Cub Swanson Beautifully Articulates Why Current Scoring System Needs Change

M.U.S.C.L.E.

M.U.S.C.L.E.

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I don't think anyone can say it any better than Cub Swanson. The Aljo/Yan example is recent and relatable, as it is still being hotly debated on Sherdog.

"I would like to see more 10-10 rounds and I would like to see more 10-8 rounds. Like, we’re talking about the Aljamain Stering vs Peter Yan fight [at UFC 273] — I think that was a draw. I don’t think anyone deserved that first round, and then I thought it was two apiece after that.

“There was definitely case for [Round 2 to be a 10-8 for Sterling as well],” Swanson continued. “So, to me, how are you going to score [those the same]? Like, if there’s two rounds and one was one-sided, very one-sided, and one was close but somebody clearly won, those rounds shouldn’t be scored the same.”

from: https://www.mmafighting.com/2022/4/...of-fighter-pay-open-scoring-debate-ufc-legacy

So do you agree?
 
I agree with the idea to judge the fight as a whole. I mean in high school street fight we valued the winner of the flurries right and no one questioned that. No body Said hey tommy while you both were catching your breath I think you won because you added a slap.
MMA judging should be based on what makes a winner in a street fight not some rules decided by soft soyboys in suits
 
M.U.S.C.L.E. said:
I don't think anyone can say it any better than Cub Swanson. The Aljo/Yan example is recent and relatable, as it is still being hotly debated on Sherdog.

"I would like to see more 10-10 rounds and I would like to see more 10-8 rounds. Like, we’re talking about the Aljamain Stering vs Peter Yan fight [at UFC 273] — I think that was a draw. I don’t think anyone deserved that first round, and then I thought it was two apiece after that.

“There was definitely case for [Round 2 to be a 10-8 for Sterling as well],” Swanson continued. “So, to me, how are you going to score [those the same]? Like, if there’s two rounds and one was one-sided, very one-sided, and one was close but somebody clearly won, those rounds shouldn’t be scored the same.”

from: https://www.mmafighting.com/2022/4/...of-fighter-pay-open-scoring-debate-ufc-legacy

So do you agree?
Click to expand...
absolutely agree. The rules changed in 2017 (I think that was the year) and we were supposed to have more 10-8 rounds. It' hasn't really happened and it needs to. Fighters need to be rewarded for dominating and/or causing damage. That is worth more than collecting more points. The sport suffers if this distinction isn't recognized.
 
Not a fan of the 10-10 idea.

Sorry to anyone reading this for the billionth time: but I believe 10-9s should only be for toss ups or slight advantages.
10-8 for clear but not overwhelming advantage.
10-7 one dude/chick was getting F'd up or just completely dominated.
10-5 even if there were prolonged instances of near stoppages.

The above scores are meant to reflect *a solution. There are probably better figures.

Judges are always going to score rounds differently. There's almost no was around that.
Razor thin rounds that could go either way won't be able to easily offset the rounds in which one fighter is in trouble in multiple situations and gets saved by the final horn/bell.

You'd end up with a more quantitative method of scoring the fight as a whole w/o doing away with the round by round scoring.

Would also like to see more instances of points (maybe even multiple points) getting taken away for lazy/blatant fouls. The fighters gotta control their weapons. It'd be better to make the fighters scared to foul their opponents which would lead to cleaner technique being trained and less of a likelihood of fighters winning close decisions when their harmed their opponent's ability to fight effectively.

Also, take points for running away or not engaging; especially if the fighters are only trying to run out the clock.
It's a fight; not a game.

TLDR: MMA scoring absolutely sucks.
 
KID Yamamoto said:
PRIDE had some robberies obviously but the idea of scoring a fight as a whole over round by round was something I liked in MMA.
Click to expand...
I believe MMA is the only sport that took it's scoring from another sport (boxing). I've been griping about the 10pt round by round system for years. All it does is promotes point fighting.
Score the fights as a whole.
 
The only time I remember 10-10 being used was for round 4 of Silva-Diaz. It should be used more often but in overwhelming majority of cases there is a fighter that did better, however minuscule the margin may be.
 
M.U.S.C.L.E. said:
I don't think anyone can say it any better than Cub Swanson. The Aljo/Yan example is recent and relatable, as it is still being hotly debated on Sherdog.

"I would like to see more 10-10 rounds and I would like to see more 10-8 rounds. Like, we’re talking about the Aljamain Stering vs Peter Yan fight [at UFC 273] — I think that was a draw. I don’t think anyone deserved that first round, and then I thought it was two apiece after that.

“There was definitely case for [Round 2 to be a 10-8 for Sterling as well],” Swanson continued. “So, to me, how are you going to score [those the same]? Like, if there’s two rounds and one was one-sided, very one-sided, and one was close but somebody clearly won, those rounds shouldn’t be scored the same.”

from: https://www.mmafighting.com/2022/4/...of-fighter-pay-open-scoring-debate-ufc-legacy

So do you agree?
Click to expand...

Cub, read the rules on 10-8s my dude. That was not a 10-8 round.

Agreed on the first round, draw was the best choice.
 
i dont remember any 10-10s ever being scored. I even read the ABC's amateur rules where they outright instruct judges to avoid scoring 10-10s (hence, no DRAWS).

Alot of close fights/rounds call for it though, i.e. Aljo Yan 2 - round 1. On the 10-8 i dont think controlling the opponent should ever yield a 10-8 round, it disincentivizes offense and incentivizes control.
 
yes, more 10-10 rounds, but also:

1/2 point scoring.

Was a given round a 10-8? Can't decide? Then it's a 10-8.5

Was a round too close to call? sort of? Then 10-9.5
 
The new system makes scoring easy and the judges and commentators still don’t get it.

A 10-9 round is a competitive round where someone edges it out. A 10-8 just means a clear round. Not a domination, not a near finish, not crazy damage. Just simply winning a non competitive round where the other guy does nothing or gets shut out.

We should be seeing a boatload of 10-8s. 10-10 and 10-7 would be very rare because if striking/grappling is equal, you simply ask who was more aggressive and that person gets the 10-9. If aggression is equal, who controlled the cage? That person gets the 10-9.

Judges and commentators are still under the old mindset that 10-8 requires a beat down and that’s why judging still sucks.
 
In Aljo-Yan, the fact that rounds 1 and 2 were both scored 10-9 is all the evidence you need that mma scoring is broken. Where a toss-up round is given the same score as a round of total domination, a complete overhaul of the system is warranted.
 
I actually don’t like the idea of 10-10s being commonplace. I think it will be used as a cop out anytime it’s remotely close and we’ll end up with a ton of draws which will stagnate divisions and lead to unsatisfying conclusions. The scoring system is imperfect and always will be. I haven’t seen a fix yet that didn’t bring along it’s own issues.
 
KID Yamamoto said:
PRIDE had some robberies obviously but the idea of scoring a fight as a whole over round by round was something I liked in MMA.
Click to expand...

Yup, and Pride robberies were the result of corruption/extreme bias from the judges only. Not because of unclear scoring.
 
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