What's Wrong with Judging in MMA?

At UFC Fight Night:Fairfax the ugly head of bad judging surfaced again. Depending on who you ask Liz Carmouche lost her match and Al Iaquinta was demolished by Jorge Masvidal. Fans want the system fixed. What they really want is for whomever they felt won to win.My opinion in those two bouts was that Carmouche lost and Jorge Masvidal handily beat Iaquinta. But are the judges to blame or is the parameters of the sport? What can realistically be done to fix the bad decisions? Or is bad judging just something athletes and fans must accept?

The sport of MMA needs to accept some blame for the bad decisions it produces. Judging combat sports is difficult. Extremely. Boxing has had countless bad decisions in it's history and in boxing all you have to look for is whether one guy punches the other. In MMA a judge has to look for striking, grappling, cage control, aggressiveness, ground control, top control, submissions, damage, and probably a dozen more things. And how do you judge all that? What carries the most weight? A takedown or a three strike combo? What if a guy gets two takedowns but is hurt by strikes later in the round, what carries more weight? None of that has been defined in MMA. Or what if nothing happens in a round, who wins the round? The one with center control or the one who's footwork forced the other to have "center" control? Judging is essentially opinion. What do you think happened? So when a round is not clear cut it leaves the judge with all the power to choose what he prefers, including the fighter. Why can Floyd Mayweather use his superior footwork and speed to avoid damage and conflict and win every round while a lesser fighter loses the same type of round because he was inactive? Because everyone loves Mayweather and really, it takes boxing skill to avoid the way he does in the ring. The Masvidal/Iaquinta match is a perfect example of perception. Iaquinta is a fan favorite. He takes the fight to his opponent. Almost a brawler. Masvidal is extremely skilled on his feet. He, in my opinion was picking Iaquinta apart. But viewers felt that Masvidal was coasting and running because Iaquinta kept chasing and throwing bombs that mainly missed. I saw one fighter head and shoulders above the other in the striking department. But what many fans and the judges saw was a lot of effort from Iaquinta and another fighter not engaging. That was the perception. I can see that. Even with me giving the fight to Masvidal in the back of my mind I was thinking they may thinking Iaquinta is the aggressor. And to me, that's the worst of judging or commentating. "Well he was the aggressor" or "He was busier, threw more strikes" That means hey you should win for trying. Now, after the fight stats showed that Masvidal actually was more active and accurate during the rounds 2 & 3 that he "coasted" what other reason do we have to award the rounds to Iaquinta? I personally dislike the use of statistics to prove a fighter won because judges don't have that available. A fight should be judged on what we see, not on generated numbers. But I use them here merely to point out how opinion and perception play a major role in today's MMA judging.

UFC 185: Pettis Vs. Dos Anjos

UFC LIGHTWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP
Anthony Pettis (-430) vs. Rafael dos Anjos (+435)

Interesting match-up in the main event. Since his uneventful defeat at the lay and pray of Clay Guida, Anthony Pettis has looked every bit of the dynamic athlete he promised to be in his WEC days. After proving he could wrestle against Jeremy Stephens, Pettis has finished his last four opponents including former UFC/WEC champion Ben Henderson and former Strikeforce champion Gilbert Melendez, both had never been finished at that point. He has done it not only with athleticism but a very high skill level as well as cage IQ. He strikes unexpectedly and does not lose an opening. Against Melendez, some may argue Pettis lost the first round. Melendez rushed and pressured him against the cage and controlled the round, not giving Pettis the space he loves to perform. In round two, Melendez left an opening, was rocked by a strike and quickly finished in a classic guillotine choke. Small mistakes and failure to impose their game plan will cost any Pettis opponent dearly.

In Rafael dos Anjos, Pettis finds an opponent almost as gifted and probably larger and stronger. Dos Anjos is riding his own 3 fight win streak finishing 2 of those including the first ever knockout of Ben Henderson. He is an exceptional Thai kickboxer with vicious and accurate kicks. Beating Donald Cerrone goes a long way towards opening people's eyes to your stand up skills. Yet in 30 professional bouts he has only registered 8 KO's. He does have 11 submissions on his resume but hasn't submitted an opponent since 2012. He does have the physical attributes to hang with Pettis but for how long? Dos Anjos has shown the ability to employ a game plan, follow it to a decision victory. But Pettis is not run of the mill opponent.

