Controversial Decisions: MMA’s Human Error

So UFC 104 just passed by and while Lyoto Machida was able to keep his title via a unanimous decision, there has been some (and by some, I mean A LOT) of controversy surrounding the decision. Now, considering I haven’t seen the fight yet (and going to the MMA forums in the internet would be useless because forums are always ripe with bias), and also I can’t judge MMA fights worth beans anyway, I’m not gonna comment on the fight. I am, however, going to comment on the idea of controversial decisions in MMA.

As far as I can tell, controversial decisions in MMA are about as annoying to a fan as an early stoppage, but obviously, fights that end in decisions that leave people scratching their heads and wonder if the judges were too distracted by the ring girls to accurately score the fight (Hey, I know I get distracted by the ring girls myself, so I can’t blame them)  are few and far between. Which is the probably the reason why fights like Machida/Rua have fans going batshit crazy than an early stoppage.

Now, while I would like to see controversial decisions disappear faster than Criss Angel owing child support, it’s not gonna happen. Even if we change the 10 point must scoring system, it’s still not gonna happen. In fact, the only way I could see this happening is to replace the judges with robots. Sounds ridiculous, right? But that’s what you would have to do to remedy such a problem.

As long as the judges have working organs, messed up decisions are gonna happen, no matter how well trained the judges are. Because each judge is gonna have a different perspective on the fight. One judge would say Fighter A would win a round because he scored takedowns and controlled the fight, but another judge would say Fighter B won the round due to aggression and effective striking.

Granted, there may be some way to keep these decisions down to a bare minimum, but as much as people like UFC president Dana White want to get rid of controversial decisions altogether, it’s impossible unless we teach robots to judge MMA fights, or get rid of the time limits.

I Pity The Rampage!

"I pity the fool!" *Rampage howl*

So unless you’ve been hiding underneath a rock, then you might have heard the news about Quinton “Rampage” Jackson taking the role of BA Baracus in the upcoming remake of the 80’s TV show “The A-Team”.  It’s strange how so many MMA fighters as of late have been working on blockbusters (Cung Le in “Fighting”, Roger Huerta in “Tekken”, etc.), also while taking several months before fighting again.

In Rampage’s case, his December 12th fight with rival TUF 10 coach Rashad Evans is expected to be pushed back three months (meaning that the two will fight sometime early 2010) and will mostly likely be featured on the UFC Primetime program. Which means that there is going to be a LOT of hype being put behind this fight. Think about it, first TUF 10 (which will premire in less than 10 days), than UFC Primetime. Whether or not this will be a good thing is still hard to say, but whether or not it’ll be worth it will depend on how entertaining the fight is.

You know what? No, it’s not worth it. Twelve weeks of pre-fight hype without a fight is gonna be costly for the UFC. And using UFC Primetime to try to keep the fans interested in this fight is too risky. Let’s just hope this isn’t gonna end up like Shamrock/Severn 2, or else there’s probably gonna be a riot.

And if that does happen, don’t expect the rest of the A-Team to come in and save the day.

MMA (Mighty Morphin’ Arts)

(Photo Courtesy Of Suckerpunch Entertainment)

No, that is not a photoshop. Yes, the tattooed guy in the pic used to be the Green Power Ranger. Yes, I’m a sucker for nostalgia.

As the above picture would suggest, Jason David Frank (of Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers fame) has decided to make the jump from being a costumed pop culture icon to a MMA fighter, and considering I grew up watching the Power Rangers when I was young, this was probably the coolest bit of MMA related news that I’ve heard in the longest time. Well, that and Fred Ettish coming back to the cage and getting a win, 15 years after getting the living bejebus beaten out of him at UFC 2, but I digress.

From what I read from his interview (which can be found by clicking on the picture above), he sounds like a wicked striker (creating his own martial art and training with Master Toddy), but there’s a bit of a question mark on his ground game and takedown defence. Sure, he’s got a blue belt with Gracie Barra (spelled out as Gracie Baja in the interview, as not to confuse anyone), but there’s the quesion of whether or not he could handle his own in a MMA fight should it hit the ground. And competing in MMA at the age of 35 doesn’t help his chances of victory (although, guys like Randy Couture have proved many critics wrong).

Suffice to say,  there has been quite an influx of celebrities, sports athletes, etc. that are making the jump to MMA. And while some have seen loads of success (see: Brock Lesnar), others have basically crashed and burn (see: Jose Canceco). Where do I think the former Green Ranger stands? Honesty, I hope he has a nice career, maybe even gets a title in the process. Do I see him in the UFC? Unlikely. But stranger things have happened in MMA.

Oh, and for those who think he’ll go out like Canceco, consider this: Jose is bigger than Jason, and there’s a youtube video of Jason whooping the former slugger during sparring. And Jason won’t be fighting Hong Man Choi, either.

Kimbo Gets….TUF?

Pic Courtesy Of Sherdog.Com (Hey, I don't feel like getting sued, ok?)

As I’m sure anyone in the MMA world has known already (and if you’ve haven’t, where have you been?), former street fighter and youtube star Kevin Ferguson aka Kimbo Slice is going to be in the next season of The Ultimate Fighter. For the people who don’t know what’s been going on, the tenth season of the show is going to include heavyweights such as former UFC fighter Wes Sims, former IFL champion Roy Nelson, and three guys that were with the NFL. The couches for this season are going to be Rashad Evans and Quinton “Rampage” Jackson.

Simply put, saying that this season is going to be “big” would be both a horrible pun and an understatement.

Having Kimbo Slice in this season of The Ultimate Fighter was an interesting decision in the least for the former EliteXC main eventer. Coming from being thrusted into the spotlight fighting against less than stellar fighters like James Thompson and Tank Abbott to fighting in a reality show against better competition, this is going to be quite a test for Slice. Not to mention taking a huge pay cut (from half a mill in disclosed pay in his loss to TUF alumni Seth Petruzelli, to five grand just to finish a fight during the show).

Now while he may have rubbed some MMA purists the wrong way during his tenure with EliteXC due to his street fighting past, having Kimbo in TUF 10 is a great way to show those same purists (as well as newcomers to the sport) how humble he is and how much he wants to get away from that life he used to live. Plus, he’ll get shown under a much different light rather than what guys like Gary Shaw have promoted him as (Trust me, I was just annoyed as everyone was to hear Shaw hype him as Fedor’s worst nightmare).

Will he probably win that coveted six-figure contract? Maybe. Just gotta wait until September to see how far he goes in his quest to become….THE ULTIMATE FIGHTER!

(Sorry, couldn’t resist!)