ABC to vote on revised MMA judging criteria, including change in 10-8 round language

A revised version of MMA’s judging criteria will be voted on at the Association of Boxing Commissions (ABC) convention next month, MMA Fighting has learned.

Earlier this year, the ABC’s MMA rules and regulations committee unanimously passed new scoring language, including the adaptation of a more liberal definition of a 10-8 round, according to committee chairman Sean Wheelock. The proposed criteria will be voted on by the ABC’s general body at its annual convention Aug. 1 in Las Vegas. If voted into MMA’s unified rules by the ABC, the proposed changes would go into effect Jan. 1, 2017.

The proposed new criteria will have judges evaluate the damage, dominance and duration of a round. If a round contains two of those three characteristics, a 10-8 must be considered. If a round has all three, then a 10-8 — or even a 10-7 — must be the score. A 10-7 score calls for “overwhelming dominance” and “significant damage” with a referee stoppage warranted.

The listened definition of those three characteristics are below:

Damage – A judge shall assess if a fighter damages their opponent significantly in the round, even though they may not have dominated the action. Damage includes visible evidence such as swellings and lacerations. Damage shall also be assessed when a fighter’s actions, using striking and/or grappling, lead to a diminishing of their opponents’ energy, confidence, abilities and spirit.  All of these come as a direct result of damage. When a fighter is damaged with strikes, by lack of control and/or ability, this can create defining moments in the round and shall be assessed with great value.

Dominance – As MMA is an offensive based sport, dominance of a round can be seen in striking when the losing fighter is forced to continually defend, with no …

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