Amadi's Take
AMADI: The continued debate of 10-8 rounds after UFC 139's epic Henderson-Shogun main event
Nov 22, 2011 - 5:30:30 PM AMADI: The continued debate of 10-8 rounds after UFC 139's epic Henderson-Shogun main event

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By: Jason Amadi, MMATorch Columnist

This past weekend's instant classic between Dan Henderson and Mauricio Rua may have reminded some of why they love the sport of mixed martial arts, but for me, the UFC 139 main event served as reminder of one of the reasons I hate mixed martial arts; the obfuscation of the Unified Rules.

By no means am I advocating that the Unified Rules of Mixed Martial Arts are perfect, and require no further adjustment to better suit the sport; that isn't how I feel at all. However, to act as though there basically are no rules and that it's up to every individual to come up with their own criteria is asinine.

The hottest topic of debate coming off UFC 139's main event is the definition of a 10-8 round in mixed martial arts, and whether or not the work that "Shogun" put in during the fifth frame of that bout warranted such a scorecard.

The fact is, 10-8 rounds are defined fairly clearly in the Unified Rules. Per the letter of the Unified Rules, a 10-8 scorecard is justified when one competitor is "overwhelmingly dominant" in a round. Popular buzzwords like "near finish" and "visible damage" have nothing to do with 10-8 rounds in MMA.

Perhaps instead of focusing on what "Shogun" did to earn a 10-8, fans should focus on what Dan Henderson did to prevent himself from being overwhelmingly dominated. Upon multiple viewings of that particular round, I've yet to see any sort of offense from Henderson at all.  He was taken down, mounted repeatedly, and remained on the defensive for the majority of the round. If the criterion for a 10-8 round is that that one fighter's dominance be "overwhelming" then surely the easiest way to refute Rua's dominance over Henderson would be to draw attention to Henderson's offense in the fifth round. Unfortunately, no such offense exists.

Poor judging doesn't mean that there are no rules or that the rules aren't clearly explained. The state of judging in mixed martial arts is evidence of the fact that the rules aren't being enforced. We seldom see judges awarding 10-8 rounds in MMA because they're afraid of taking away one fighters chance to win. We seldom see referees deduct points for timidity during a bout because most referees are afraid to have that sort of impact on the outcome of a fight.

The fact that 10-8 and even 10-7 rounds are rare doesn't mean that they're "like a unicorn" as UFC President Dana White would have you believe; judges are simply far too reticent to use them. Henderson and Rua, aside from its awesomeness, should be remembered for the fact that it bucks the idea that 10-8 rounds don't need to look like a Brock Lesnar-Shane Carwin rehash.