Hyden's Take
HYDEN BLOG: Time To Do Away With Lay-And-Pray, The Art Of Bore
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Aug 25, 2010 - 9:53:52 AM

By: Frank Hyden, MMATorch contributor

I've mentioned previously that I don't believe that title fights should ever go to the scorecards. I think that a title should have to be won, and I don't think a decision victory is enough. I think fighters should be encouraged to go for the finish, as opposed to the decision. To achieve true victory, you must risk defeat.

I realize that not everyone is sold on the idea of "fight to the finish" title matches, so maybe a compromise is in order. A stricter set of rules governing ground fighting would alleviate much of the dissatisfaction with the lay-and-pray fighting style. Takedowns can be extremely effective at imposing your will on your opponent. However, takedowns that only result in laying atop your opponent shouldn't count towards your round score. The fighter needs to make a concerted effort to damage his opponent in some way or to submit him. Advancing positions should be handled in the same way that stand-up should be. A guy who connects with 50 jabs shouldn't be awarded the same points as someone who connects with three or four power punches or kicks.

The name of the game should be doing damage. Going from half-guard to side control is great, but if it doesn't result in your opponent taking damage or having to defend a submission, what good is it? It's the same way with punching. You can work your jab and keep landing it over and over, but if you're not using your jab to set up more damaging strikes, what have you really done?

If you take a fighter down but don't do much, you shouldn't be awarded points for the takedown. If the referee is forced to stand you up, you don't deserve points. A takedown, followed by some effective ground-and-pound or a submission attempt, is absolutely worthy of points. Controlling a guy with wrestling isn't worthy of points. It's like excessive clinching or holding in boxing. Yeah, it takes talent to use your wrestling to smother an opponent, but I don't want to watch that, just like figure skating. It takes lots of talent to be a good figure skater, but I don't want to watch that, either.

It's all about entertainment. I remember several years ago when Karo Parisyan fought Nick Diaz at UFC 49. The stand-up portion of the fight wasn't very good, but the ground fighting between the two was incredible. There were reversals and counters to the counter, and things were just crazy. I don't expect every fight that goes to the ground to be as exciting as that was, but I do expect the fighters to at least try to do something.

We all know that fights on the ground can be entertaining. To ensure that there's a higher probability of that happening, we need to legislate out the art of bore, lay-and-pray.

Comments and suggestion can be e-mailed to me at hydenfrank@gmail.com

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