Couture didn't like 'Rampage' decision at UFC 123; Judges still an issue

Randy Couture has seen a lot of fighting over the years and while the scoring system has improved, the 13-year veteran of mixed martial arts feels like the quality of MMA judges is still a work in progress. He thought the Quinton "Rampage" Jackson split decision win over Lyoto Machida at UFC 123 was a prime example.

"They see some superficial things like Rampage moving forward the whole time in that fight and they attribute that to him winning those rounds," Couture told Paul Howard of ESPNRadio1100 in Las Vegas. "And technically that's not what was happening. It sucks to be a fighter and have that happen to you."

UFC president Dana White came out strongly in support of Jackson in that fight. Couture disagreed. 

"I think it's a huge issue. It's a lot different than judging boxing and unfortunately a lot of judges transferred over," Couture said. "They don't understand a lot of the intricacies of our sport. Who's controlling the tempo of the fight. Who's actually technically scoring."

Veteran judge Cecil Peoples was mentioned as an example. Peoples has been on what seemed to be the wrong side of several close decisions over the last few years. He also exacerbated fans' angst when he decided to make a statement about not scoring leg kicks following the UFC 104 Machida-Mauricio Rua fight. 

"Unfortunately guys like Peoples, and some of these guys have been around for a long time, (you'd) think they'd have figured it out by now," Couture said. "I think there has to be some sort of education or certification program for these judges to get them up to speed on the criteria and what they're looking at to the judge these fights."

There are some schools popping up, but more for the guys in the cage or ring.

Yahoo! Sports' Kevin Iole has a feature on veteran ref Herb Dean, who has opened his own MMA Referee School in Pasadena, Ca.

The judges for these major fights could also get a little help from the promotions. We've said it for years that it's time to make all main events five round, regardless of whether there's a title on the line. If they're not for a title, most main events have title implications. Why not give the fighters a better chance to state their case for a win and the judges more material to work with?  

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