Hi Everyone,

Some of my favorite pieces here at BE have been firsthand recounts of experiences from community members. I remember one in particular from BJJ Denver who told the story of his trip to Brazil to train BJJ and I found it inspiring. (Link below for those newer members who may not have seen this) 

http://www.bloodyelbow.com/2009/5/5/866003/what-i-did-on-my-brazil-vacation

I don't really contribute too much to this community, mainly lurking to pass the time on the train to and from work, and occasionally commenting if I can be bothered to sign myself in. Given how great this community is, I figured I should take some time to write this up in case anyone was thinking of taking a trip to Thailand for a training holiday.

Continue reading this post »

I was watching a replay of the Lawlor v Simpson fight the other night when my very casual MMA following friend returned home, and asked if he could watch the fight with me.

Needless to say, he was stunned by the result. He asked me why it seemed Lawlor stopped trying in the final round? I told him it was probably a mixture of gassing and thinking he was up on the scorecards.

Then he asked me something that struck me as so simple we may have overlooked it completely:

'Why don't they show you the scores after each round?'

I couldn't belive I hadn't thought of that before. On the surface it seems like it would solve the problem of fighters playing to the scorecard only to be suprised by a questionable decision after the fight. It would also be a great indicator of what the particular judges are looking for in a fight and allows the fighter time to adjust to that.

Almost every sport has a real-time scoreboard which is viewable by the competitiors. I cannot see a reason for MMa to remain different when it appears it would help with some of the issues regarding judging. In other sports the officials set a precedent early in the match (soft fouls for basketball or soccer to set the tone for what will be allowable) and it helps the game tremendously.

Apologies if this has been discussed before somewhere else.