Midnight Mania! Open Scoring Would ‘Make The Fight Completely Horrible’

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Welcome to Midnight Mania!

As we move into a new year, pondering future changes is only natural. Just yesterday, UFC President Dana White hosted a fan Q&A that proved illuminating regarding what the promotion’s immediate future looks like, including some key match up announcements and/or plans.

One problem that continues to plague mixed martial arts (MMA) — and indeed, all combat sports — is that of judging. A proposed solution that has gained popularity is open scoring, which allows fighters, corners, and fans alike to know the scorecards immediately after a round ends. As a result, some believe that fights down on the cards would be more inclined to push in the final round.

At the very least, there would be transparency in the event of a screwball decision.

White, however, has a number of problems with the concept. For one, fans knowing who won before the announcement is read takes away a great deal of suspense.

“When we do the fights, I have an idea of who I think won or lost or whatever, but when I’m standing there with the belt, I don’t know what Bruce Buffer is going to say,” White said (transcription via MMA Junkie). “He doesn’t tell me anything. The judges tell him, the commission do their thing, they tell him, and I’m standing there waiting to hear too, so I’m just as blown away as the fans are. And I agree with you: It completely takes away the anticipation of who won the fight.”

In addition, White believes that open scoring would favor stalling rather than hard-fought comebacks.

“If a guy knows that he’s up two rounds and you’re a professional fighter, you can absolutely stay away from a guy for an entire round and make the fight completely horrible,” White said. “If you already know you’ve got two rounds in the bag, guarantee if you saw your score up there, all (you) have to do is stay away from this guy for the next five minutes. That makes for a lot of bad third rounds.

“It’s never going to be perfect,” White said “There are always going to be fights that absolutely drive you insane and piss you off, blow your bets, there will always be all these other things that go with the fight business. At the end of the day, watching the fight and waiting for the results are fun.”

Insomnia

True or false: Kevin Holland had a more impressive 2020 than Khamzat Chimaev?

The Heavyweight champion is 90% torso. Interestingly, both Stipe Miocic and Jose Aldo can throw a mean low kick despite their anatomical differences!

Another stupid meme that still made me laugh:

Despite promises to the contrary, it would seem Robert Whittaker still has a considerable road back to the title.

Wonder why wrestlers tend to have great cardio? Lots of repetitions on exhausting drills like this!

Spinning wheel kick practice and comparison!

Tito Ortiz is no longer in the UFC, but if I had to nominate a fourth troublemaker, the councilman would be my choice.

Slips, rips, and KO clips

Beneil Dariush is awesome. Both of his 2020 victories were spectacular, and he hits insanely hard for a jiu-jitsu guy who doesn’t really seem like a huge physical force.

I’ve posted a couple of these highlights in the past, but this full compilation RULES!

Anthony Pettis signed a backyard fighting veteran to his management. I don’t know how much training he has, but the man already knows how to fight as a Southpaw!

Random Land

The weirdest bit of randomness in a while:

Midnight Music! Confession: I don’t buy records much anymore, mostly because I’m stingy. However, when I found a clean copy of Donna Summer’s double-album disco masterpiece Bad Girls (produced by Giorgio Moroder!) for $4 at a Goodwill today, well … y’all know what had to be done.

Sleep well Maniacs! More martial arts madness is always on the way.