Placing MMA judging under the microscope after each UFC event, The Couchside Judges examine all the rounds fight fans are debating at home. Hopefully, you’ll learn a thing or two along the way.
Episodes
Monday Oct 23, 2023
Monday Oct 23, 2023
Welcome back to the Couchside Doctors ... er, Judges.
Yeah, Scott and Dan had to address the shenanigans from UFC 294 that led to two no contests, as well as another fight that featured plenty of field, about as many warnings to various degrees, and no punitive measures.
Oh, and we find time to go over the two Contested Rounds in Khamzat Chimaev's victory over Kamaru Usman, plus a deep discussion of the unanimous 10-8 in that fight's first round. Enjoy, fellow judging nerds!
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Tuesday Oct 17, 2023
Tuesday Oct 17, 2023
A day late and a dollar short, but the CSJ are back, and this time, Scott doesn't sound like death.
Edson Barboza picked up a thrilling, comeback victory over Sodiq Yusuff, one the featured a 10-8/9 split and another one Scott thought was worth considering as such. He and Dan break down those rounds and more from the UFC Apex card.
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Monday Oct 09, 2023
Monday Oct 09, 2023
Just one Contested Round each from a Saturday doubleheader of UFC and Bellator (main card), but those weren't even what set off the social media scoring discussion. That being the case, Scott (with a balky voice bouncing back from a cold) and Dan put that Uncontested Round from Vanessa Demopoulos' win over Kanako Murata under the microscope as well.
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Monday Oct 02, 2023
Monday Oct 02, 2023
Want to improve MMA judging? It starts with improving the scoring criteria.
Scott and Dan are quick to point out the issues with the document judges work from to score fights, but on a week without major North American MMA shows, the CSJ devoted a full episode to the topic of how to upgrade the criteria.
Special guest and fellow MMA judging aficionado Sean Sheehan of Severe MMA & Sherdog joins in on the discussion of what could work, what already does work, and what won't work when it comes to the criteria.
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Monday Sep 25, 2023
Monday Sep 25, 2023
Welcome to the Nevada judging pool, Judge Crippler.
Chris Leben made his Las Vegas debut as a judge at UFC Vegas 79, and he wasted no time finding his way into a split decision. But not all splits are the same, so Scott and Dan put that fight — Montserrat Rendon vs. Tamires Vidal — under the Contested Rounds microscope alongside seven others from UFC.
CSJ also takes a look at the two rounds of Johnny Eblen's middleweight title defense against Fabian Edwards at Bellator 299 after the champion lost a round for the first time in his career ... before securing a finish.
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Monday Sep 18, 2023
Monday Sep 18, 2023
Are you a fan of 10-8 discussions? Are you a MMA judging geek? The answers to those questions go hand in hand, and all who say yes are in for a treat after a Noche UFC card that gifted us nerds five (5!) 10-8/10-9 splits.
Three of them came in the prelim opener, but the final one of the night in Las Vegas was perhaps the most pivotal 8/9 split in UFC history, with the scoring of the fifth round of Alexa Grasso vs. Valentina Shevchenko 2 being the difference between a winner and a split draw.
Scott and Dan have a ton of thoughts on 10-8s in today's MMA, especially as it pertains to this fight, so get comfy and listen, our fellow scoring dorks.
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