The main event of UFC Vegas 55, between Holly Holm and Kathleen Vieira, sparked a debate on whether the UFC should implement open scoring. Despite being outpointed in every round except the first, Brazilian Vieira was able to escape with a split decision victory. Vieira appeared to land the more destructive blows at critical periods, but fans felt Holm should have won owing to her superior volume and poise throughout the fight. Check out the best bookmakers for betting on the UFC!
However, open scoring doesn’t inherently change anything other than giving fighters and coaches the ability to fine-tune their strategies in the middle of a battle based on new information. People have various ideas on how things should be done or how they should be “fixed.”
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One of the many people who have recently voiced their displeasure with mixed martial arts judging is Joe Rogan. He’s no stranger to the subject matter. As a color commentator for UFC pay-per-views in the United States, he’s been working with the company since 1997’s UFC 12.
As a result of this, some experts are adamant that Joe Rogan may not be as knowledgeable about the Unified Rules of MMA as he should be.
“Maybe there is a way to give points, as if you were giving points for moments in fights where someone either dealt damage or someone controlled, but control was not worth as much as damage,” Rogan said on his “The Joe Rogan Experience” podcast.
During this episode, Rogan talked to Aljamain Sterling, who holds the UFC bantamweight title right now. On that occasion, Sterling showed his agreement with Rogan’s points. Sterling was also criticized for his fight with Petr Yan at UFC 273, which was a rematch that was very tough. When the fight finally got to the first round, Sterling won by a split decision thanks to his strong control both in the second and third rounds.
“Because you can survive control unscathed. Just because someone beat you, maybe in half guard, and you just clinch and control, sometimes you can last a couple of minutes and nothing happens,” Rogan said. “Even if that person controls you, it doesn’t really matter. But then the damage: How much more is the damage worth?”
Nothing new
What makes some analysts doubt Rogan’s understanding of MMA rules is when Rogan proposed scoring improvements that were already implemented since the Boxing Commissions Association made some updates in 2016.
“Effective hitting/fighting should be considered a top priority when evaluating rounds,” as written by the Association of Boxing Commissions.
“Effective aggressiveness is Plan B and should not be considered unless the referee sees ANY advantage in the area of effective punching/fighting. Cage/ring control (“Plan C”) should only be necessary when ALL other criteria are 100% for both participants. This will be an extremely rare occurrence.”
However, UFC commentators have been accused before of failing to understand the judging guidelines. Supporting Rogan’s points, Daniel Cormier posted on his YouTube channel that he didn’t understand how Holly Holm vs. Ketlen Vieira and Eryk Anders vs. Junyong Park was scored.
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Michael Bisping also came in to defend Joe Rogan and Daniel Cormier by saying that their passion and knowledge of MMA are “second to none.”
“Joe Rogan has been a legendary commentator for years,” said Bisping on his own YouTube channel. “‘DC’ brings such warmth, expertise, and knowledge to the game. Jon Anik is the best play-by-play guy in all of sports. And the knowledge and the passion more importantly he has for the sport of mixed martial arts is second to none.”
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