The increasingly frequent variation between judges’ scorecards in individual rounds has been a hot topic of debate in mixed martial arts.
Nova Uniao coach Andre Pederneiras and prominent manager Alex Davis have both recently voiced their support for open scoring. Meanwhile, Joe Rogan weighed in on judging criteria as well, telling Aljamain Sterling on his podcast that he “definitely” won his rematch against Petr Yan. (For the record, Sterling did win a contentious split decision at UFC 273.)
Meanwhile, Brazilian judge Guilherme Bravo, author of the book “In the Judges’ Hands” and recognized by “Big” John McCarthy as one of the best in the business, not only agreed with Rogan but also emphasized the importance of normalizing 10-10 and 10-8 scorecards.
“The 10 point system is perfect, I don't see any need to change rules. The problem is not the rules system. The scores 10-10 and 10-8 are in the rules and must be used more,” Bravo told Sherdog.com.
Bravo used two controversial title fights as examples: the aforementioned Sterling vs. Yan rematch at UFC and Carla
Esparza vs. Rose
Namajunas at UFC 274.
“The effective grappling of Sterling in the second round should be considered a 10-8, while the first round of Rose vs. Esparza [should be a] 10-10,” he said. “If those rounds were scored [like that], there wouldn't have been any controversy.”
The push to move to open scoring was dismissed by the CABMMA judge.
“I really don't see any advantage in that,” Bravos said. “What if judges award different scores? The corner must bring a calculator instead of giving instructions to his fighter during the minute he has between rounds? It really doesn’t make sense to me.”
Brazilian athletes are quite prominent throughout the rosters of the largest MMA promotion in the world, and as a result, Bravo believes Brazilian referees and judges should be utilized more often at UFC events.
“One of the main goals of the World Cup is to bring the best professionals from each country. If we believe that the UFC is the World Cup of MMA, why not start to bring the most prepared professionals?” he said. “I truly believe that three commissions — Nevada, California and CABMMA — have the best trained professionals in the sport and they should be used more.
“Names like Osiris Maia and Camila Albuquerque, who are among the 10 best referees in the world, including men, just work at Brazilian events or when UFC comes here. Why not start using them, as well as the International Mixed Martial Arts Federation (IMMAF), who have some great professionals from different parts of the globe?”
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