Bellator President Scott Coker says that open scoring is something that should be considered for Bellator.
This comes after a contentious decision occurred last week in Bellator 277’s main event as Patrício “Pitbull” Freire defeated A.J. McKee via unanimous decision. Some argued McKee had done enough to defend his title. Quinton “Rampage” Jackson even went as far as to label the decision “the worst robbery I’ve ever seen in MMA“.
While the former champion who lost his belt that night went by the old saying ‘to be the champ you’ve got to beat the champ’, McKee felt as though ‘Pitbull’ failed to do so.
Open scoring has been up for debate within MMA for some time now. It most certainly would add a new element to the sport for which all parties, including the fighters, coaches, and fans could benefit.
Adding open scoring would allow corners to know how the judges have scored the fight round by round, allowing for adjustments and changes in strategy if their fighter is losing.
Several UFC fighters have called for open scoring, including the likes of Stephen Thompson and Cory Sandhagen. The state of Colorado opted to adopt new rules and regulations that included open scoring for boxing and MMA bouts more recently in late 2021.
Coker is now open to introducing the system to Bellator.
“We’d have to get that approved by the commission, but it’s something we should consider,” Coker said. “It’s something the fans would enjoy, and I think the media would enjoy covering that, too, seeing the score as each round goes by.”
One of the drawbacks involving open scoring would be judges being influenced by crowd reactions to the round-by-round scoring, although Coker doesn’t see an issue with it.
“I trust our judges, and I don’t think that would be a problem. I would hope that the judges wouldn’t be swayed by people in the building or online,” said Coker. (h/t Sports Illustrated)
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