Is it possible that fighters working off of their back will now be scored more. I was watching Cerrone vs Varner the other day and Cerrone gets put down but who do you score for! Varner has him down and is on top but Cerrone is punching and elbowing him. The control can't be that great if he is getting punched. Does the actual takedown itself outscore the strikes on the ground? Its a compelling debate and fighters like Lil Nog should not be scared of wrestling. Fighters need to go fight and be able to handle themselves and be dangerous wherever the fight might go - even if that means they are on their back! How did you score Torres vs Johnson? Admittingly I was enjoying the fight but I wasn't really scoring it so I can't say.
I think its of a trend to be honest. Fighters can win rounds off their back but by God they have to be bloody dominant to do so. If its an even round or there's a slight advantage towards to guy being taking down then the person on top gets the nod. To me I think it was draw in hindsight. First round was pretty clear for Torres and the final round was pretty clear for Johnson. The second was the closest and very, very, very difficult to score. Could easily be 10-9 for either guy which suggests it should have been a 10-10. Either way a really impressive fight and a great advertisement for the bantamweight division. So fast and so technical it just blew everything else away. It does however raise some interesting questions about Torres future as a top player at 135Ibs - if Torres can be taken down at will by somebody so much smaller than him would the likes of Cruz and particularly Faber be able to use their size to control him? Or would they not have the gas tank of Johnson and so be worn down by his work off the bottom.
I'm sure I've seen Nate Diaz win rounds off his back purely by being aggressive and attempting multiple submissions throughout the round.
One isn't coming to mind - the best example I can think of is actually Dan Hardy. I remember he taking rounds off his back against both Davis and Swick.
I hope the tide continues to change so that top and bottom work are both scored on what is actually happening.
yea amen to that man sick and tired of robberies and boring lay and pray **** atleast this gives an incentive to fighters to work more off their backs and go for subs