Could The "Half-Point" System Save MMA Judging? It Just Might.

What do we do about bad judging in MMA? It’s becoming an increasingly-larger problem, and it’s quite the paradox: the competence of most judges seems to be declining almost as rapidly as the sport of MMA is evolving. And yet there’s a recent report floating around that’s quickly swept several major MMA news outlets. Is it a breath of fresh air, a quick-fix solution with no lasting impact, or simply a band-aid on a shotgun wound? Here are my thoughts on what is being called the “half-point” judging system.

For a thorough breakdown of this system and what it entails, head on over to MixedMartialArts.com for an excellent synopsis. Here’s a quick rundown: as previously stated, judges will now be allowed to give .5 points as well as an entire point to a fighter, meaning that a round could end with a score of “10-9.5”, “10-8.5”, and so forth.

Also, this new system sees a fourth judge whose job is solely to award points: things like knockdowns and close submissions get the most points, with things like takedowns and sweeps also earning points. If the three regular judges declare the fight a draw, the winner will be decided by the points awarded to each fighter by the fourth judge.

This honestly sounds like a very interesting idea to me. Some of the cynics say that this will only help a small amount of fights, but I definitely echo something that noted referee John McCarthy recently said about this system: if it helps even five percent of fighters, then that’s five percent that aren’t being cheated out of wins.

Part of me thinks we’re entering a slippery slope with a “half-point” system, but I do think that it’s not too bad so long as it stays at “half-point”. I don’t want “quarter points”, or anything like that, and frankly, it makes me cringe thinking of a judge scoring a fight “10-9.75432” or something like that. I know that’s an exaggeration, but we have to draw the line somewhere. And I definitely want the line drawn at half a point.

I think the implementation of a fourth judge could be interesting, but only if the judge is competent. Otherwise, we may still get bogus decisions. I’m glad that this new system finally recognizes things like close submissions and sweeps, though. Far too often, MMA judges are so in love with a fighter getting top position that they’ll give that fighter the round no matter how many times he’s countered and nearly choked out.

And even if you’re not a fan of this judging system, let’s all admit one thing right now fans and friends: enough is enough and it’s time for a change. I’m willing to try anything, literally anything, in order to eliminate these ridiculous, moronic, bordering-on-horrifying decisions. I’m tired of seeing hard-working fighters robbed point-blank of their wins, I’m tired of seeing a fighter give fifteen minutes of his heart and soul only to get boo’d out of the arena due to a decision he had no control over.

At this point, I think MMA as a whole and especially the UFC should try anything and everything in order to restore fairness and eliminate the unspoken rule of “don’t let it go to the judges”. The fact that this new “half-point” system really does seem to have some good rule changes leads me to believe that this system should be adopted on a trial basis at the very least.