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By: Eric Hobaugh, MMATorch Contributor
The first ever UFC event took place on November 12, 1993, just a little less than 20 years ago. By contrast, the first professional football games from the NFL's direct ancestor, the American Professional Football Association, were played in the fall of 1920. Professional baseball's been around since the 1800s. Olympic wrestling started thousands of years ago.
Because MMA is such a young sport compared to those more established fields, there are still many issues which need to be addressed and figured out to continue making the sport better for fans and fighters. Here are some ideas about how we can do that.
Better Reffing
95 percent of the time, the referee inside of the cage or ring in MMA not thought of or remembered. The other five percent of the time, we are left scratching our heads and asking if what we just saw was possible. How many times have we watched refs make horrible decisions? I am the first one to say I do not envy the job they have to do and I could never even pretend to do it. Having said that, they have a task to complete and they signed up for it. Even good refs make mistakes, but while I like watching Yves Lavigne, I can remember a few of his bad decisions. Kim Winslow is relatively new to the UFC, I am very disappointed in some of her decisions in fights.
What can we do about it? I think one way we can make refs better is by allowing a replay system in MMA This would allow them to correct bad decisions should they arise. It might slow down the fights, but this would be a great thing for MMA.
Another improvement in MMA judging could be gained by assigning some kind of fine or punishment for ref’s who make major mistakes. I think the promotions should be able to appeal bad decisions and if the athletic boards who regulate the events agree with the appeal of the bad call, they should be able to fine or suspend them for their bad decisions. Giving sanctions to bad refereeing could help clean up this part of MMA.
Booking Off The UFC's Ranking System
This is seriously something the UFC needs to address. If they don't, they run the risk of ruining the legitimacy of the sport at the highest level. Would the NFL let a 1-15 team play in the Superbowl? Of course not, but that is exactly what is happening when they allow fighters who are not even in the weight class to fight for a world title. They have a set ranking system, they have a way to make more legitimate fights, and it's something Dana White and Zuffa should address.
Saving TUF
I find it hard to believe when fans and experts talk about how they have not cared about the show in years. How quickly they forget how important the show was to making our sport what it is. The UFC holds the number one fight in their history to be Bonner vs. Griffin I. It changed the way the sport was perceived, and the way we watched/ It made the sport important and saved it from mediocrity. After all, it was just a few years before that when politicians were calling MMA human cock fighting.
I have not missed one episode of the show, because I remember what the show was. Yes, I agree, the past few years before this last one weren't very good. Some of the fighters who made the show have been terrible at times. The same could be said about production value, and addressing the two of those issues is what made this last season the best season of the show bar none.
Why is it still an important part of MMA? Because, our sport is so young we need to continue getting bigger and better. It has been on a historically fast rise, because of a young and expanding fan base. If that fan base starts to shrink, it will be devastating for the sport. TUF, if it is made like it was last year, can help grow the fan base and keep the sport strong.
MMA in New York
I cannot believe in 2013 I am still writing about how MMA is not legal in all 50 states. This is ridiculous at best and it's the reason is politics. I also know the UFC is spending a huge amount of money and time to get this done. Please New York, come around and legalize this sport.
Finding the next crop of fighters
See the above paragraphs about the TUF television show. Bellator is the largest and best place to find the next wave of fighters who may be world champions. The UFC has bought most of its competitors, and that does help bring the best fighters under one company, but it definitely hurts the sport when it comes to developing up and coming fighters. The WEC, Pride, and Strikeforce all provided a rich ground for bringing up future champions. I am worried the XFC, Dream, and Bellator are not big enough to bring along the amount of fighters we need to keep the sport exciting and fresh. I am afraid if the issue isn't figured out, the sport will be on the decline in five to ten years. The UFC should be fostering the smaller promotions instead of buying them and dismantling them.
Stopping Legal Exceptions For Testosterone
This is the most simple thing on this list. If a fighter is using HGH, testosterone, or any other banned substance, they should be banned from the sport. I like that the UFC is going in this direction, but they need to take a harder stance and drum out every fighter who uses any of these performance enhancers. If they banned fighters like Vitor Belort (or any other high profile fighter), who is an open user of them, they would let the world know they are serious about getting it out of our sport. Saying you are older and therefore need more testosterone is not a good enough reason for cheating in MMA.
Judging
This is the biggest problem facing the sport today, and I do not see any easy solutions. Anytime you have humans judging anything there will be differences of opinion. Judges in Las Vegas and Brazil are going to differ, I think this is unavoidable. Two judges from Vegas watching the same fight should not be able to score the fight 30-27 for one fighter and 30-27 for his opponent. We are still seeing horrible decisions in MMA and it's simply not alright. I think Frankie Edgar actually won two of his last three fights, yet he was not awarded the victory on enough of the judges’ scorecards to earn the official raise of his arm.
We need more standardized and easier to understand rules for judging all over the world. When I interviewed Phil Baroni last year, he proposed having more former fighters as judges and I agree 100%. This would help some, but not enough. I also think if a judge screws up enough times, they should be fined or banned from the sport entirely. This is not an easy thing to fix, but if the governing bodies who regulate the sport in individual states and countries could come together and have more standardized regulations and training, it would really help.
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