Post-UFC 105 analysis; scoring, refereeing and its discontents

Although the 105^th event played out to a filled Manchester Evening Standard arena last night, the UFC’s 105 post-mortem will include two nagging issues that cast a shadow on yesterday’s card, underlining two recent areas of concern for the organization: scoring and refereeing.

Beginning with the first bout of the evening (undercard), LW UK fighter Andre Winner absolutely smashed Rolando Delgado with a devastating right hand that knocked him out on impact around mid-round 1. He received two unnecessary blows while out on the ground because of the distant position of the referee, who had previously circled out of the action to place himself behind Winner at the diametrical opposite location in the Octagon. The referee clearly saw the blow that KO’ed Delgado, but was so far away from the action that Winner was able to land two undefended punches to a motionless Delgado before the bout was brought to a halt. Only four months after Henderson’s double KO’ing of Bisping, the UFC should avoid such situations as they only serve its detractors and impede the sport’s growth. Of note, the UFC didn’t reward that KO with the traditional KO of the Night purse, as it chose to do so when Hendo KO’ed Bisping at UFC 100 ($100,000). Last night’s KOTN went to Siver’s TKO over fellow LW Paul Kelly in the 2^nd round ($40,000).

The main event that book-ended the evening saw the judges award a unanimous decision to UFC LHW Hall-of-Famer Randy Couture over Brandon Vera. Couture almost completely dictated the pace (minus devastating leg kicks, though too few, and a mount) by pressing Vera against the fence, effectively nullifying his striking advantage for the duration of the three-round engagement. Acknowledged by all who witnessed the fight, Vera inflicted more damage. The decision stunned the crowd, prompting Vera to leave the Octagon. After colour commentator Joe Rogan finished his post-decision interview with Couture, Vera came back to the Octagon and confessed being shocked by the scoring and added an ironic thank you addressed to the judges. Seconds earlier while talking to Couture, Rogan had admitted he had scored the bout in favour of Vera. Though Vera got the popular support, Couture benefited from playing out his game plan, attempting take-downs (defended by Vera) and dictating the pace, which made for a somewhat dull fight. But according to the ten-point must system rules used by the UFC, the decision was rightfully awarded to Couture. One area of improvement in the fight could have been the refereeing, as Couture received some latitude from the officiating ref. Marc Goddard for his clinching game that lead to naught.

The WW bout between Mike Swick and Dan Hardy provided an upset, as the favourite, Swick, was dominated by the Englishman through all three rounds. Though a non-title bout, it carried a lot of weight for Swick who was expected to win over Hardy and obtain a shot at the current WW champion, Georges St-Pierre. Hardy’s chin proved very resilient and his power impressive. UFC’s Dana White had already stated the winner of this bout might get a shot at the champ. The outcome should precipitate a fight between GSP and ‘The Outlaw’, but few give him a genuine chance at pulling a victory.                                                                                                                                                                                    

The other Englishman that had the crowd roaring was Michael Bisping, who decisively defeated by TKO (punches) his MW opponent Denis Kang for this non-title bout. Kang had stunned Bisping early in the first stanza, leading him to quickly keep him on the mat. Bisping’s active grappling frustrated all of Kang’s ground and pound attempts. When the second round began, Bisping charged his opponent and punched him twice to the ground, the second barrage of punches to the ailing Kang proved sufficient for an early stoppage (TKO). This bout earned fighters the Fight of the Night award and a $40,000 purse respectively.

The LW non-title fight opposing Ross Pearson to Aaron Riley also provided a spectacular upset, when the underdog Pearson TKO’ed the veteran Riley in round 2. Pearson quickly imposed his rhythm and landed big shots that rocked Riley early on. Riley wasn’t able to reverse this and was on the losing end of a brutal clinch game before the doctor called an end to it.

The rest of the card went like this:

Welterweight bout: James Wilks vs. Matt Brown. Brown defeated Wilks via TKO (punches) at 2:26 of Round 3.

Light Heavyweight bout between Alexander Gustafsson and Jared Hamman. Gustafsson defeated Hamman via KO (punches) at 0:41 of round 1.

Welterweight bout between Nick Osipczak and Matthew Riddle. Osipczak defeated Riddle via TKO (punches) at 3:53 of round 3.

Lightweight bout between Terry Etim and Shannon Gugerty. Etim defeated Gugerty via submission (guillotine choke) at 1:24 of round 2. Submission of the Night award ($40,000)

Welterweight bout between Paul Taylor and John Hathaway. Hathaway defeated Taylor via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-26).

Photos by Dave Mandel, Sherdog.com