One of the rarely discussed aspects of the fight game is footwork. But I emphasize it tremendously. A few MMA fighters possess next level footwork. Georges St. Pierre, Jon Jones, Anderson Silva. Anthony Pettis is nearing that level. If a fighter can control where the fight takes place he controls the outcome. That's where Pettis has the largest advantage. Dos Anjos is a solid wrestler and BJJ practioner but Pettis learned plenty in his loss to Clay Guida. since that loss, his takedown defense has been exceptional. Assuming Pettis can stuff the takedown, his fluid mobility on the feet will confound dos Anjos and keep him guessing. While dos Anjos is solid in the kicking game, Pettis is creative and deadly. He strikes from anywhere, anytime with accuracy and power. While his opponent is trying to time a leg kick Pettis is busy doing Crescent kicks or wheel kicks or some new invention we've never seen. He is a showman with victory on his mind. While dos Anjos is not merely another opponent, he will face the same fate as the previous contenders. I look for 2nd round finish via ref stoppage by strikes. Pettis will catch dos Anjos in a scramble and finish him brilliantly.

Can Cain Velazquez overcome Junior Dos Santos on the UFCs biggest night?

On November 12th Cain Velazquez puts his heavyweight belt on the line for the first time against Junior Dos Santos live and free on FOX. While most of the talk surrounds this being the UFCs first opportunity on broadcast television and what effect that will have on the company's bottom line, MMA fans are more interested in who will triumph in MMA's biggest heavyweight match-up since Fedor-CroCop.

Cain Velazquez has been almost unstoppable in his short 9 fight career. Tho only man to go the distance against him is the steady Cheick Kongo. Kongo is also the only man to show even a glimpse of weakness in Cain, rocking him early in that fight. But like all great gladiators, Velazquez rose to the challenge and controlled the rest of the fight. He has not been challenged by anyone else in his career. Even in his fight against Brock Lesnar, Cain showed excellent wrestling, octagon control and   veteran resilience to quickly turn the tide against the behemoth and earn a TKO heavyweight title victory. My hesitation in jumping on the brown pride bandwagon is purely aesthetic. I just wish he had been challenged more in his career. As a fan, I like to see what a fighter's made of when things are not going his way. Much like Georges St. Pierre folded (and will again the next time) when Matt Serra rocked him. but when you're as gifted and skilled as Cain Velazquez is, those rocky moments are and far between. Having a wrestling base is his biggest asset. He can control where the fight takes place. He quickly stood after a take down against Lesnar and took him down also. the one negative in his game is that he is not a natural striker and because of his success on the feet, he may believe he can bang against Junior dos Santos. Yes he knocked out Minotauro and TKO'd Brock Lesnar but Junior dos Santos will be the most complete stand-up fighter Cain has faced. Probably the best in the heavyweight division.
Junior dos Santos conversely has faced slightly higher pedigree fighters but also has yet to truly be tested. his last two fights have gone the distance but the outcome was never in doubt. In the UFC he has yet to be rocked or even in jeopardy of a submission. He has KO'd or submitted 5 of his 7 UFC opponents including the likes of Gonzaga, Werdun, Yvel and CroCop. He dismantled Roy Nelson and Shane Carwin. He has excellent take down defense, superior ground skills, excellent footwork, top notch cardio and the best hands in the heavyweight division. Of course, Cain Velazquez' take downs are superior to those of Roy Nelson or Shane Carwin so his take down defense will be tested. The question is, how can he beat Cain? His best shot is on the feet. Junior has shown exceptional ability to keep a fight standing via volume or superior footwork. But Cain has show similar ability. We have yet to see dos Santos on his back for a prolonged period of time and my money is on Cain Velazquez achieving that. Will Junior dos Santos wilt or rise? I feel Junior dos Santos will rise to the challenge but not enough for a victory. 
Cain Velazquez will hold his own on the feet then take the fight to the ground when the timing is right to win the early rounds. As the fight wears on Cain will use his endless cardio tank to batter and bloody Junior dos Santos with a vicious ground and pound. dos santos will fight back valiantly and show that he is worthy of a rematch but not enough to wrest the championship gold from Cain Velazquez.

Nick Diaz Retires Penn, Gets St. Pierre on super Bowl Weekend as Reward

Nick Diaz put on a show at UFC 137. BJ Penn, a former two division champ, a man who fought Lyoto Machida at light heavyweight, beat Matt Hughes twice, pretty much done everything that can be done in MMA, was reduced to an unwilling sparring partner and chose retirement than continue. Nick Diaz used his superior MMA boxing and adept groundwork to batter and dominate Penn. Then he called out Georges St. Pierre, hinting the champ faked an injury, and was rewarded with a title shot on Super Bowl weekend.

