Leonard Garcia Is Four Times Blessed: King of Bad Decisions Does It Again
by Jonathan Snowden on Dec 5, 2010 12:44 AM EST
in UFC Editorial
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It's truly inexplicable. By all rights, Leonard Garcia should be 0-7 in his last seven bouts. Instead, amazingly, he's 3-3-1. Five of his last six fights have gone to a split decision, each one a neatly wrapped gift from ignorant judges, lovely presents for Garcia that had to make the routine ass kickings a little less painful. In one of the best fights of the year he got shellacked by the average Korean fighter Chan Sung Jung. Somehow he won a split decision. Tonight he was beat to the punch by Nam Phan, the Ultimate Fighter and K-1 veteran who had no problems with Garcia's wild and looping punches. Yet, once again, Garcia had his hand raised at the end. Even Garcia didn't believe he won the fight.
"I had it for Nam too. I got a couple of takedowns, but he beat me in the standup," Garcia told the booing crowd. "I'll come back to fight Nam again. That's all I can say. I'm sorry Joe. I'm sorry. I called it the same thing."
As the crowd chanted "Bullshit, bullshit" and announcer Joe Rogan very publicly criticized the decision, I journeyed to Wikipedia. Surely, I thought, Garcia must have some sweet blackmail material on Nevada's Keith Kizer. That would explain judges being in the Greg Jackson trained fighter's pocket. But that wasn't it. Garcia has won bad decisions in four states. So what is it about Garcia that grabs the judge's attention?
The answer is mediocrity. Garcia is just not a good fighter. He backs straight up when he should circle, throws every punch like it was his last, and always gasses out before 15 minutes are up. But there's nothing subtle about him. Everything he throws has the worst intentions, wild and winging hooks that are very dramatic. Even when they don't score cleanly, you can't help but notice. Garcia also smiles the fight away. Even when he's getting creamed, like he was against Phan in the second round, he gets creamed with a smile on his face.
The judges, as discussed ad nauseum, don't understand some of the techniques that make up a mixed martial arts fight. But everybody understands big punches - and that's something Garcia delivers in spades. One thing is certain: if you're fighting Garcia Dana White's words of wisdom have never been more true. Don't let the f*cking fight go to the f*cking judges.
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Leonard Garcia whiffs dramatically!
It’s Super Effective!
"Now you see that evil will always triumph, because good is dumb."
by menckenstein on Dec 5, 2010 12:41 AM EST reply actions 5 recs
How could I never have seen this?
Leonard Garcia fights like an enemy out of Earthbound. He’s gonna bust out a protractor in the middle of his next fight and still take a split decision.
Sometimes these things happen in MMA. 7 times.
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by Koob on Dec 5, 2010 12:41 AM EST reply actions 7 recs
Nah
Judges were watching Strikeforce’s fights tonight. That’s why Garcia won.
"Turn yourself not away from three best things: Good Thought, Good Word, and Good Deed" - Zoroaster
catch me if you can @ MMA Answers
by SheepleBuster on Dec 5, 2010 12:50 AM EST up reply actions 5 recs
Sometimes these things happen in MMA. 7 times.
I like that this comment has 7 recs, we should keep it that way.
"All the time he's boxing, he's thinking. All the time he was thinking, I was hitting him." - Jack Dempsey
by Drunken cutman on Dec 5, 2010 6:59 PM EST up reply actions
I won’t do shit but if some of you get time write the NSAC and let them know how you feel about the Nam vs Garcia decision and how bad Tony Weeks and Adelaide Bird are boxing@boxing.nv.gov
Don't Tony Weeks and Adelaide Byrd have boxing backgrounds?
WTF? If anything a fight that takes place mostly on the feet would be easy for them to judge.
And I hope shit like this gets people to understand that the problem with MMA judging isn’t the system but the people in charge of implementing them.
If Derek Jeter clubbed a baby seal on earth day while wearing a mink coat and crocodile skin boots while burning tires on an iceberg, the reaction would be "Its OK Derek, you’re a Yankee." -First mammal to wear pants
by Tonley on Dec 5, 2010 12:43 AM EST reply actions 1 recs
People always bag on the wrestlers....
some of the worst decisions this year have been exclusively standup dominated fight. Judges just can’t tell who’s landing and who’s just being aggressive and getting countered.
