UFC 124 Rant

Majority draw... what the ****, what is the point of this rule. The way I have this in my head is if judge A & judge B find it a draw each than it's neutral or cancels out, making judge C the deciding scorecard. To tell you the truth I don't agree with draws at all. The fact that a winner can't be chosen is ridiculous. To stop draws from gracing the octagon again I've (With the help of others) come up with this plan. Three judges score the rounds like any normal fight, then in case of a draw there will be a a fourth judge just for damage done. That fourth judge will determine the damage done as a whole. Making the fighter with most damage done the winner. I know it's a strech but it would work with the help of a qualified judge. Do you guys agree or do you enjoy not having a winner to fights?

(Ceil Peoples judge/ref. extrodener) 
 
FIRE CEIL

That's a nice Cecil People's pic.

I don't have as much of a problem with draws as you do. I didn't see this fight but the play by play makes it sound like Natal won the first two rounds, but then got his ass kicked in round 3 and had absolutely nothing left in the gas tank.  They gave it a 10-8 for Bongfeldt in the 3rd making it a draw.

So if they only had the 3rd 10-9 for Bong, he would have lost the fight 29-28.  And that kind of sucks also because because the "last man standing" at the end of the fight clearly is Bongfeldt. If it was life or death or was a fight to the finish, clearly Bong wins at that point.

No the draw doesn't really piss me off. In fact it's kind of like saying "well, Natal may have won 2 rounds, but he didn't win the fight, he got his ass kicked."  Draw is ok.

The bigger problem is all these 3 round fights when it is 5 round fights that really tell the story of who the better man is. The 10 point must system messes things up and doesn't really tell you who won the fight, and 3 rounds isn't enough for these guys to work their games.  

The only time the judges have really pissed me of is Tyson vs Lentz i was ******* disgusted Tyson clearly won that fight !

i didn't see this fight so i won't weigh in on it specifically, but i think draws are still sufficiently infrequent in high level mma that they should begin by addressing the timing and scoring systems, which are the source of far more unfair results.

the first order of business is to let fights run longer so that fewer are decided by judges.  if that is not effective, an overhaul to the scoring system could possibly come next.  then, at that point, if draws are happening more frequently something could be done at that point to reduce them.

as people have pointed out, probably the best way to ensure a just result in a fight is to move from three 5:00 rounds to five 5:00 rounds.  i don't actually endorse this, however, because 25:00 fights have serious negative business consequences.  it means fewer fights on a card, which means fewer fighters under contract. it also means fewer highlight-reel finishes, which are an important engine driving the growth of the sport.

instead, i would like to see a system that ensures a few more minutes of fighting per bout, either under a 3 round or a 5 round format.  three 6:00 rounds (18:00 total), five 4:00 rounds (20:00 total), or possibly three 7:00 rounds (21:00 total) should all be considered.

Draws are ok with me, but I know a lot of people don't agree. Sometimes fights are pretty much dead even. If so, I'd rather see that reflected in records, rather than a coin flip.

Of the new round/time structures mentioned above, the ones I'd endorse are either biting the bullet and going with 5x5, or 3x6. Neither is perfect.  Or, you could have a "contender fight" designation where any fights that had title implications would be 5x5, but everything else remained 3x5.  That would open up a whole discussion about what is a contender fight and what isn't, but I don't think it's an impossible nut to crack. Dana/UFC has already come out against this last idea, but I think what is primarily driving the UFC right now is they don't want anything changing as they work to get unified, regulated rules in place across the world.  Once the sport is regulated and running smoothly everywhere the UFC wants, I wouldn't be surprised to then see them start singing a different tune and talking about various rule changes.

5x4 I don't like because it gives less time for grapplers to get a takedown and set anything up, and I think it would further pull the sport away from the submission game.  There was always something unique about the Pride 10 minute first round in terms of the kinds of grappling chess matches that happened when you gave the fighters more time to work and set things up.

I have no problem with Draws, sometimes fights are draws. If one fighter barely wins the first two and another dominates the 3rd what choice do you have? Cecil had nothing to do with this fight either, the judges that scored the draw were Weeks and D'Amato. I didn't get to see the fight but this may be one time the judges made the right call. I haven't heard any complaints. 

For one we could get judges in MMA who know how to score a fight, something Cecil Pepils hasn't done correctly in nearly 4 years.... Two, i didn't see the fight or read anything about it yet, perhaps there were point deductions for a few low blows or something along those lines. Regardless, i don't see these issues in MMA judging going anywhere.