Jordan Breen of Sherdog.com has an interesting piece up on the website that discloses the judging and officiating assignments for Saturday’s UFC PPV event in Vancouver, British Columbia.
Herb Dean will referee Saturday’s night main event between former UFC light heavyweight champion Chuck Liddell and former UFC middleweight champion Rich Franklin in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The three judges assigned to the bout are Sal D’Amato of Wisconsin, Nelson “Doc” Hamilton of California and Bill Mahood of British Columbia.
Payout Perspective:
I am of two minds where this piece is concerned.
In some ways, I think this information is great to have because it adds a little more accountability to the officiating and judging equation; the names of the men and women overseeing the contest are public and their actions will now undoubtedly fall under greater scrutiny. Moreover, this is going to spotlight an issue in the sport that, if given more attention, will force the hand of commissions into addressing the officiating and judging within their jurisdictions.
However, I also tend to think that this information, made public, might take some of the focus and accountability away from the fighters. We’re never going to have perfect officiating or judging, which means the onus ultimately remains with the fighter to finish the fight or leave absolutely no possibility for controversy (in MMA, the mix of disciplines and techniques allows for a subjective interpretation that breeds controversy).
I think we can all agree that the last thing we want to have happen is that the fans turn their attention from what’s happening inside the cage towards some blown-out-of-proportion conspiracy against the officials and judges in this sport. Approach these pieces with caution.
I don’t really see this affecting anyone’s perspectives. Fighter accountability should remain relatively the same, but I do think it will help people learn how certain judges score fights. Could be for the better, but who knows.
I like that Mahood will be a judge. I think in the future utilizing MMA fighters as judges is going to become more prominent. However, this raises the question of possible conflicts of interest (if a fighter turned judge knew one of the competitors, had a previous team allegiance, favors other fighters’ implementation of their own personal style in fights, etc.). You’d have to assume an experienced MMA fighter would be a better judge than many others with less knowledge of the sport, but the possible pitfalls named above pose concerns.
I think you misstate the appropriate role of fighters and officials. If the judging standards and criteria are not being properly applied and enforced, this ceases to be a sport. You overstate subjectivity, and put the onus on fighters to “finish the fight,” when in reality, nowhere in the rules of mixed martial arts does it mandate that wins and losses should come via knockout or submission to be legitimate. Furthermore, referee stoppages are a necessary part of the sport, and without competent officials, fighter safety, the hallmark of regulation, could be undermined. If we can’t hold referees accountable for their mistakes, then how can we expect improvement? And in the case of judges, how can we expect fans to engage in enformed and educated discourse if we allow the officials rendering decisions to remain behind a cloud of secrecy, where they”d be susceptible to charges of corruption or conspiracy? No, sunlight remains the best antiseptic.
I think you missed this part:
“In some ways, I think this information is great to have because it adds a little more accountability to the officiating and judging equation; the names of the men and women overseeing the contest are public and their actions will now undoubtedly fall under greater scrutiny. Moreover, this is going to spotlight an issue in the sport that, if given more attention, will force the hand of commissions into addressing the officiating and judging within their jurisdictions.”
Just like anything else, there’s a fair balance to be had – the optimal solution lies somewhere in the middle. Judges and officials need to be highly trained and accountable, but fighters need to take the outcome of the fight into their own hands or face the consequences of the inherent subjectivity in judging decisions.
Does the word “enformed” belong in “educated discourse”?
HBO’s Boxing After Dark is still the gold standard of fight sports commentating, and before the main event they will usually go through the judges and highlight some of their past decisions. I think it’s a good thing to do, and I wish the commentating teams in MMA would adopt that standard (to be fair, not all boxing commentators do it).
Judging is part of the sport and the fans deserve to know both who the judges are and how they have judged in the past. While I agree that we’ll never have perfect judging, I think there is vast room for improvement and this is one way you can remind the judges that they are being held accountable.
People who don’t care will tune it out, people who do (like MMAPayout readers) will appreciate it.
A little off topic but didn’t Mahood test positive for cocaine in the Strikeforce at the Playboy Mansion? (btw, worst MMA event ever Mr. Coker) Not that it would affect his ability to judge MMA, I just thought they’d choose people with cleaner histories.
I think it’s great to see a summary of judges previous decisions, however I’m not really sure why this comes out before the event? Is this done to influence betting lines? Wait I know, this list is released so all the mob guys know whose cats to go catnap!
Actually it was a fighter named Adam Smith who tested positive for cocaine (and marijuana) on the Strikeforce at the Mansion card. Mahood tested positive for Drostanolone, an anabolic steroid that is used to help fighters retain strength while cutting weight. I didn’t know about that, but I agree it has nothing to do with his ability to judge a fight. I’d rather have a fighter who has juiced on the judges panel than someone who doesn’t fully understand the sport. I guess I would call him a more “promising” potential judge than a lot of the others out there.