Michael Bisping Wants to Hold Judges Accountable for Their Scoring

November 5, 2013
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UFC-on-Fox-2-workouts-Michael-Bisping-178-460x270“Never leave it in the hands of the judges” is etched above a doorway at the UFC Training Center in Las Vegas where The Ultimate Fighter reality series is filmed. It’s there to serve as motivation to fighters to finish their opponents, but stems from a problem in mixed martial arts: the judging.

The saying is commonly used by fans, promoters and athletes, but what it really means is that the judges are too incompetent to render a rightful decision, so don’t let them have the opportunity to make a bad one.

UFC middleweight Michael Bisping would like to hold judges accountable for their scoring.

“Sometimes a fight happens and I look at it and I think clearly this guy won and all the judges will give it to that guy. But one judge will give it to the other guy, maybe 30-27. I think that judge should be pulled to one side at a hearing of some sort and told to explain why he gave it to that guy, break it down round by round,” said Bisping during a recent question and answer session in Manchester, England.

“Make him watch the fight and say, why on Earth did you score it for that guy because he clearly lost. So why did you do it?” added the Englishman. “He should be held accountable is what I’m saying. If he can’t back up why he scored it that way then he shouldn’t be a judge anymore.”

Bisping (24-5) has been involved in some close decisions, perhaps even controversial ones. His losses to Chael Sonnen, Wanderlei Silva and Rashad Evans were closely contested bouts that he ended up on the losing side of the judges’ scorecards. But Bisping isn’t talking about close fights that don’t go a fighter’s way. He’s talking about bad decisions.

“Anytime that it’s a close fight, you can’t be bitter about it. The guy did a good job, regardless of who the opponent is, I’m saying, and if the judges felt it went that way, it went that way. You’ve just got to get on with it. There’s no point in crying about it,” he said.

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  • Big Tuna

    Why? They gave him the Matt Hamill fight!

    • The second best eva

      That’s the first fight I think of when I think of bad decisions

      • put me in the sauna coach

        as most do.

      • Nate “THE CHEAT” Marquardt

        Dana even said to this day the Bisping/Hamill fight is the fight he gets the most sh’t from the fans everywhere he goes. Come on people we are smarter than that. Boxing has been fixing fights for over a 100 years and just a decade ago one BJORK Rebney was investigated and run out of boxing for fixing fights so please its in the DNA of combat sports to have fights fixed. Let’s be honest in no way is Dana white any less sleazy than Byork Rebney. No doubt whatsoever the “FIX” was on in the Bisping/Hamill fight and the reason I know Bisping was in on it is because he knew all he had to do to win the fight was run away from Hamill and make it to a decision. Bisping lost that fight and i have yet to find one person that even thought that fight was even close and for sure not even the British fans think Bisping won that fight.

    • Nate “THE CHEAT” Marquardt

      Bisping should just STFU since he was rewarded the biggest gift “CORRYPT” decision EVER in history of MMA. Hamill CLEARLY beat the hell out of Bisping nonstop for 15 minutes. The fight w asn’t even close. Bigtime props to the British
      judge who scored the fight 30-27 Hamill. The 2 judges Dana brought in from Vegas knew their job was to make sure Bisping won in Britain.


  • Timothy Malone

    The criteria for judging is subjective so it is hard to punish judges, but I agree they should at least be required to write out an explanation for why they score a fight a certain way.

    • Maddawgmar

      I agree, they give them guidelines. Score based on Effective striking, Grappling, aggression, and Cage control. That is an order of priority. But you can’t police what judges hold as higher priorities.

      That’s why Alvarez won that fight, his effective striking outweighed Chandlers Grappling.

      That being said, In a huge bad call, example Paquiao/Bradley, the judges need to answer for their scores.

  • Grisscoat

    Here’s how I would fix judging. I would add an additional placeholder judge. Four judges total. At the conclusion of scoring a fight the one card that was most unlike the other three would be discarded. This wouldn’t fix everything but it would encourage uniformity of perspective and weed out incompetence.

    • Lucas Freire

      What if they are all ignorant in a uniform way?
      That’s what happens. Hendricks was taking heavy blows throughout the whole fight standing against Condit, was taking hard shots while on top on the ground, but got a UD for himself simply because he took Condit down.
      The 3-judges-system is already the best, the problem is it doesn’t provide knowledge to these stupid judges.
      What I think that would solve these problems would be having a judge, or a trio of judges for every specific area of the fight.
      Striking: A judge/trio of accomplished strikers who would tell how effective the fighters were.
      Takedowns: Judging how effective the takedowns AND takedowns defenses were.
      Ground: Judging how effective was the ground and pound, how active was the top/bottom game, how much damage was inflicted to whom.

