Mixed martial arts fans are come of the most dedicated and die-hard fans in the sporting world. They are quite outspoken about their opinions, especially when it comes to the results of an exciting match. Unfortunately, mixed martial arts has a history of poor judging, and there seems to be no improvement as the sport matures. Although there are questionable decisions from time to time, it’s not always at the hand of incompetent judges. Sometimes one judge may be looking for different criteria than another judge. In a sport as complex as mixed martial arts there are so many variables to focus on that each judge could be looking for different criteria to determine a winner.
MMA is based off of a ten-point must system. This means that the winner of each round is awarded 10 points, whereas their opponent would be awarded 9 or 8 points usually. Points are awarded based on a multitude of factors: damage, aggression, octagon control being the main focuses of the fight. Even with these factors defined, there are often debates as to who the rightful winner should be. This past weekend, former bantamweight champion TJ Dillashaw returned for the first time since his two-year suspension. Dillashaw was suspended from competition due to testing positive for a performance enhancing drug. He came back to face rising contender Cory Sandhagen. Coming off of back-to-back knockout victories over Marlon Moraes and Frankie Edgar, Sanhagen has been tearing through the division in his quest for the belt.
From the opening bell, this bout was constant action. Dillashaw was pushing forward aggressively with impressively slick head movement. Sandhagen was moving backwards but having tremendous success in the striking exchanges. In a grappling exchange, Dillashaw got caught in a leg lock that popped his knee but he continued fighting through it. In the 2nd round, Sandhagen landed a hard right hand that opened up a nasty cut over Dillashaws eye. For the duration of the fight, Sandhagen continued to target the cut, blood leaking into Dillashaws vision. Leaning on his toughness and veteran fight IQ, Dillashaw began closing the distance and controlling Sandhagen against the cage. In the end, Dillashaw won the bout by split decision. Although Sandhagen had clearly dished out more damage, Dillashaw was controlling the cage and continually dictating the pace of the fight.
Some fans and news outlets were posting that the decision was a “robbery”. Although I personally scored it for Sandhagen, it certainly wasn’t a robbery. Both fighters had great moments, and ultimately it showed that the mixed martial arts community needs to decide what the most important factors are to judge a fight. Does damage outweigh aggression? Does octagon control outweigh striking accuracy? In such a young and complex sport, I think it’s necessary to clearly outline what factors are most valuable in the eyes of the judges. Hopefully we will see more uniform criteria to avoid contested decisions in the future.
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About the Author
Oliver Swanson is an avid martial arts consumer and practitioner. Training out of Precision Boxing and MMA, he teaches boxing classes throughout the week and writes combat sports articles.
