Judging has become a serious issue in MMA of late, and UFC Middleweight champion Israel Adesanya believes that he has a solution for it.
MMA uses the 10-point must system. The winner of the round is awarded 10 points—unless a point has been deducted—while the loser receives 9 or less. A 10-9 round is the most common score given, with 10-8 rounds being quite rare. Rounds where a round is scored 10-7 are practically unheard of.
Adesanya believes that’s where the problem lies. He points out that it’s a 10-point system, so the judges should make use of all 10 points.
“F**king use the point system,” Adesanya said to James Lynch on theScore podcast. “Here are 10 points to use right? If a guy gets worked for f**king five minutes completely and survives, that’s a 10-3. Like, don’t (score it) 10-8 or 10-7. Nah, make that a 10-4 or 10-3. Use the whole spectrum of the judging system. This isn’t boxing or kickboxing or whatever — this is MMA. There’s much more to the fight than being on bottom or being on top or walking forward.”
Adesanya also suggests that MMA should stop using judges, officials, and even doctors that come from boxing.
“Also like get rid of all these boxing judges and doctors in boxing from these commissions,” he said. “Some of them are really good but a lot of them are useless.”
Israel Adesanya is preparing for his 1st UFC Middleweight title defense this weekend. The champion will take on the always-scary top contender Yoel Romero in the main event of UFC 248, which takes place this Saturday night in Las Vegas.
This article first appeared on CLOSEDGUARDMEDIA.com on 5th March, 2020.
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