Roy Nelson calls for three-minute rounds in MMA
UFC heavyweight contender Roy Nelson recently told ESPN.com he’d like to see professional MMA adopt three-minute rounds, a length utilized…
UFC heavyweight contender Roy Nelson recently told ESPN.com he’d like to see professional MMA adopt three-minute rounds, a length utilized in boxing and most amateur MMA fights. Under the change, a professional MMA fight would rise from three rounds to five and title fights would become 10-round affairs.
You’d probably see a lot more action because you’re constantly trying to win the round, Nelson said. Guys wouldn’t be feeling out for two minutes. It’s boom, you’ve got to go right away.
They want to add more championship rounds — that’s where I say switch everything to three minutes and go 10 rounds. Then you have a lot of ups and downs.
Nelson points to a light heavyweight fight between Quinton Jackson and Lyoto Machida at UFC 123 to illustrate his point. Jackson won a split decision in the fight, conceivably by taking two action-less rounds before being handled convincingly by Machida in the third.
Split that up and Machida wins, hands down, Nelson said. The first two rounds could have been 10-10, because nothing happened. Then Machida dominated late.
I’d say judges lose sight, Nelson said. One guy will dominate for four minutes, the other dominates for a minute and they give the round to the second guy.
I’ve watched fights where I actually take a stopwatch and say, ‘No, he won four minutes of that round but the judges gave it to the other guy.’ They just remember that last minute. Three minutes is short enough that the whole round stays in your head.