Aljamain Sterling believes MMA judges need to get into grappling positions themselves to score fights more fairly
Aljamain Sterling believes MMA judges need to get into grappling positions themselves to score fights more fairly Notifications New User posted their first comment this is comment text Approve Reject & ban Delete Logout
All Tonight's Scorecards: Official Scorecard: Aljamain Sterling (@FunkMasterMMA) vs Petr YanAll Tonight's Scorecards: Speaking with Kevin Iole of Yahoo Sports, Aljamain Sterling made a strong case for determining the parameters for a 10-8 round: "The perfect example is Mackenzie Dern vs. Yan Xiaonan. Watching that fight was very disturbing because I don't even know what else you have to do anymore to get a 10-8. If you're on the ground with gravity punching you in the head multiple times, that does not feel good. So I think it comes down to the [fact that] judges need to go into these positions because then you eradicate what is a 10-8 round for the grappler." Sterling added that while there's a clear criteria for a 10-8 round from the perspective of striking, a similar clairy is missing for grappling: "For grappling, we don't have that clarity. I didn't get a 10-8 round going for submissions and going for big ground-and-pound and having big moments in that round. Mackenzie Dern does the same thing, she clinches her up at the 4:20 mark and finally gets her down. She has over four minutes of control plus ground-and-pound strikes. How does that not equate to a 10-8 round?" Watch Aljamain Sterling's comments starting from the18:00 minute mark below:
How does that not equate to a 10-8 round - Aljamain Sterling believes MMA judges need to get into grappling positions themselves to score fights more fairly
Mackenzie Dern vs. Yan Xiaonan (Bottom left) Sterling vs. Yan (Top left) Aljamain Sterling (Right) [Images via: Dern from mmamania.com (Original credits - Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC) rest from Getty] believes MMA judges need practical experience in grappling to score fights fairly. The UFC bantamweight champion used his second fight against and Mackenzie Dern's recent fight against Yan Xiaonan as exhibits for his case. In her UFC Vegas 61 fight against Xiaonan, Dern made a late push in the final frame for a 10-8 round. The Brazilian initiated a clinch against the fence and took her opponent down. She controlled Xiaonan on the ground for the majority of the round and attempted a few submissions. In the end, only one judge scored the fight 10-8 in Dern's favor. Aljamain Sterling further argued that he deserved a 10-8 score in at least one round of his title fight against Petr Yan. Former two-division UFC champion supported 'Funk Master's' claim that . Official Scorecard: Aljamain Sterling (@FunkMasterMMA) vs Petr YanAll Tonight's Scorecards: Official Scorecard: Aljamain Sterling (@FunkMasterMMA) vs Petr YanAll Tonight's Scorecards: Speaking with Kevin Iole of Yahoo Sports, Aljamain Sterling made a strong case for determining the parameters for a 10-8 round: "The perfect example is Mackenzie Dern vs. Yan Xiaonan. Watching that fight was very disturbing because I don't even know what else you have to do anymore to get a 10-8. If you're on the ground with gravity punching you in the head multiple times, that does not feel good. So I think it comes down to the [fact that] judges need to go into these positions because then you eradicate what is a 10-8 round for the grappler." Sterling added that while there's a clear criteria for a 10-8 round from the perspective of striking, a similar clairy is missing for grappling: "For grappling, we don't have that clarity. I didn't get a 10-8 round going for submissions and going for big ground-and-pound and having big moments in that round. Mackenzie Dern does the same thing, she clinches her up at the 4:20 mark and finally gets her down. She has over four minutes of control plus ground-and-pound strikes. How does that not equate to a 10-8 round?" Watch Aljamain Sterling's comments starting from the18:00 minute mark below: