Diego Sanchez vs. Ross Pearson Fight Metric Scores Support The Common Opinion
One of the biggest errors in MMA judging that I have ever seen occurred last night, as Diego Sanchez was seemingly gifted a decision win over Ross Pearson after three one-sided rounds. At least, that’s what it looked like to just about everybody that witnessed it. Perhaps ‘The Nightmare’ did do just enough to win the bout, maybe he edged Pearson by a razor’s edge? Well, no, that didn’t happen, check out the Fight Metric report on the co-main from Fight Night 42:
To save time I’ll inform you that Sanchez failed on his one attempted takedown, whereas Pearson succeeded with his. Although this wasn’t the barn burner we had hoped for, it may prove to be a pivotal point in modern MMA judging (or at least I hope it does). ‘The Real Deal’ clearly outlanded ‘The Nightmare’, was more accurate, scored a knockdown (you could argue two knockdowns), was countering very nicely, was in no trouble, caused more damage and was just generally owning the fight.
How could any competent judge say that Sanchez won 30-27 after he was knocked down in one of those rounds? Not only that, his accuracy was absolutely awful. He was getting tagged to the body at will, countered, and was not in his element at all throughout the match.
The one thing that Sanchez did better was moving forward, being more aggressive, and looking to engage. If that’s all it takes to convince judges you are winning a fight then let’s all try this UFC thing. We’ve said this too many times, witnessed too many clear-cut decisions go the wrong way, and I don’t even want to speculate that the hometown favourite was gifted a decision in his back yard. Investigation? Let’s hope so.