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One Step closer to Gleison Tibau @ 145
If the round is too close, it's 10-10, NOT flip a coin 10-9 or late takedown FTW.
by NNR (formerly NameNotRequired) on Dec 5, 2010 1:17 AM EST up reply actions
That’s the thing that bugs me the most about all the talk about changing the system, poor judges are going to give questionable judgements regardless of what system is being employeed. The current system isn’t a very good one for MMA but the real problem isn’t the system it’s the judges employeed. Heck for the fight tonight one of the judges did get it right, the problem wasn’t the system it was the judges doing a crappy job. Close decisions are always going to be close decisions and they will always be controversial for half the crowd watching regardless of the system used; the real problem is with fights like the one tonight where it wasn’t even close but two judges botched it up so blatantly bad.
Garcia is just not a good fighter
Bottom line.
I got soooo tired of hearing about his punching power while he winged punches about a yard wide of the target.
"Yes Gina, I am a Wise Cracker"
by lcollins1 on Dec 5, 2010 12:44 AM EST reply actions 1 recs
His punching power is more fiction than fact
Garcia has 3 (T)KO victories in 22 fights. Michael Bisping, for reference, has 12 (T)KO victories in 23 fights.
by Tedd Welch on Dec 5, 2010 12:48 AM EST up reply actions 1 recs
You gotta think Dana White is going to give Kizer an earful
I would hope so anyway. I was glad to hear Rogan so critical of this decision and the NSAC judges during the broadcast.
I am quite disgusted by the inconsistency of judges tonight
How is it that Kendall Grove dominated Maia for 3 rounds (if you were watching it through the judges for Garcia fight) and still lost that fight? I thought Kendall won that fight 30-25.
"Turn yourself not away from three best things: Good Thought, Good Word, and Good Deed" - Zoroaster
catch me if you can @ MMA Answers
by SheepleBuster on Dec 5, 2010 12:55 AM EST up reply actions
I agree but..
Its already been said, but the excuse about these being boxing judge retreads who don’t understand grappling doesn’t even work here. A boxing judge should be appalled by Garcia’s windmilling and could have definitely seen Phan winning that fight.
These guys are either just terrible or aren’t even paying attention, or both.
by Anton Chigurh on Dec 5, 2010 12:49 AM EST up reply actions
how do u become a judge?
it really isnt hard to watch a fight and tell who won, dont get why people get so confused by it
"I have smoked weed with alot of UFC champions" - Joe Rogan
"Don't let the f*cking fight go to the f*cking judges."
unless, of course, you happen to be Leonard Garcia
"Although detractors decry it as a brutal, bloody form of human cockfighting, aficionados know it is a brutal, bloody, totally f***ing awesome form of human cockfighting"
by SchruteBoxe on Dec 5, 2010 12:48 AM EST reply actions 11 recs
Very confusing line.
Five of his last six fights have gone to a split decision, each one a neatly wrapped, complete with a bow, for Garcia.
When a ball goes into a net, it only means something because we decide it means something. When somebody punches somebody in the face it always means something.
by lowellthehammer on Dec 5, 2010 12:49 AM EST reply actions
Yeah… how the hell is he five times blessed if he is only 3-3-1 in his last 7?
"Vo-cab-u-lary's necessary when diggin' into my library..."
3 wins + 1 draw + 1 loss that was a split decision where one judge gave him all 3 rounds but clearly lost the fight. I know a split decision loss is far from a gift but its still crazy one judge gave him the win.
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12/16/2010 Worst two days in MMA
I have to agree with the judges.
I think the fact that Garcia got his ass beat for 3 rounds and didn’t get knocked out deserves a decision.
"Turn yourself not away from three best things: Good Thought, Good Word, and Good Deed" - Zoroaster
catch me if you can @ MMA Answers
That phrase is bullshit.
I understand that “don’t leave it in the hands of the judges” is supposed to encourage fighters to finish the fights. I never liked hearing it when it suggested the idea that you might leave the outcome of your fight to chance.
Why do we accept the premise that the judges can be unreliable? Some fights are debatable, but this was a clear case of technically superior fighter completely dismantling and damaging his opponent.
Joe Rogan claims that the UFC has no say in who judges the fights, but there has to be more than public outrage of this gross irresponsibility. If we consider this sport sacred and pure, we have to understand that poor judging is ruining the integrity of the fights. It is unfortunate that the first featherweight bout in the UFC this year was scarred by this disgraceful decision.
Screw White
Judges are the problem, I was truly glad to hear Rogan calling NSAC and Kizer on it and actually going against Dana’s stance of don’t leave it in the hands of the judges, and realize that judges are the problem, not a certain fighting style.
Screw White
Huh???? Dana says don’t leave it in the hands of the judges because he agrees with Rogan that the judges suck ass. They don’t have any control over that and both Rogan and White have now said that people should take this up with NSAC due to it ruining the sport.
But what is Nam to do?
He tried to finish that fight every chance he got and couldn’t. I really hope he got one of the “backstage bonuses” we all hear so much about and he better get another shot in the UFC.
