I had a conversation with Doug Crosby, and he said that during one of the [UFC] fights, one of these boxing people that have come over and started judging MMA...someone was attempting a submission, and this person turned to him and said, 'what is he doing?'  How CRAZY is that?  This is a professional mixed martial arts judge at the highest level of the sport, someone who is judging an Ultimate Fighting Championship bout, between two guys that are professional fighters....their careers are on the line, it's a huge contest, two equally skilled guys in a hotly contested match, and the judge has literally no idea what's going on.

Joe Rogan, relating an anecdote about judging incompetence to Josh Gross.

I strongly disagree with Rogan's assessment of the UFC 104 and UFC 105 main event judging, but his point is sound.  It's hard to overstate how outrageous this is.  In MMA, winning or losing a fight can be the difference between getting on the title track and making millions or getting cut if you lose one more fight.  A ton is on the line, and incompetent athletic commissions can't be bothered to hire judges that know what a kimura is.  

As fans, we must demand regulatory reform.

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"If there was an overriding theme for UFC 105 Saturday night, it was the coming-out party for British mixed martial arts.

In a country that hasn't embraced major American sports like football, basketball or baseball, MMA, in two and a half years has become one of the country's most popular sports, with a fan base that matched crowds in the UFC's hometown of Las Vegas in their appreciation for the technical points of the sport, and a roster of fighters that continually improves.

The country's two most popular MMA fighters, Michael Bisping (pictured) from Manchester and Dan Hardy from Liverpool, had the most impressive performances of their respective careers at the Manchester Evening News Arena, as British fighters had wins in six of eight matches against opponents from other countries.

...

With the exception of football, the national sport, boxing, and native sports like rugby and cricket, MMA is as visible any sport as in the country. And in comparison, the night before UFC 105, in Manchester, Ricky Hatton promoted a boxing show headlined by his brother, which was nationally televised and heavily promoted, and drew less than 1,000 fans, while the UFC event drew a sell-out of 16,693 fans. White said he believed that set an all-time record for the Manchester Evening News Arena."

-- Dave Meltzer of Yahoo! News.

I never bought the forced T.U.F. declaration the British were invading. However, I will confess to being impressed - legitimately impressed - for the first time by the development of the larger professional MMA scene in the UK at UFC 105. Still many hurdles to climb, but the progress is now truly undeniable.

Best viewed in wide mode.

There was talk - much of it justifiable - that a fight with Couture was to be Vera's breakout moment. In fact, Vera himself seemed to signal he understood that while past performances had left fans and probably even UFC management a tad underwhelmed, a win over Couture could finally propel him to the elite status contender in the light heavyweight division.

But as we saw on Saturday, he didn't win, at least not on the judges scorecards.

Yet, this video demonstrates something about Vera that has always been somewhat lacking in his career even when his talent was omnipresent: a maturity about personal responsibility to make his career happen for himself. Despite a bitter loss and dubious, stinging decision, Vera already talks of moving forward. More importantly, he articulates critical self-reflection in realizing he could've had the kind of training that's making him the best fighter he's ever been for quite some time. That's as much regret as it is a wake up call. He's 32, so time is not on his side, but Vera requests a top 5 opponent for his next fight. If he gets one and is able to win a little more convincingly, the story of Brandon Vera will not be over.

There is life left in "The Truth". I look forward to the next chapter.

The Event:

• UFC 105 Spike TV Broadcast Results and Play by Play -- Kid Nate

• UFC 105 Live Results -- Brent Brookhouse

• Randy Couture Takes Questionable Decision Over Brandon Vera -- Luke Thomas

• Brandon Vera Beats Himself via Unanimous Decision Against Randy Couture -- Kelvin Hunt

• Dan Hardy Shines in Win Over Mike Swick -- Luke Thomas

• UFC 105 Complete Undercard Results 

• UFC 105 Bonuses -- Zak Woods
  

Multimedia:

• UFC 105 Photo Gallery -- UFC.com

• Cage Cast 42: UFC 105 Recap

• Lights Out Radio  - UFC 105 Review

Post-Fight Analysis:

