Judging MMA bouts with Marc Goddard
Many know Marc Goddard as one of the most respected referees in mixed martial arts. He’s officiated some of the most important fights of the last decade, including Miocic vs. Cormier, Stann vs. Silva, and Aldo vs. Mendes. However, not many realize that Goddard has officiated from outside the cage. In 2004, Marc Goddard served as a judge for the first time in his career in Birmingham, England. Since then, Goddard has judged hundreds of fights and regularly hosts judging seminars across the world. Judging in MMA has constantly been at the forefront of controversy. Are the judges the problem or is the 10-point must system the problem? We had a conversation with Goddard about what the Verdict community should be looking for when scoring.
MMA bouts are judged based on the 10-point must system. This system derives from the Marquess of Queensberry Rules of boxing. Similar to the early days of boxing, MMA is scored by three judges sitting at cage-side. Many question whether or not this system is appropriate for MMA. Goddard is a proponent of the system, and believes that the system itself is not the issue.
“The people that throw shade on the 10 point must system, are the ones that don’t understand the system. The 10 point must system is the most perfect system we could use. The emphasis must be placed on the correct understanding and application of the criteria for judging, not the system itself”.
– Marc Goddard
Verdict follows the 10 point must system when scoring fights. We went into detail with Goddard regarding what we should be looking for when scoring a round.
10–9 vs. 10–8:
The difference between a 10–9 vs. a 10–8 round is one of the biggest issues in judging. A difference of one point can have a major impact on a close fight, so it is vital for judges to submit the appropriate score. When the new unified rules went into effect in January of 2017, the criteria for a 10–8 round became more clear. But even with the new rules in place, many still debate the differences between a 10–9 and a 10–8 round. We saw this recently in the rematch between Robert Whittaker and Yoel Romero at UFC 225. The opening two rounds were close, with Whittaker controlling the action. All three cage-side judges awarded rounds 1 and 2 a 10–9 to Whittaker. During the 3rd round, Romero dropped Whittaker with damaging strikes and appeared to have Whittaker in trouble. The 5th round was similar to the 3rd, as Romero dropped Whittaker again. There was a clear difference between rounds 3 and 5 compared to rounds 1 and 2, but why were all rounds scored a 10–9? UFC commentator Joe Rogan weighed in after the fight, suggesting that the rounds Romero was dominant in, should have been considered 10–8’s:
“Two guys are fighting, it’s a close round, but one guy drops the other and has him hurt. I think that’s a 10–8”.
– Joe Rogan
We asked Goddard what he considered the difference between a 10–9 and a 10–8, and it came down to earning the 9.
“A 10–9 can be razor thin, or quite significant. As a judge, if I’m going to give you a 9, you have to earn that 9 by being competitive. If you weren’t competitive, that’s where you should be pushing towards a 10–8”.
– Marc Goddard
Perhaps, this is why all three judges scored rounds 3 and 5 a 10–9 opposed to a 10–8. Though he was dropped, Whittaker stayed active and remained competitive.
Judge Sal D’Amato was the judge for both Robert Whittaker vs. Yoel Romero 2 and Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. Conor McGregor. Let’s compare what seemed to be the most dominant round from each fight. Round 3 from Whittaker vs. Romero was scored a 10–9 for Romero, and round 2 from Nurmagomedov vs. McGregor was scored a 10–8 for Nurmagomedov. The difference in scores from both rounds speaks to Marc Goddard’s notion of earning the 9. Whittaker stayed competitive, while McGregor did not. That according to Goddard, is one of the differences between a 10–9 and a 10–8.
So what is the criteria for a 10–8 while looking at the 10 point must system? Goddard recommended using the ‘Three D’s’ as a training aid.
“We want judges to use the three D’s. Domination, duration, and damage. In your mind, if you have 2/3 D’s, you should be leaning towards and considering a 10–8. If you have 3/3 D’s- If you’re clear in your mind after watching that round, there was domination, damage, and it happened over a prolonged period of time, you should without question be giving a 10–8.”
– Marc Goddard
Many understand what domination and damage is, but how do we define duration?
“If you have a 5 minute round, it doesn’t mean a fighter needs to be dominated for a continual 2:30. It could be separate pockets. 20 seconds of the first minute. 15 seconds of the second minute. 40 seconds of the 4th minute. When you add it all up, not only was I dominating you, not only was I damaging you, I was doing it for a significant portion of the round. If you tick all three boxes, that’s a clear 10–8”.
– Marc Goddard
Takedowns and Knockdowns:
One of the most debated topics in scoring is takedowns. If a fighter is on top, does that mean they are in the dominant position? Not necessarily according to Goddard.
“The bottom is still an offensive position. It is well within the realms of possibilities, that a fighter on his back with closed guard could do enough damage and work to win a round easily. Sometimes a fighter could be tired and just be holding on. If the person on the bottom is working, that’s what counts.”
– Marc Goddard
According to Goddard, it’s the fighter that’s inflicting damage who’s winning—regardless of being on top or bottom. However, there are scenarios where takedowns are weighed heavier.
“I’m looking for quality over quantity. I’m looking for significance. If I hip toss you. If I belly to back you. If I throw you and elevate you and bring you down to that canvas hard with impact, as a judge, I’m favoring that over being outside tripped or bundled to the mat. We’re looking for acts of significance and acts of impact. If I take you down pass your guard immediately into a more dominant position, get you in side control or mount — I’m scoring heavier”.
– Marc Goddard
In boxing, when a fighter is knocked down, they lose a point. We asked Goddard how we should weigh knockdowns when scoring MMA fights.
“Being dropped in MMA, doesn’t signify a 10–8. This isn’t boxing. What if the round was super competitive until a certain point, then a knockdown happens? Is that a 10–8? No, because there was no dominating in the round, it did not happen over a prolonged period of time”.
– Marc Goddard
Submission Attempts:
We often see fights that are close to being stopped after a barrage of strikes. As they should, those moments are weighed heavily when scoring fights. But what about the instances where fights are close to being stopped by a submission? Shouldn’t those instances be scored comparably? Goddard adamantly believes so.
“Without any shadow of a doubt, submission attempts do count. If I lock in a rear naked choke that makes you take everything in your power to escape, I’m scoring that heavily. If I heave a submission locked in that caused you to tire or weaken, that should absolutely be scored for. Think of a power bar in a video game. When something significant happens, down goes the power bar. If a fighter is being drained in a submission, that’s what we’re looking for when scoring”.
– Marc Goddard
10–7:
Though they are rare, 10–7 rounds do exist. Marc Goddard described 10–7 rounds as, “Close to you should get to a referee stopping a fight, but not stopping a fight”. He referenced the second rounds of Hector Lombard vs. Neil Magny and Khalid Murtazaliev vs C.B. Dollaway as examples of 10–7 rounds. Goddard described the criteria for a 10–7 as, “Utter domination, utter dominance, and total damage for more than a prolong period of a round”. In February of 2018, Valentina Shevchenko defeated Priscila Cachoeira. The first round set the record on Verdict for the most 10–7 rounds scored on the platform.
At the end of our conversation, Goddard stated that, “People forget that this is a young sport. It’s a continual process to get everyone onto the same page”. The key to improving judging in MMA is education, and a true understanding of the criteria. On December 29th, Jon Jones and Alexander Gustafsson will compete in their highly anticipated rematch. The decision of their first fight is still highly debated. Five years later, you are now able to score the rematch using Verdict. The averages of all the scores submitted will appear on the Global Scorecard. The following is the data from the rematch between Jon Jones and Daniel Cormier prior to the stoppage.
Verdict is a platform for scoring and predicting fights. Now available on iOS and Android.
