Strikeforce Diaz vs. Daley CompuStrike Review: Time for Computerized Scoring System?

Last Saturday’s Strikeforce: Diaz vs. Daley event was one of the ages, with majority of the bouts ending with a dramatic finish. Three out of four bouts on the main card ended with a decisive finish. The one fight that ended in a uniamous draw was the bout between “The Dean of Mean” Keith Jardine and Gegard Mousasi. Thanks to the good people at Compustrike, we were able to follow every strike, every takedown, and every submission attepmpt. Let’s take closer look at Strikeforce’s main card from last Saturday.

Nick Diaz (4:57 First round TKO) vs. Paul Daley:

-The dramatic main event between MMA bad boys Nick Diaz and Paul Daley lived up to the hype. As soon as the bell rang, both men came out swinging. Nick Diaz landed 54/88 (61%) strikes, 31 of those strikes were power shots, 15 of the landed strikes were on the ground. Paul Daley landed 36/76 (47%), 19 of them were power strikes, 12 of them were on the ground. 

–Paul Daley unsuccessfully attempted 2 takedowns.

-The two combatants landed a combined 90 strikes in round one, with 164 strikes being thrown.

Gilbert Melendez (3:14 First rount TKO) vs. Tatsuya Kawajiri:

-“The Crusher” Tatsuya Kawajiri was domininated by “El Nino” Gilbert Melendez. Gilbert landed 45/72 (62%) of his strikes. 38 of those strikes were power shots, 21 of them were on the ground. Kawajiri was only able to land 15/37 (41%) of his strikes and 5 of them were power strikes.

-“El Nino” scored one takedown the whole fight, but one was all he needed to help him destroy “The Crusher”.

Gegard Mousasi vs. Keith Jardine (Unanimous draw):

-If you watched the fights from last Saturday night, you could clearly see that Keith Jardine was being purely outclassed by Gegard Mousasi. Jardine was outstruck by Mousasi 124/211 (59%), compared to Jardine’s 45/142 (32%). 69 of Mousasi’s strikes were power shots, Jardine landed 12 the whole fight. 40 of Mousasi’s strikes were also landed from the ground.

-Jardine did beat Mousasi in the takedown department. Jardine was able to take Mousasi down 6/9 times, but Mousasi was able to take down Jardine 2/3 times. Both men attempted two submissions, however Mousasi was able to find a dominant position once.

-The one stat that isn’t recorded is illegal shots. The most likely reason for the unanimous draw, was due to the point deduction from the illegal upkick Mousasi landed while on his back in the first round. If the point wasn’t deducted, according to Compustrike, Mousasi should have won.

Shinya Aoki (1:33 First round submission) vs. Lyle Beerbohm:

-The only stat Lyle Beerbohm beat Shinya Aoki in was the striking department. Lyle was able to land 2/3 (67%) of his strikes, Aoki threw 2 strikes the whole fight, and landed none.

-Aoki took down Beerbohm once, found dominate position, attempted one submission, and won.

Final thoughts:

Once again Strikeforce delivered a very entertaining and fun night of fights. However, the bout between Keith Jardine and Gegard Mousasi once again exposed flaws in the judging system in Mixed Martial Arts. A lot of the people who are assigned to judge bouts, are not always the most knowledgable people in the sport. Not only should judges and official be properly educated and trained, I think it’s time that officials adopt tools like Compustrike to help make accurate decisions.

Simply judging a fight with the naked eye or solely relying on technology to make proper decisions is not effective. I believe a proper combination knowing what you are watching accompanied by computerized stats will help improve the way fights are judged. 

You see the numbers, you see the facts. You be the judge and express your thoughts in the comment box! Also thanks again to Compustrike for the numbers and we encourage you all to visit them for all your MMA stats!

Photo: Nick Diaz celebrates his victory over Gleison Tibau during the Ultimate Fighting Championship UFC 65 at the Arco Arena in Sacramento, CA, on November 18, 2006. Photo credit: Francis Specker.