UFC judging for dummies!

The Ultimate Fighting Championship is the world's premier organization in the sport of mixed martial arts, which combines elements of both the striking arts and the grappling arts. Because fights can be so drastically different, judging for the sport is a complicated job. The state athletic commissions have outlined a series of rules for that seek to make the sport more easily judged; however, a great deal of technical knowledge is required to ensure the correct result is handed in after the bout.

Instructions

1. Judging Criteria

   • 1
     Observe which fighter is displaying effective striking. Effective striking is displayed by landing blows while the fighters are both standing, either at range with punches and kicks, or in the clinch. The clinch is when the fighters are standing but at close range, often using their arms to tie up their opponents to with knees, elbows and "dirty boxing," so named because it resembles the boxing tactic of punching during a tie-up instead of striking from a standard distance.
   • 2
     Observe which fighter is displaying effective grappling. Effective grappling constitutes using a grappling maneuver to bring the fight to the ground and controlling a positional advantage as a means to deliver strikes on the ground, or using offensive grappling to attempt to score a submission. A submission is attained by putting an opponent in a joint lock or a choke hold, which forces him to tap the mat to the end the match or the referee to intervene.
   • 3
     Monitor which fighter is displaying control in the Octagon, or the eight-sided ring. If a fight is taking place outside the UFC, the fighters will not be in the Octagon; the Octagon is a trademarked property of the UFC's parent company, Zuffa, and as such is only used in the UFC, and its sister promotion World Extreme Cagefighting; however, ring or cage control is achieved in the same manner by dictating where the fight takes place and at what pace.
   • 4
     Watch for which fighter is being more aggressive. In rounds in which striking and grappling negate and there is no clear octagon control, it is considered advantageous to be moving forward aggressively and striking.
   • 5
     Watch for which fighter is displaying better defense as recognized by avoiding strikes, takedowns or submission holds.

   Scoring the Fight

   • 1
     Factor the amount of time spent standing with the amount of time spent on the ground when weighing striking against grappling, as neither is inherently more important. A fighter who is on the losing end of a brief flurry at the start of a round, but quickly secures a takedown to recover and spends the majority of the round on top dealing effective damage, would win the round--the grappling receives more weight for being the majority of the round, for example.
   • 2
     Focus on the scoring of striking against grappling. In most instances in which the striking and grappling--the two most important criteria--are fairly even, the round should likely be scored a draw.
   • 3
     Score the round a 10-10 if neither fighter distinguishes himself from the other and the round is too close to call.
   • 4
     Score the round 10-9 if the round was close but there was a distinct advantage for one fighter.
   • 5
     Score the round 10-8 if a fighter dominates a round and threatens to finish the fight on more than one occasion, or if the opposing fighter fails to mount any tangible offense for the duration of the round. A knockdown does not alone constitute a 10-8 round, unlike in boxing.
   • 6
     Score the round 10-7 only if the round is a complete domination in which one fighter seems in danger from start to finish. Rounds scored 10-7 are extremely rare in mixed martial arts.
   • 7
     Subtract any points taken by the referee from a fighter from the fighter's score in the particular round in which they are taken.
   • 8
     Record your score after each round, along with the total score to that point.