Garcia vs Nam Phan just got fight of the night. After all that Garcia not only got a gift win he got an extra $30k to boot.
To be fair,
he would have gotten the $30k if he lost. It’s probably more outrageous that he’s getting his win bonus, rather than the FOTN bonus, but I’m assuming/hoping that Nam’s going to get his win bonus as well.
When dana says that he puts the blame on the fighters, and more often than not he leaves out the judges because doesn’t see a way to change it, and the judges get off the hook.
The positive of this situation is that win/loss in these types of situations isn’t the end of your UFC career, they can treat you how they saw the fight (unfortunately for machida though) if it was scored wrong.
Dana doesn’t put the blame on the fighters and he calls out bad judging all the time. Even Joe Rogan in his big rant tonight pointed out that the UFC can’t do anything about the judges. The only thing they can tell the guys is that if you let it go to the judges there is no telling what will happen, that’s not blaming the fighters it’s accepting that judging is beyond the fighters and organizations control. It’s fans and the media who should be pressuring NSAC, the organizations just can’t do much about it but publically gripe about it (which they all do).
Very true, that Dana has no hesitancy in saying when he thinks a fight was a bad call. But a part that I liked about Rogan’s rant however (and that I hope Dana would say more) is a call to action for those fans who feel displeased with the way that the commission hires and reviews judges. Sending letters, emails, and other forms of communication to the comission to voice discontent. This would also help to (rightfully) dissuade any misguided wrath from the UFC itself, to the true source of their discontent.
seriously what the fuck
garcia gets scored even if he only hits air
i mean, how many punches did garcia landed clean?
i dont remember any significant punch from garcia
what a lucky motherfucker
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Look at the numbers.
Read em and weep. 3-3-1. Take out the draw, and garcia has a 50/50 chance of winning if he at least shows up and windmills for 10 minutes. 10 minutes, because by the 3rd hes gassed, and he still gets a round somehow.
Does anyone have a pic of Greg Jackson's reaction when Garcia was announced the winner?
I didn’t catch it but someone said it was hilarious.
Your doctor just told you that you don't have herpes
that’s the face Jackson made after the decisision.
by Ironbuddha on Dec 5, 2010 3:02 AM EST up reply actions 2 recs
just rewatched the fight and have garcia winning......
the first minute of the third but thats about it. HA!
maybe that one minute was during super deluxe infinite bonus judge scoring time?
When you eat a candy bar or have a wonderful dessert, have a diet drink. The calories are cancelled out by the diet drink.
Perfect.
Luke: What was our best moment?
Nate: When I banned Subo?
Luke: That was a good one.
When a true genius appears in the world, you may know him by this sign, that the dunces are in a confederacy against him. - Jonathan Swift
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by Derek Suboticki on Dec 5, 2010 1:36 PM EST up reply actions
three out of the first four comments rec’d. awesome
deception is reality
by Marvin Malehooves on Dec 5, 2010 7:00 AM EST reply actions
Says all that needs to be said
Walking the line between intelligence and ignorance since 1985
@deowade
Unintelligent Defense, I bring Cricket bats to fist fights.
by Damon O. on Dec 5, 2010 10:16 AM EST reply actions 7 recs
Hehe, everyone spreading their hands in disbelieve.
Yeah...protect you thumb...it's the only thing that differentiates you from the monkey...
by dancingChicken on Dec 5, 2010 11:27 AM EST up reply actions
Even Greg Jackson is like “what the fuck”
Luke: What was our best moment?
Nate: When I banned Subo?
Luke: That was a good one.
When a true genius appears in the world, you may know him by this sign, that the dunces are in a confederacy against him. - Jonathan Swift
Contributor for WatchKalibRun.com
Still Subo at Fightlinker.com
by Derek Suboticki on Dec 5, 2010 1:37 PM EST up reply actions
Rogan is pretty hilarious in that gif
"I am a man who pisses largely and frequently, which they say is a sign of great mental activity" -Henry Miller-
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It sucks seeing Garcia back in the Octagon.
"I am a man who pisses largely and frequently, which they say is a sign of great mental activity" -Henry Miller-
Contributor at cagepages.com Come check us out.
by Neil Manich on Dec 5, 2010 4:23 PM EST reply actions 1 recs
I think it sucks to blame Garcia here.
We all know what he brings to the table as a fighter, and all he can do is try his best fight after fight. He didn’t deserve the win, but the judges are the one’s who deserve the blame.
"In this fight, Anderson showed he was human," Nogueira said. "He showed he could be weak. But he showed he is a fighter and he brings something from his heart. It was beautiful."
by Broke Lesnar on Dec 5, 2010 4:49 PM EST reply actions
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