• Team Rough House Stakes Claim as Best MMA Camp in Britain at UFC 105 -- Leland Roling

• What We Learned From UFC 105 -- Kelvin Hunt

The Other Fights:

• Michael Bisping is more than happy with Denis Kang finish at UFC 105 -- Jesse Holland

The Couture vs Vera Decision:

• Scoring UFC 105's Randy Couture vs Brandon Vera -- Kid Nate

• Brandon Vera and Randy Couture Talk About the Controversial Decision -- Anton Tabuena

• Brandon Vera 'pissed' over judges decision; agrees to 'man up' and accept loss to Randy Couture -- Jesse Holland

• Couture claims close decision over Vera -- Dave Meltzer

The Future of the UFC:

• Georges St. Pierre and Dan Hardy Under Consideration for TUF Coaching Gig -- Michael Rome

• Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira Out of UFC 108 With Staph Infection; Brock Lesnar in "Bad Shape", Out Indefinitely -- Michael Fagan

• 'The Outlaw' gets next crack at St. Pierre dynasty - by default -- Jesse Holland

• Rested St. Pierre well on way back -- Dave Meltzer

Pacquiao vs Cotto:

• Return of the King: Manny Pacquiao dominates Miguel Cotto -- Bad Left Hook

• For Any True Combat Sports Fan, Pacquiao vs. Cotto Crushes UFC 105 -- Luke Thomas

• Alex Ariza says Manny took it easy on Cotto -- Bad Left Hook

• What's Next for Miguel Cotto? -- Bad Left Hook

• Manny Pacquiao Solidifies His Place as King of Boxing -- Head Kick Legend

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One of the most difficult pieces in a mixed martial artist's skill-set to improve has always been the striking element. In boxing, there is a certain amount of sacrifice that a fighter is willing to take in order to land strikes, but in mixed martial arts -- being countered by an opponent wearing six-ounce gloves isn't as forgiving. Because of those differences, defensive abilities in the stand-up department have become a major focal point for every fighter in MMA. The mastery of those abilities can lead to a solid base that has the potential to gain an impressive array of offensive weapons, and many of the members of Team Rough House displayed those techniques at UFC 105.

The most impressive performance came from Team Rough House's most recognizable veteran in Dan "The Outlaw" Hardy. His surgical counter striking against fleet-handed Mike "Quick" Swick was one of the better performances we saw throughout the evening. Each landed counter left hook devastated the American Kickboxing Academy team member, putting him into a wobbly walk while he tried to escape the oncoming onslaught from Hardy.

As I mentioned in the preview for the Hardy-Swick showdown, countering Swick's attempts by slipping counter punches down the pipe as Swick attacked was the key for success, but Hardy's power is surprising for throwing looping hooks and straight jabs while backpedaling to counter. He clipped Swick on multiple occasions, and Swick was instantly put into a daze from almost every land.

Hardy wasn't the only member of Team Rough House that had an impressive evening. Andre Winner showed immense knockout power by downing BJJ submission fighter Roli Delgado, Nick Osipczak easily dominated the very one-dimensional Matthew Riddle, and Ross Pearson, who trained with Team Rough House extensively for this bout, crushed Aaron Riley with straight jabs and Muay Thai knees on his way to victory. The various aspects of the Team Rough House philosophy to striking were all evident in these bouts

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Photo via UFC.com

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Mike Chiappetta takes a stab at it and comes away scratching his head and wondering what fight the judges were watching:

Vera stopped most of Couture's takedowns. He landed the only damaging blows of the fight. He knocked Couture down. He earned a takedown of his own and moved to the full mount.

Aside from an early clinch flurry in the third, Couture's main offense consisted of closing the distance, holding Vera against the cage, and searching for a way to take him down. As executing game plans go, you can't say he was successful in doing anything but slowing Vera down. You can say he dictated the tempo. You can say slowed the pace. You can't say he hurt or even rattled Vera.

The critique focuses on the first and third rounds:

The judges scored the first round for Couture. I'd just like to know why? Couture spent almost the entire round in a futile clinch (4:34 of the round, according to FanHouse's unofficial count). He finally took Vera down, but couldn't even hold him there for 10 seconds. He didn't land a single power strike in the round. What did he do to win the round?

