Monday, December 6, 2010

MMA Judges Must Be Held Accountable

The two judges who gave Garcia the decision over Phan deserve an immediate suspension or firing from the Nevada State Athletic Commission. Anyone with a functioning set of eyes clearly saw that Nam Phan defeated Leonard Garcia at the TUF 12 Finale, winning all three rounds.

There have been plenty of controversial decisions throughout the history of MMA. Bisping's decision win over Hamill at UFC 75 was robbery. I had Shogun beating Machida in their first bout at UFC 104. Going back further, most people had Ricco Rodriguez beating Antonio Nogueira at Pride Elimination 2003 and Kevin Randleman defeating Bas Rutten at UFC 20.

However, the decision in Phan versus Garcia trumps them all as every round clearly belonged to Phan. The easiest round to score was the second, where Phan landed cleaner strikes, knocked down Garcia, and got the back. The third round seemed clear, as Phan landed cleaner strikes doing far more damage. Throughout all three rounds, Garcia never seemed to land clean strikes.

In addition, Garcia didn't do much in the last two minutes of the final two rounds. It just seems impossible that a person with the power of sight could score that bout for Garcia. Throwing a punch and it not landing should not score points. Running out of gas should not score points.

Quite simply, NSAC and other athletic commissions need to clean house and get rid of incompetent judges. Decisions that seem outrageous need to be reviewed and the judge making the decision needs to be held accountable. People with actual MMA training and/or fight experience who know what they are watching should be the ones judging fights.

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