On a recent episode of his Believe You Me podcast, former UFC middleweight champion Michael Bisping addressed the issue of judging in MMA and the philosophy of never leave it in the hands of the judges.
I hate that expression because no fighter wants to leave it in the hands of the judges, said Bisping. No fighter has ever, ever thought, ‘Oooo, you know what I’m gonna do? I’m gonna leave this in the hands of three random people that I’ve never met. I’m gonna work my ass off for several months, I’m gonna put my career on the line, I’m gonna put my health on the line, I’m gonna fight in a fight and what I’m gonna do is a strategy: I’m gonna leave it in the hands of the judges because we all know they all make a lot of mistakes so that’s what I’m gonna do.’ Nobody ever plans it! You want to get in, get out. You don’t get paid for overtime. If you can get a quick knockout, great! Unfortunately, when you are fighting the best guys in the world, and you are also one of the best guys in the world, you can’t always get them out of there.
Almost every event there’s an outlandish fight that’s scored. Even commentating I’ve been like, ‘What the f***? How did that judge even come to that conclusion?’ I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, they need to be held accountable. Number one, these guys are doing a job. They’re doing a job. They get paid! So you’ve got to do that job well. In any other walk of life if you do a s*** job, you get fired!
When I say held accountable, it’s very simple. If there’s an outlandish score that doesn’t make sense, he sits in a room with two or three other judges and you explain why you scored that round that way, and if you can’t give a feasible excuse that’s rational and believable, then you’re either incompetent or inaccurate and either way you’re not fit for the f***ing job. It’s as simple as that and I don’t understand why that isn’t implemented.
… Sometimes one judge’s decision can change your life, change the amount of money you’re about to earn, might make you champion of the world, might make you not champion of the world. This is high stakes!
What do think UG? And if you agree who would you fire?
h/t Jed Meshew for MMA Fighting
