Fighters Only

Issue 112

March 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.

TROPHY HUNTING

I had a thought the other day. Are there so many debated decisions in MMA because there are so few rounds? It seems that everyone can agree it’s not so much the 10-point must system, the criteria, or even the judges that are the problem, it’s the fact the dominance in a round is so rarely reflected.

Georges St Pierre did beat Johny Hendricks to retain the UFC welterweight title last year. It was only such a debated decision because the three rounds GSP won he took marginally, and the two rounds Hendricks got were dominant. But that wasn’t reflected in the scores – Hendricks only got 10-9 stanzas in his favor.

The issue is that for fear of a three-round bout becoming a draw judges’ won’t give a 10-8 – which would be for a round where one fighter could either have got the stop or didn’t give the other guy a chance for five minutes. Because if a judge gives two 10-9 rounds to one fighter, then a 10-8 to the other the result is a 28-28 draw.

But if they were scoring over, say, seven shorter rounds, a judge wouldn’t be as concerned about giving a 10-8 because a draw would be less likely to occur from that one round. But you would get a more reflective picture of the fight.

Just an idea.

Marc Dufresne, Canada

FIGHT CLUB

Just a quick note to say how much I love the new fight techniques at the back of the magazine. I used to buy Train Hard Fight Easy magazine just for those last 10 pages of tutoring from Greg Jackson, Mike Winkeljohn, Rafael Cordeiro and the like. Now they’re in Fighters Only I’ve got even more reason to pick up a copy every month. Keep the fight advice coming.

Ben Andrew, via email

@Nick5788: Ric flair is at the UFC in Atlanta and the whole place just wooooooooed... awesome

@mounties74: Everyone pray for @CatZingano and her family in their time of need.

@xXxKing_LeoxXx: @TheDomin8r damn sucks you had to withdraw from fight, hope you comeback soon to reclaim what’s yours

@ivankoparan: weidman vs belfort and hendricks vs lawler..... the divisions are looking very interesting this year.

@GlozZzeR: I want @DaveBautista vs @BrockLesnar in @WWE and then in @UFC #Fantasy

FIGHT TWEETS

@TheNotoriousMMA

Heart-broke to hear about @TheDomin8r injury. Wanted to see

his ACL return fight! Hope the new injury is not in relation. Get well champ :-)

@KCBanditMMA

If I were him I’d be like, yea I doodoo’d but I made an extra 50k so imma go wipe my ass with this excess money.