Issue 119

September 2014

This is your page to tell us what you think of all things Fighters Only and MMA. Get your feelings off your chest where it really matters – in print! Send us your best pictures with your favorite fighters, or copies of FO, and we’ll print them too. 

JUDGE AND JURY

Having read ‘Who Are We To Judge?’ from the June issue, the writer, Andrew Garvey, makes it sound like any fight can eventually be scored properly one way or another with everyone in agreement. They can’t.

What about the many times one fighter dominates most of the fight only to be staggered at the very end and saved by the final bell?

Boxing is easy to score by comparison to MMA. A knockdown virtually always constitutes a 10-8 round, unless each fighter is knocked down, which is very rare. By contrast, a knockdown in MMA barely rates with a takedown. I’m not sure why they are scored equally. A takedown rarely hurts a fighter by contrast with a knockdown. And quite often the fighter who makes the takedown does nothing or can do nothing with his opponent on the ground.

I think a near submission should rate with a knockdown, perhaps, but not a simple takedown. And the submission is often facilitated by the knockdown, rather than a takedown.

I also disagree that many of these close fights were called wrong. Between Johny Hendricks and Georges St Pierre, I think the judges got it right. Hendricks didn’t apply enough pressure at the end (even by his own admission). And, just as in boxing, there will always be bad decisions regardless. It’s up to the fighters and promoters to make it right, not the judges necessarily, as judging is one of the most thankless jobs in the world. In the old days, the referee was sometimes the third judge, but there are problems with this concept also.

Definitely, increasing the number of rounds is not the answer as these fighters have short careers as it is and fight injured to some extent most of the time. I think the only case for increasing the number of rounds would be shortening the time per round. But then you run the risk of a long, boring fight as often happens in boxing. I would like to see less restrictions, rather than more. Maybe not soccer kicks or stomps to the head on the ground, but knees and elbows should be OK. 

Stick to the present scoring system and simply refine the judging and judges. 

Jerry Davis, via email

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FIGHT TWEETS

@CMPunk

In my over stimulated delirium of switching between @ufc and this awesome @nhl game, Bruce Buffer has morphed into Darryl Sutter. 

@realroyce

Congratulations to Scott Coker on becoming president of Bellator. Always good to see MMA expanding

@DerekBrunsonMMA 

Chael Sonnen just won’t stop ! #smh

@QoSBaszler

Good thing I’m a Vikings fan so that I’m used to the heartbreak I just felt from #TeamUSA #WorldCup 

@iamgirlrilla

Best of luck to all my friends going into the #tuf20 house. Good luck ladies the world is watching.

GALLERY

Look what came with me all the way to Greece. The wife wasn’t impressed to say the least.

Chris Steel, via email

Fighters Only magazine kept me going during my recent ACL reconstruction. Kev Barratt,

via email

Staredown with the one and only Paul ‘Semtex’ Daley.  Lee, via email