FanHouse unofficially counted the landed strikes as 7-7. Couture's takedown was nullified by Vera's rapid escape. Neither man could get any real offense started, and it should have been a 10-10 round. Couture supporters will object, saying he exhibited "octagon control," but failed takedowns do not constitute any type of control, and neither do they deserve a reward.

...

FanHouse unofficially gave Couture an 11-10 advantage in strikes in the third, but Vera the edge in power punching, scoring the most significant blow of the round with a knee to the body. And this time, it was Vera getting the takedown. So here's my biggest issue with the decision: If the judges gave Couture the close first round because of a takedown as the decisive factor, shouldn't the close third have gone into Vera's column for the same reason?

I have to agree with Chiappetta here. In UFC 104's Machida vs Shogun fight, at least the judges were able to present a coherent argument for why they scored the fight the way they did: Machida won the first three rounds based on the premise that shots to the head outweigh shots to the legs and body.

In this fight, the judges apparently gave Couture the first round based on one premise -- that a take down scores points -- and yet refused to give Vera the third round on that same premise.

I'm not too worked up about Vera losing this decision though. It will hopefully be a wake up call for him. He has had a manifest reluctance to pull the trigger and go for the kill since his return from holding out a year in a contract dispute. He had a chance in the second round to get the definitive finish of Couture and he chose instead to follow Randy to the ground and let Couture recover. And throughout the fight, rather than keeping the fight at kickboxing range where he was winning handily, Vera elected to start clinch battles with Randy Couture, the king of the clinch fight.

It's too bad that Couture won such a lame decision though. It's going to be hard to justify giving him a title shot based on that performance.

~ UFC 105 Camp Results ~

While that was definitely not our best event, there is still the chance for us to finish out the season strong. UFC 106: Ortiz vs. Griffin will be the next of the final three events. And that will be, of course, next Saturday. I have to admit that Fightlinker is not doing as poorly as I had initially guessed. Perhaps they will increase their average wager earnings to $15.11 next card. Can't wait until they play for a full season when the smack talk really counts.

And our discussion of competition brings us to MMA4Real and the ethics of a car wreck: does one drive by and spectate silently or is there an obligation to stay and call for help?

Brooklynbadass (DJ Soma) was the top earner from team Bloody Elbow with $13,603 earned, most of it coming off a straight bet on Dan Hardy. That is good for 16th place out of 4376 on the event. Brooklynbadass is in 3rd place in camp BE after 7 events with a total of $40,637. Sandbox23 is in first with $89,866.

As for points earned off correct fight predictions, termin8r199 scored the most from our camp with 71. He is in 5th place in camp BE after 7 events with 401 total points. Phantasma475 is holding on to first with 448 total points. Full results are in the extended entry.

Reminder on prizes.

Important: If you wish to join the BE betting camp, send me a message on MMA Playground with your BE user name or leave a comment in this thread so I can send you an invite. Please make sure your MMA Playground login name is the same as your BE name or as close as possible so we can give you the proper credit.

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It's not that UFC 105 was bad. It wasn't. In fact, it was fantastic, particularly the undercard. And if we are comparing undercards, then UFC 105 absolutely smashed anything the lame efforts of Top Rank could even hope to put together.

But if we are talking main events, Couture vs. Vera - as talented as they are, as spirited as they fought - couldn't hold a candle to the utter brilliance of Manny Pacquiao.

Bad Left Hook sums up what happened in Las Vegas:

Manny Pacquiao was sensational tonight in Las Vegas, knocking down Miguel Cotto twice, battering him throughout the majority of the fight, and forcing Kenny Bayless to stop the fight in the 12th round of a dominant performance, giving Pacquiao his 50th career win and arguably his most impressive.

Pacquiao (50-3-2, 38 JO) floored Cotto on timing shots in the third and fourth rounds, but after Cotto looked sharp, strong and fast early, he was dominated over the latter half of the fight. Pacquiao proved that there is no questioning his power at this weight, and no questioning his ability to take a good shot, either. He walked through some strong punches from Cotto (34-2, 27 KO) and seemed to barely feel them. Pacquiao, on the other hand, was able to hurt Cotto consistently.

