3 MMA rules that need to change, 1 we hope never does
By Anwesha Nag
3. Open scoring in between rounds
Perhaps the one MMA ruleset most criticized by fans is the current judging scenario. Not only does the rigidity of the 10-point system, borrowed from the world of boxing, always make sense in MMA, but the criteria used to score the fights often seem to change from one judge to another.
Too many fights in recent memory have been plagued by controversial judging. MMA experts and fans alike have criticized the unfortunate recurrence of such letdowns, where one wrong scoring by a judge can cost a fight their title, future title shot, prize money, a well-stacked streak, and so on and so forth.
Setting more specific standards, like a knockdown guaranteeing a 10-8 round in boxing, could somewhat solve the problem.
The other thing that can fix this is open scoring. Many MMA personalities have long been asking the UFC to consider including it in their ruleset, but it has not been discussed as of the time of this writing.
Open scoring would allow fighters to know exactly which way the judges are leaning and what they need to do to get ahead of their opponent on the scorecard. It would a far better situation to be in for the fighters rather than heading into every round completely oblivious about whether their efforts are getting them points or not.