Johnny Walker has a simple solution to resolve the rampant criticism of mixed martial arts judging that has once again been on everyone’s mind.
On December 9th, MMA fans worldwide were scratching their heads as combat sports judge Doug Crosby delivered a 50-45 card in favor of Danny Sabatello in the Bellator 289 main event against interim bantamweight champion Raufeon Stots. The other two judges on duty delivered a much more reasonable 48-47 score in favor of Raufeon Stots. With Stots being awarded the victory, many fans looked past the highly questionable card turned in by Crosby.
24 hours later, Crosby struck again after flying across the country to serve as a judge at UFC 282. It was there that he handed in another questionable scorecard, favoring Paddy Pimblett 29-28 over Jared Gordon despite practically every fan and fighter in the MMA community favoring Gordon. The back-to-back scoring flubs have prompted rule changes and investigations among some state athletic commissions, but it doesn’t resolve the issue of MMA judging as a whole or address how it can be improved.
Awesome chat with Johnny Walker who discussed …
✅ Paul Craig matchup #UFC283 on Jan. 21
✅ Glover Teixeira vs. Jamahal Hill prediction
✅ Recently getting married
✅ MMA judging controversyFull interview via @MiddleEasy https://t.co/BvNbVCq6yq pic.twitter.com/7dgM6gwoRy
— James Lynch (@LynchOnSports) December 22, 2022
Johnny Walker Tells Fighters to Accept the Result if Unable to Finish the Fight
In an exclusive interview with MiddleEasy, No. 12 ranked light heavyweight contender Johnny Walker spoke with James Lynch and shared his rather basic resolution to the consistently questionable judging in combat sports.
“Don’t let the fights go to the [scorecards]. Finish the f*cking fight. Knock him out or choke him out. Finish. There is no deal. You don’t want to deal with the [judge], finish the f*cking fight. Whatever they decided for you, you have to accept. You left it on them hands. If you couldn’t finish, accept the result.
The key issue with Johnny Walker’s solution is that it’s not a solution in any way, shape, or form. In fact, that argument simply perpetuates the epidemic of inept judges handing out bad scores that seriously impact the lives of fighters. Arguing that fighters should simply “finish the f*cking fight” dismisses the fact that there are licensed judges out there that are either unaware of how to do their job or are using their position of power in an unethical manner. In the process, they are playing with the careers and the financial stability of professional athletes.
Most of us can’t pretend to know how to fix the issues with judging in MMA, but simply ignoring it and blaming the fighters for not finishing the fight is most certainly not the answer.