...

He was faster, stronger, and better. Miguel Cotto isn't old, wasn't drained, isn't "overrated." Cotto did all he could tonight, but he was laid to waste by a superior fighter.

Pacquiao is now the WBO welterweight titleholder, the seventh weight class in which he's won a major title, the first man to ever do that.

...

Bayless, unlike Cotto's corner, protected the fight. Cotto was on his bike most of the latter rounds, straight-up running from Pacquiao. He was demoralized and in some ways embarrassed. His pride took a hit tonight. Cotto showed clear fear of Pacquiao in many rounds, and there's no disputing that.

Manny Pacquiao is a fighter unlike any other in the world.

I said it on The Lavar Arrington Show With Chad Dukes on Friday: I still believe the biggest draw in combat sports in Brock Lesnar. But if we are being honest with ourselves, the stars shone the most brightly tonight on the phenom from the Philippines who submitted the performance of a lifetime tonight in beating Miguel Cotto.

The problem with the UK fights are not that they are bad. Tonight they were hugely entertaining, although the Couture vs. Vera main event will surely be judged by the uninitiated to MMA as boring and defensively dull. I can only imagine the inept judging involved that robbed poor Vera only exacerbates their opinions. We should hold ourselves in awe of Randy Couture each and every time he competes with such incredible acumen, but tonight showed his weaknesses as much as his strengths.

So while the UK can host big fighters who can ostensibly make big fights, it doesn't have the magic of Las Vegas when two of boxing's (or MMA's) finest collide. It just hasn't been converted to that kind of territory yet. It will, but it's not there now. And when two of boxing's finest meet only to result in the ascendency of one of that sport's all-time greats directly before our eyes, denying the utter gravity of the matter seems quixotic, attacking windmills that signify nothing.

I don't mean to exhume a cheap MMA vs. boxing battle. If we are entering that contest, count me in for MMA ten times out of ten. I will always pick MMA as my favorite sport. But as a fan of all combat sports, I cannot deny what tonight means for us. I cannot avoid cosigning on the massive achievement of Manny Pacquiao in boxing just because I hold MMA the closest to my heart.

Next week the scales will be tipped in MMA's/UFC's favor once again. Ortiz vs. Griffin 2 is a fantastic fight and will be the life of the party in the fight capital of the world once again. But tonight - and only tonight - we must view matters with candor: the greatest combat athlete on the planet this evening - because of this evening's achievement - is Manny Pacquiao.

And like his fight with Cotto, it's wasn't even close.

Photo via ESPN.com.

It wasn't pretty, but "The Natural" got it done. Or did he?

Randy Couture took a unanimous decision over Brandon "The Truth" Vera in the main event of UFC 105, but many in the commentating booth and audience felt the decision may have been unfair.

The first round saw Couture dictating most of the offense or at least the aggression, working for takedowns even while Vera deftly defended them. It was much of a stalemate, but Vera spent the vast majority of the round on the defensive.

Here's where things get sketchy.

Couture finished the second round nicely with dirty boxing, but only after a vicious knee from Vera folded the UFC Hall of Famer. Vera followed up the crumpled Couture, but did very little damage until the referee stood the two up.

Round three saw the two fight gritty clinch battles where both scored with knees and punches. Vera stopped Couture's takedowns attempts and eventually landed a crisp knee tap of his own against the former Olympic wrestling alternate. Vera initially moved right to mount, but not before Couture could reverse the position and escape.

So how was the fight scored? Most saw rounds two and three as Vera's. Most, of course, except the judges.

Will Randy Couture get a title shot against Machida? Maybe, but it's hard to see Couture taking the title from the light heavyweight division's top contenders.

As for Vera, he looked clearly dejected after the fight. This was a major opportunity that was arguably taken from him. A case can be made that Vera has let too many fights go the distance since returning to the UFC after his year long layoff, but nevertheless, the judging in this fight is certainly suspect.

Randy Couture defeats Brandon Vera 29-28 on all three judges' scorecards.