Michael Bisping Raises Alarm for Dana White as UFC Judges Scoring Sparks Debate

People say that MMA is a crazy sport because anything can happen in a fight. Some fighters win and some fighters lose, but sometimes the losses happen due to the officials who monitor the fights. Dana White and Co. have been dealing with such issues, including the many instances of controversial scorecards that the judges hand over to the announcer while naming the winner. Well, Michael Bisping has given his opinion on the current scenario of MMA scoring.

Fans have been calling for changes to the way fights are judged and scored for a long time. Just recently, another instance of ‘robbery’ occurred when veteran Stephen Thompson suffered a controversial loss against Gabriel Bonfim, and the fans wanted the judges to get fired. While the past cannot be changed, UFC legend Michael Bisping decided to reiterate the rules and educate these judges who fumble a lot.

Michael Bisping wants UFC judges to pay attention to the rules of MMA scoring

During a recent video posted on his YouTube channel, Michael Bisping explained how scoring in MMA works. And guess what? This had nothing to do with his opinion as he laid out the rules set by the Nevada State Athletic Commission. Bisping stressed, “This is the actual language in the scoring system from the Athletic Commission. This isn’t my opinion,” on his YouTube video. As such, he started off by explaining a 10-9 scorecard and a 10-8 scorecard.

“Let me tell you about the MMA scoring system. If a round is really, really close… if everything’s even, and one guy lands one extra jab, or gets an extra takedown, or lands one extra punch, or has a little bit more control just ever so slightly, that makes it a 10-9 round,” Michael Bisping stated. “If one fighter goes out there and clearly wins the round, you’re like, ‘Hold on a minute. This guy took him down, he got some ground and pound, he landed some good shots.’ The other guy did okay, but this one guy, he clearly won the round. That should be a 10-8 round.”

So, if a fighter does more than his opponent, the score is 10-8, but if the fight is a close one with one fighter getting a bit more offense in, it becomes a 10-9 score. But then comes the rarest scorecard, which is 10-7. In such a scorecard, one fighter absolutely dominates and demolishes his opponent, as Michael Bisping claims that there is a need for such scorecards because several one-sided fights never see this score.

“And if somebody goes out and beats somebody to a pulp, beats them all over the Octagon… almost finishes them, has them covered in blood, has the referee saying, ‘Fight back, fight back,’ and they manage to survive, that is a 10-7 round,” Michael Bisping added. “10-7 rounds are very, very important, and we need to see more often. And the judges need to pay attention to the scoring criteria, and judge them like I just said.”

Well, Michael Bisping may have urged MMA judges to take a look at the way the Athletic Commission has laid down the framework to score fights, but there are already some changes being planned by another governing body. Let’s take a look at that front.

The Association of Boxing Commissions is working on updating MMA rules

Just a few months ago, a report from Sportsnet revealed that the Association of Boxing Commissions (ABC) is seeking to modify the criteria used in scoring MMA fights. The changes include a more in-depth explanation regarding the judges’ scoring decisions to remove the ambiguity and confusion surrounding this matter. And guess what? The panel that’ll be engaged in the planning of these changes includes veteran UFC figure John McCarthy.

Meanwhile, the ABC MMA Rules Committee’s chairman and the executive officer of CSAC, Andy Foster, revealed that a document had been prepared in collaboration with John McCarthy. The document claims that damage will be an important factor for scoring moving ahead. “This document provides clarification for how the judges are scoring and gives greater emphasis to ‘damage’ as the No. 1 scoring criteria,” Foster stated a couple of months ago.

MMA scoring depends on one judge to another, and as such, it is not only important for the UFC but also for the other MMA promotions to see that judges are well-educated about the criteria and the rules that govern how fights are scored. Let us know your thoughts in the comments down below.