and one of the official judges had Hendricks up 3-1. However, two of the judges had the fight dead even at 2-2.

Hendricks coasted through the fifth round, and he didn’t fight with a ton of urgency. It was clear that Hendricks believed that he had three rounds in the bag. St. Pierre took the round and took the split decision to retain his UFC welterweight title. Hendricks was devastated and Dana White labeled the Nevada Athletic Commission as a “Atrocious” after the fight calling for the governor to get involved.

Less “What ifs?”

What if Hendricks knew going into the fifth round that two of the judges had it tied? Hendricks would have busted out of the gate trying to convince those two judges that there’s no way he should lose the fight. Same thing happened to Hendricks against Robbie Lawler at UFC 181.

Revealing the scores live would create less suspense before the cards are read. Now you could also see much more urgency in the final rounds of fights. At the same time, you could say that it would cause fighters to really take their foot off the gas if they know for a fact that they are up two rounds to one. It’s an interesting debate, but I’m all for the fighters knowing exactly where they stand in the eyes of the one ones that matter during a fight.