      • Grisscoat

        Get what you’re saying but I think uniform incompetence is less pervasive than that one scorecard that doesn’t sync at all with the fight I just watched.

      • Nate “THE CHEAT” Marquardt

        Hendricks landed countless devastating punches on Condit and Condit couldn’t stay off his back and jsut throwing up your legs and not landing submissions doesn’t win youa fight off your back. Hendricks beat Condit fair and square so quit crying about it already. Why was Hendricks who was on massive win streak even fighting Condit who had just lost to GSP? Answer Dana knew GSP didn’t want to fight hendricks OBVIOUSLY since he refused to fight hendricks and picked Diaz whow as coming off a loss. NOONE has ever had to win more fights and beat more top 10 fighters than Hendricks and he deserves this title shot bigtime. They gave hardy a title shot for beating Mike Swick, Hendricks had to beat Lay n pray Fitch, Koscheck, Kampmann, Condit list is endless. NOONE deserves to get KO’d more than GSP for dodging Hendricks and making sure Hendricks had to fight Condit who should have been sent back line after getting his title shot. Dana didn’t want to lose his PPV king$$$$$$$$ to he did everything possible to try and get Hendricks out of the picture. Shame on GSP and Dana and everyone else involved in that attempted screw job. No champ should ever pick and choose who they fight PERIOD

        • Lucas Freire

          You have the right to disagree, and of course he’d have to get a big streak, with largely contested wins like the ones against Pierce and Koscheck.

          6-win streak is what almost everyone who got a title shot had to do to earn it, so I can’t see the so called ducking by GSP. Fitch had a 8-win streak, Alves had a 7-win streak…

          And what else I can’t see? How is Hendricks any bigger threat than any other guy GSP already faced.
          Alves had the Striking power and finesse, Condit too. Koscheck, Fitch, Hughes all had the wrestling credentials.
          Hendricks has indeed KO power, but he also has the worst gas tank of all title contenders on WW division since fat BJ Penn.
          I think he’ll be gassing on the second round already and GSP will score a UD

  • Ks mma

    Holy cow. Bisping was on the winning end of the WORST decision in mma history. Matt hammill dominated him for the whole fight. The only reason he won that fight is because it was in England. When he admits he liar that fight I will start to listen to his views on judging. He babbled out any excuse he could think of to rationalize the horrid decision that went his way that night. What a clown.

    • Ks mma

      He liar = he lost

    • El Gvapo

      Do you not understand what he was saying? It clearly states in the article that he isn’t talking about close decisions, he’s talking about making judges accountable.

      • The second best eva

        Ok then he should start by holding the judges that scored the hammill fight accountable and make them answer why they scored it that way. Round by round minute by minute

  • Mark McDowall

    Problem is most of the judges are old school boxing judges. Don’t really have a clue about MMA. There should be specific judges that are trained in MMA judging. It like having an Ice Skating judge going over and doing Gymnastics…kinda similar but still vastly different in judging criteria.

  • MMAreality

    Why not have a review board that reviews the scoring when it seems controversial. If the judges where within reason, then things are ok. If not they are put on probation for the first offense, put on probation and fined on the second, and banned from judging on the third. This will keep judges aware and honest.

    • MMAreality

      The board would consist of a member of the athletic commission, a member from the organization in which the fight occurred, and a couple of retired fighters. This would give a better view of whether the judge(s) need further action take against them.

  • Ahmaid Ahdoodi

    Judges should also be drug-tested and given psychological screenings before they work. It’s obvious some of these judges are impaired and/or mentally incompetent.

    • Nate “THE CHEAT” Marquardt

      I think the commissions should check Cecil Peoples and Doc Hamilton pockets for thick white envelopes full of money. Those 2 crooks for sure were on the take when they screwed Shogun in the first Machida fight. Shogun beat the hellout of Machida. Bellator has had the most corrupt fights compared to have very few fighta they have put on . For sure BYORK fixed both the Megumi and Agulair fights where they clearly beat the hell of of Frausto and were screwed. Another fixed fight in Bellator was most of Joe Warrens wins. That;s why BJORK prefers to hold most of his fights on the indian reservations where he can control everything and no commissions breathing down his neck

  • put me in the sauna coach

    This is a guy who was gift wrapped the Hamill fight, and won another because the ref allowed Rivera to continue after being kneed in the head while he was on all fours, he could barely stand…I know that last one had nothing to do with the judges..I just find it funny of all people who complain …it’d be him. He got handled by Wandy…and Chael controlled the fight…you can’t complain about a decision when the first 2 rounds were close and you’re on your back for 4:30 seconds of the 3rd round. Stop crying. Bisping made fun of Uriah Faber for “always” losing title matches, yet Bisping loses every top contender fight. Most annoying, hypocritical guy in the UFC.

  • ArmTriangle

    Why can’t the judges scores be announced after each round?