CSAC executive calls for change in MMA scoring system

Andy Foster, executive of the California State Athletic Commission (whose acronym is CSAC), released a statement suggesting an immediate change in the scoring system currently used for MMA fights.

The current method generated controversy after controversial results in two of the main fights of the year, in the UFC belt disputes between Jon Jones e Alexander Gustafson (light heavyweight) and between Georges St Pierre e John hendricks (welterweight), in which it was widely disputed that the real winner of the fight was not awarded the victory.

The system currently used, which originated in boxing, indicates that the winner of each round receives ten points, compared to nine for the loser. In case of victory with a large difference, the disadvantaged athlete receives eight points, or, in rare cases, seven. Thus, after all rounds played, the score is added together so that the winner is named.

However, unlike boxing, which determines 10-8 only in cases of knockdown, in MMA there is no objective criterion to determine when a round should be scored with greater differences. This can cause distortions in the final result of the fight.

Precisely for this reason, Foster stated that the system had to be adequate to be effective in MMA. “The 10-9 system, developed and used in boxing and MMA, scores each round independently. In boxing, fights have 4, 6, 8, 10 or even 10 rounds. In professional MMA, there are 3 or 5. Furthermore, MMA rounds are five minutes long, while in boxing they are only three,” he explained.

The executive exemplified a situation where a fighter could be named winner without having shown a great advantage in the fight. “A smaller number of rounds and a longer duration creates a situation where the judge must score the rounds taking into account the greatest amount of information that affects the final result of the fight. For example, as we have seen recently, one fighter can win two rounds by a large margin and the other can win three rounds by a small margin. The winner on the scorecards is not the real winner of the fight,” he commented.

For him, one way to resolve the situation would be to start evaluating the fight as a whole, in a system similar to that used in the past in the now defunct Japanese PRIDE event. “One solution could be to maintain the 10-9 score, but without this being the official determiner of the winner of the fight. This would allow judges to consider the fight as a whole and create a more correct percentage of results than is currently the case. It's upsetting when a fighter who was clearly better than his opponent loses because of a flawed scoring system,” he said.