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Former UFC champion Max Holloway is fully behind Invicta FC for subjecting itself to testing the new open scoring system.
Judging controversies have unfortunately become a part of the norm in MMA today. In response, the Kansas Athletic Commission offered an open scoring system for promotions who plan to hold events in the state.
In the said system, fights are scored round by round, instead of the traditional way of doing it after the final round expires. These scores will then be handed over to both corners and the broadcast team, and will be displayed on the big screen for the fans to see. This move aims to provide more transparency and hopefully prevent questionable decisions from happening.
Invicta FC is the first promotion to subject itself to this new open scoring system for its upcoming event in Kansas City. It is a move that former UFC featherweight champion Max Holloway appreciates, as he lauded both the state and promotion company in a recent Instagram post.
Seems like every fight week we got issues with fights going to decisions. I’ve met many judges. Most of them are good people just trying to do the right thing. I’m sure there’s a bad guy here and there like any job but our problem is not the people judging… what about the system? Are we putting these judges in a position to do the best job possible? We can’t just keep bashing judges and I realize that now. Nobody good is going to want to do the job.
??I’ve been in the UFC for 8 years. I’ve won 5 title fights in the UFC, and I’ve never met a fighter or even a judge who thinks the scoring system in MMA is perfect. So what are we going to do? We at that point.
If all of us agree it’s not perfect, what we going to do? What are we doing? What are we doing now? Are we just gonna keep tweeting at Dana every Saturday night like he don’t got other headaches? What are we doing? The first step is to test ideas. And that’s what I’m here for.??
Open scoring has been tested in boxing. Cool. MMA isn’t boxing my friends. We don’t know for sure how it will work in MMA. And if it creates more problems than it fixes at least we finally have proof and can move on to the next idea. But maybe it works. Or maybe it creates new problems but we can fix those with new scoring and rules. I don’t know but nobody does. And that’s why we have to put down the bag of Cheetos now and do the work.
??Mahalo to Kansas Athletic Commission, @invictafc , and all the athletes competing with open scoring for the first time on March 6. This sport started with men and now we have women putting their bodies and careers on the line to test an idea to keep pushing our sport forward. How badass is that?
For any other commissions and regional promotions testing new ideas to help our sport let me know. Open scoring is just one idea that’s easy to test. Many other ideas to test especially for how we score matches… I’m flying in to support and I’ll be handing out as much free merch as my team can bring from Hawaii.
Invicta Phoenix Series 3 takes place on March 6th.