I wasn't able to watch the UFC 143 Main Event, Diaz Vs. Condit fight LIVE. But from what I was reading while scouring the internet, there was a lot of controversy about the decision that went to Carlos Condit. So, I decided to watch the fight and give my own humble opinion on the fight, round-by-round and try to score it as if I was a judge at ringside.
My criteria:
Judge the fight the same way that Patricia Morse-Jarman, Junichiro Kamijo and Cecil Peoples of the Nevada Athletic Commission would.
All bouts will be evaluated and scored by three judges. The 10-Point Must System will be the standard system of scoring a bout. Under the 10-Point Must Scoring System, 10 points must be awarded to the winner of the round and nine points or less must be awarded to the loser, except for an even round, which is scored (10-10).
Judges shall evaluate mixed martial arts techniques, such as effective striking, effective grappling, control of the fighting area, effective aggressiveness and defense. Evaluations shall be made in the order in which the techniques appear, giving the most weight in scoring to effective striking, effective grappling, control of the fighting area and effective aggressiveness and defense. (Very Important) Effective striking is judged by determining the number of legal strikes landed by a contestant and the significance of such legal strikes.
One thing that I made sure to do while watching the fight is to watch the fight with NO SOUND! Because, as much as I love Joe Rogan and Mike Goldberg, their announcing of the fight can be opinion based at times. And I didn't want their opinions to rub off on what I was watching and my eventual scoring of the fight.
I jotted down notes and scored the rounds right after the conclusion of each round and I posted them to my twitter account @SoCal MMA. So bear with the short and non-punctuated notes, as I am simply copy/pasting from my original posts.
Here are my Twitter notes from each round:
Diaz Vs. Condit, R1: Diaz controlled the octagon but Condit landed way more strikes. 10-9, Condit!
Diaz Vs. Condit, R2: Diaz definite ring control! Condit backed up the whole round but he landed the more effective strikes. 10-9, Condit!
Diaz Vs. Condit, R3: Diaz pressures the WHOLE round & lands more strikes. Condit on a backwards treadmill! Diaz, 10-9!
Diaz Vs. Condit, R4: Diaz wasn't pressuring like previous rounds. Condit cutting him off and landing more meaningful strikes. Condit, 10-9!
Diaz Vs. Condit R5: Condit was winning w/ better combos. Diaz may have won round in the last minute with the takedown. Coin flip round. Diaz 10-9!
By my scorecard the fight goes to Carlos Condit, 48-47. After seeing that, I was very surprised. If you asked me personally, who won that fight? I would tell you that Nick Diaz won that fight for sure. Diaz had Condit doing exactly what he wanted. Which was backing up almost the entirety of the fight. Sans the 4th round.
(which, btw, I think is the reason Diaz lost the fight. Because he let up for the 4th round, or because Condit figured out Diaz' footwork and was cutting him off with better footwork)
In my opinion a fighter backing up should not be winning a fight. Unless, he is backing up and landing the more crisp, effective and damaging or fight ending strikes! Ala, boxing and the third Manny Pacquiao Vs. Juan Manuel Marquez fight. It's easier to be reactionary than to be the one pressuring and moving forward! Because you are using less strength and energy than someone who is more aggressive and constantly moving forward. Like Diaz and like Pacquiao in their respective fights.
The judges Patricia Morse-Jarman, Junichiro Kamijo and Cecil Peoples of the Nevada Athletic Commission scored the fight 48-47, 49-46 and 49-46 for Carlos Condit. I think that they got it correct, but correct by technicality! I can agree about all the judging even the two 49-46 scores. Because as I said the last round was a toss-up, a real coin-flip! Condit's combos hold more weight that Diaz' lone takedown.
You cannot blame the judges... they have to score the fight by a set of rules. They HAVE to score the fight Round by Round and NOT as an entirety. Diaz would've won that fight simply because of his TOTAL octagon control and aggressiveness if the judges based their scores as a whole! Another VERY IMPORTANT fact, as I pointed out earlier in the article is,
Evaluations shall be made in the order in which the techniques appear, giving the most weight in scoring to effective striking, effective grappling, control of the fighting area and effective aggressiveness and defense.
This judging technicality, in effect, gives more weight to effective striking as compared to the other criteria that the judges are looking for. With cage control, aggressiveness and defense being at the bottom of the totem poll.
Here's my solution to this judging controversy that seems to be happening more frequently than not. Changing the judges criteria and the round structure of the Unified Rules of MMA. So that they are made specifically for MMA and not boxing or any other sport. What most people don't realize, is that the judging criteria is the same as boxing. MMA is relatively a brand new baby, as a sport. When the UFC took over as the preeminent MMA fight organization, there was no real governing body and more importantly, NO RULES! So to govern MMA they simply leaned on what sport was most like MMA and that is boxing! I think we can both agree that boxing and MMA are not even close to being the same sport! That criteria works fine for boxing because they have 12, three minute rounds to showcase their skills in the ring. In MMA there are only 3, five minute rounds. Or in the case of a championship fight 5, five minute rounds. The ability for an MMA fighter to showcase his skills is much shorter.
PRIDE Fighting Championship (PrideFC) had the correct scoring and criteria, IMO. They had 2, ten minute rounds and the fights were judged in their entirety with almost the same criteria as the Unified Rules and Criteria of MMA. BUT, they gave more weight for aggressiveness and they even awarded aggressiveness by giving negatives to the non-aggressive fighters, in the form of yellow cards (that docked fighters 10% of their fight purse) for stalling in fights.
In conclusion, Carlos Condit deserves to be the Interim UFC Welterweight Champion! And he deserves to go on and fight GSP! Because he fought within the boundaries of what rules are set in front of him. There needs to be a major overhaul of the round structure and the judging criteria laid forth for the judges to avoid future controversy. Condit is going on to fight GSP. But if you ask me if he won the ACTUAL fight against Diaz...... No, Homie.
'Til the next judging controversy,
Joel Soriano, MMA fan!
Thanks for the read!!! Hope you liked it.
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