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UFC color commentator Joe Rogan identified the key problem in judging the close-fought war between Sean O’Malley and Petr Yan.
This past Saturday, O’Malley took on former interim bantamweight champion Yan at UFC 280. ‘Suga’ Sean put in an impressive performance in his toughest challenge so far to edge out a win over Yan by a split decision. Although Yan dropped O’Malley and got some good strikes in, O’Malley connected more and had big shots of his own. Many fans and fellow fighters expressed their disapproval of the judges’ scorecards and argued Yan got ‘robbed’ of a clear victory.
Following the controversial result, popular podcast host Rogan took to his show “Joe Rogan Experience” to share his thoughts on the entertaining battle.
“O’Malley was certainly in it against Petr Yan,” Rogan said (transcribed by Middle Easy). “He was a former champion, one of the best in the division by far, the number one contender. It was a very close fight. He definitely hurt Petr in multiple occasions. Caught him with that big knee, rocked him. The question is, how much is the takedown worth? How much is control worth?
“Takedowns without damage, what is that value? I’m not denying Petr Yan won, cause I did think he won the end of it. But takedowns without damage vs. standup with damage. ‘Sugar’ landed more strikes standing and had big moments. Yan had some big moments too. One big left hand that rocked him. The question is like, how valuable are those takedowns and how valuable is that top game in that control?”
Rogan Explained the Problem With the 10–9 Judging System
Mixed martial arts utilizes similar scoring criteria as boxing. Ten points would be given to the more dominant fighter, whereas the other would receive 9. However, it does not draw distinction between varying degrees of dominance except for the most significant ones, such as a knockdown.
Rogan gave his take on what’s exactly wrong with the system used in MMA that got adopted from boxing.
“There’s several problems, but one of the problems is that I feel we were very limited by this 10-9, this 10 point must scoring system. Someone can win a round 10-9 and it can be a very close round and someone can win a round clearly and it could be 10-9. That doesn’t make any sense to me. The system is designed for boxing and it’s a good system for boxing. I don’t think it’s a good system for MMA.”
Rogan Called for a More Comprehensive System
Rogan believes that the sport is in need of a more extensive system than the current one and called for clear scoring criteria for each element involved in a fight.
“I think MMA needs a much more comprehensive system,” Rogan continued. “If a guy can hold you down with no damage at all for three minutes, vs. a guy who holds you down and damages you for 30 seconds, what’s worth more? What, hits you with three or four good hard shots? Is that worth more? If you spend the majority of a round on top of a guy, even if you’re not damaging him, how much is that worth? How much is a leg kick worth?
“How much is a submission attempt worth? I think we need a much more comprehensive system that’s not a 10-point must. I don’t think that’s the right system for MMA. I think it should be a completely different system. We just sort of adopted the boxing system.”
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