Florian Wants Peer Reviews / Training For Judges In MMA

“Another huge problem with judging is that we haven’t really assigned values to specific techniques that are executed cleanly in the UFC. What value is a takedown versus a clean cross to the jaw? Is a knockdown valued the same as a near submission? Is a person going backward but landing punches not as effective versus a person going forward and eating punches? Is a high-amplitude takedown better than a foot sweep? These questions can be difficult to answer especially when seeing them performed at full speed in the context of a back-and-forth mixed martial arts contest. These are issues that should be discussed at length among judges.”

“I think we also need to hold the judges accountable for their actions. I doubt judges are paid very well, but money is always a pretty good motivator for job performance. How great would it be to have the judges reviewed by a panel of fellow judges, referees and fighters? This way we can reward good judging and penalize poor judging monetarily. After all, the fighters certainly pay for it financially in a big way if they are on the wrong end of a decision. I would also like to see quarterly reviews by an independent panel of judges, referees and fighters. This would help encourage judges to work hard to educate themselves and improve at their job. Fight footage and breakdown from fighters, judges and referees would really help explain things and help give good perspective on rounds won or lost.”

In his own writeup for Fox Sports, former two-division title challenger, Kenny Florian discusses the increasing need for judging reform in Mixed Martial Arts.