DREAM Fighters in the U.S, Madison Square Garden and Judging Changes: My Three Wishes for 2010

As the new year is fast approaching I sat pondering how far this sport of ours had come since it’s beginning. Then the future of the sport started to permeate my thoughts. Where will we see it go in the coming year? Will it fade a little bit or will we see it continue to forge ahead and make it’s way into the upper echelons of the sporting world? I am a mma radio host as well as a journalist but first and foremost I am a mixed martial arts fan and I have three wishes for the coming year.

My first wish for mixed martial arts is to for a fight to happen in arguably the most prestigious building in the sporting world, Madison Square Garden. The Garden calls itself the “World’s Most Famous Arena” and one would be pressed to find anyone who disagrees. It is in fact the second when it comes to being the world’s busiest arena, right behind Manchester Evening News Arena. It is an iconic figure in sports and nothing says you have made it better than holding an event inside it’s storied walls. Marc Rattner stated he believes that it will become legal in the state in either Febuary or March of the coming year. Hopefully this holds true and we see an event at the Garden near the end of 2010.

Second on my list of wishes for mma would be to see the fighters from DREAM actually move into Strikeforce. Many of the fighters in DREAM are heralded as some of the best in the world. Fighters such as Fighters.com fourth-ranked lightweight “Hellboy” Joachim Hansen (16-8-1), eighth-ranked “Crusher” Tatsuya Kawajiri (23-4-2) and second-ranked Shinya Aoki (14-3). These are men that would offer very entertaining fights against the best Strikeforce has to offer. Not only that but they would be fights that would have some impact on the rankings which is something all hardcore fans want to see, fights with true meaning.

Who would not like to see Aoki versus “El Nino” Gilbert Melendez (14-2) or Kawajiri versus fifth-ranked welterweight Jake Shields (24-4-1) in action packed Strikeforce fights?

There are many intriguing fights that could be put together if this truly comes to fruition. It would give some of the Strikeforce fighters a chance to prove they truly are some of the best rather than being looked at as second tier fighters. It also would introduce some of the best in the world to the casual fan who does not typically watch Dream events.

My final wish for mixed martial arts in 2010 would be for us to finally see some changes to the archaic judging system. Currently we have two major faults to the scoring system. Boxing’s 10 point must system which fails to work for mixed martial arts and judges that seemed to be lacking in knowledge when it comes to certain aspects of the sport.

As I write this changes to boxing’s scoring system which we have adopted are being looked into finally. According to Keith Kizer, executive director of the Nevada State Athletic Commission, recent changes to the system were discussed at a recent American Boxing Commissioners convention. Half points is something we may see added. Thus giving the judges a better way to score rounds. Nelson “Doc” Hamilton has stated judges are discouraged from handing out 10-10 rounds and as we all know very rarely give out 10-8 rounds. Adding the half point gives the judges to better score rounds giving the fight a more true outcome.

I think the addition of the half point would be a bold move forward for mma but that needs to be coupled with proper certification of the judges. Many of the judges in the sport have come over from boxing and need to learn the art of jiu jitsu and what a near submission looks like. During an episode of my show, MMA Gospel Radio, I talked about changes to the judging. The segment was called “Save MMA”. During that segment I brought up the topic of nationwide certification for judges where they are required to take a class three times a year. While at the class they would be required to judge a fight off of video tape and then all the judges would have to defend their scores. They would also be required to watch some of the high level jiu jitsu fighters and learn what different submissions are and how they are set up. This leads to knowledgeable judges and more clear cut decisions in the sport.

I feel even enacting one of these changes to the judging system would make 2010 one of the biggest years in the history of the sport.

Those are my wishes for mixed martial arts in the coming year. What are your wishes for the coming year? If you would like to discuss any of this with me directly you can join us on MMA Gospel Radio every Wednesday from 8-10 PM EST at www.blogtalkradio.com/mmagospel where we have a live chat room during the show. You can also call in to the show by dialing 347-857-1337 and join myself and New York Gary Friedman live on the air. I know some people would rather not go live on a radio program so feel free to contact me at turk@fighters.com to tell me your thoughts on this article or any other piece you have read here.