Tallk has begun whether Diaz deserves the shot, whether he can even challenge St. Pierre. While St. Pierre has and will be a very dominant champion, to dismiss the skills that Nick Diaz brings into the Octagon is ignorant. To dismiss the run Nick Diaz is on over his last eight fights is even more so. Diaz is completely adept on the ground or feet. He has shown the ability not to stuff takedowns, but to take enough out of his opponents to make their takedown attempts less effective as the fight wears on. His volume boxing style has not been solved by anyone yet. While he may not hit the hardest, ask BJ Penn if ten of those shots in a row take something of you. Ask BJ Penn how easy it is to hold Nick Diaz down or how easy a takedown is against Diaz midway through round two. Do I expect Diaz to roll through St. Pierre? Of course not, but neither vice versa. this fight is one I've waited for a long time. I'm a huge Nick Diaz fan and see this fight extremely competitive. Anyone who thinks Nick Diaz stands no chance is ridiculous. Anyone can win in MMA at anytime. Someone with Nick Diaz skill and talent can win against anyone, anytime. At the very least we will see Georges St. Pierre tested.

UFC 127 Penn vs. Fitch will give us No. 1 contender for Georges St. Pierre championship belt

For UFC 127 Penn vs. Fitch fans will get to see what the future of the UFC welterweight division might look like. With Georges St. Pierre set to defend his welterweight title against Jake Shields in Toronto at UFC 129 and possibly jumping to the middleweight division and a super-mega-fight against Anderson Silva, the B.J. Penn/Jon Fitch match-up sets up the winner as the number one contender for the presumably vacant middleweight title. The bigger question is will anyone care? Georges St. Pierre domination of the welterweight division has made all other 170 competitors obsolete. Georges St. Pierre makes everyone look bad and normal regardless of their skill level. What's worse is if Jon Fitch defeats B.J. Penn, he is even more dominant (i.e. boring) fighter than St. Pierre. The last time one of Jon Fitch's fights did not go to decision was almost four years ago on June 2007. As for B.J. Penn he's already lost two straight to Georges St. Pierre and looked wholly outclassed in their last outing. Fans have seen nothing to indicate a different outcome a third time.

As for the fight itself, it is a bit interesting. B.J. Penn is undoubtedly one of the top five most talented athletes in MMA. He can do things in the Octagon that normal fighters don't even dream of. He has outstanding speed and punching power, excellent balance, flexibility and agility. He is a world class BJJ practitioner. He is probably the most difficult fighter to achieve a takedown against. He has challenged himself throughout his career. He fought Lyoto Machida, a light-heavyweight UFC champion, and lost a decision. There is nothing B.J. Penn can not do in a MMA battle. Except maybe go a full three rounds, much less five. That is where a fighter like Jon Fitch comes in. The only thing that Jon Fitch does really well is keep going and break his opponent's spirit and will.

Jon Fitch is not the best wrestler, striker, or grappler. He has average stand up and fairly slow hands. He throws decent kicks. What he can do is push, push and push. He has a granite chin. Just take another look at his bout with St. Pierre if you doubt that. So far in his career, Jon Fitch has not faced the man that wants the victory more than him. Although B.J. Penn is a warrior and takes a bout in the Octagon with the mentality of a samurai, I do not think he is the man to break Jon Fitch.

Yes, B.J. Penn has the ability to end the bout in the fraction of a second with a punch or submission. But he has rarely showed those dynamics against the top talent he's faced. He has a tendency to gas or fold or fade or whatever anyone wants to call it, against the top competition. He did it against Jens Pulver, against Matt Hughes, and twice against Georges St. Pierre and Frankie Edgar respectively. I hope this is a competitive fight and really, I'm pulling for B.J. Penn to come out from under the shadow that has haunted him against top tier competition. Unfortunately, history does not favor him.

In the co-main event at UFC 127, Michael Bisping meets the surging Jorge Rivera. Rivera is making the most of his second shot in the UFC and used his mouth to put himself in the co-main event against the UK poster boy for the UFC. Bisping is not my favorite fighter. He has good, average skills and excellent footwork but he has benefited most from a huge push by the UFC and being placed against the right competion. Anytime he has faced anything above C level competion he has either failed miserably (Dan Henderson) or barely survived a boring decision (Matt Hamill, Chris Leben). Unfortunately, I don't see Jorge Rivera being one of the ones to topple Bisping. Rivera is a brawler with lots of heart but rarely imposes himself on an opponent. I see this fight going much like Bisping's fights against Hamill and Leben. Bisping will use his footwork to avoid punishment and pepper Rivera with the occasional jab or straight right. Just doing enough to escape another highlight KO and earn a decision. As much as I may want Rivera to flatten Bisping, I don't see him overcoming Bisping's footwork.