Sal D’amato revisits ‘Chandler vs Oliveira’

Fans have been quick to voice their opinions on the judging from last week’s Lightweight Title bout. With two judges scoring the first round as a 10-8 for Chandler, Sal D’amato took time to address the hotly debated topic.

Speaking on the scoring, D’amato explains how “the criteria, if you read it, does call for that round to be a 10-8”. Calling upon the unified rules by which judges base their scores, he added “a 10-8 does not require a fighter to dominate their opponent for 5 minutes of a round. A 10-8 should be awarded if one fighter had the duration of the domination, and impacted their opponents with either effective strikes or effective grappling manoeuvres.”

With Chandler displaying an edge in striking in the first 5 minutes, D’amato justified his opinion based on the damage inflicted in the closing minute. Chandler floored Oliveira, following with a relentless barrage of punches that almost finished the fight. “If a fighter impacts their opponent significantly in a round, even though they do not dominate the action, a 10-8 should be considered”, he added.

He acknowledged the differing opinions of fans and fighters alike, stating he “sees an argument for 10-9.” Former two-division champion Daniel Cormier was amongst the critics, stating “how in the world are you scoring that 10-8 as a judge”, recalling Teixiera vs Smith for comparison. In a landslide beat-down, Teixeira dominated Smith with strikes and grappling in a manner so dominant that fans were calling to Smith’s corner as “disgraceful” for failing to save their fighter. With rounds 3 and 4 of the bout being scored as 10-8, Cormier argued ” how in the world can you judge these rounds the same. Oliveira and Chandler had a competitive round”, concluding that ” it’s crazy”.

UFC commentator Joe Rogan has criticised the judging of the sport in the past, stating “they need to fire everyone”. He explained how the 10 point must system has been adopted from boxing, and it is “not ours”.

Considering how Oliveira clocked in 90-seconds of back control, whilst landing strikes of his own and displaying veteran submission-defence, maybe it’s time for MMA to adopt a new judging criteria that is developed specifically for our sport. Calling to mind some notorious judging results such as Hendricks vs GSP, Henderson vs Edgar and more recently a judge giving Cody Garbrandt 2 rounds in his clash with Rob Font, action must be taken to ensure the future judging of our sport is more reliable.

Do you think the round warranted a 10-8? Let us know in the comments!