Hey fellas’ apparently not long ago Judge Jeff Mullen, who was once an active user on the very popular MMA forum The Underground, has came forward with some comments. The comments are in response to the many people who think that the Michael “The Count†Bisping & Matt Hamill fight was fixed. Here is what he had to say: “Hello to everyone on the Underground. I have been reading the underground for years. I used to post quite a bit. Then I decided it would be better for me to stay out of all the arguments. I want to thank all of you guys for being so nice to me through the years. I have seen almost no negative posts about me here until now. http://mmablog.fightbeat.com/?p=9
He still scored it wrong. That being said, there was no fix. It was a bad decision, and nothing more. It happens. Sign a rematch, and let's move on. TFK
You mean there's no pressure for the UFC to try and keep their british cash cow in the winning column? Let's face it, this sport is run like boxing AND it is a business. You want the fighters whom you invest heavily in to continue winning. If there's a close fight, you give it to the 'star'. That's what business is all about. It was a fix. The only way for Hamill to have won that fight was via submission or KO or a very very clear cut decision win where he heavily dominated Bisping over 3 rounds. Bisping is the one with the hype, he's the one whom the UFC wants to see win. When they travel to Britain, Bisping is their big draw.
It was a bad decision, nothing else. You're making something out of nothing. I understand what you're saying, but that's just not the way it happened. The UFC has a lot more to lose if it was found out they were influencing judges to pick fights a certain way then they do if their biggest British fighter loses a decision in his home town. Even Petre can see there's no conspiracy here. TFK
True TFK but nobody, including the FBI, has ever managed to bust the case of fixed judging. In all the years where boxing has seen tremendous corruption, fixed rankings, peculiar judging, etc, nobody has managed to prove anything. It's nearly impossible really. Even if there is biased/fixed judging going on inside the UFC, nobody's going to prove it anyway.
I haven't seen the fight yet so i can't comment on the decision. Naturally what you say is true about in close fights the organizations will want to give it to the "star" as it's better for them. However, even in boxing when there is much more money at stake, this hasn't always been the case. Oscar wasn't given the nodd in the Mosley rematch, Taylor only got a draw against Winky, Pacquiao got a draw against Marquez etc. There are many more examples. All that aside i think the most interesting thing you brought up is how nobody has been able to prove anything. Anyone who has followed boxing closely for any period of time knows there has been fixed decisions, and even more outrageously fixed rankings. Even when there are "investigations" absolutely nothing comes out of them. I think it's hard to prove just as you stated. If a judge was paid off and simply denies it i don't think much can be done. Maybe his license would get pulled at most, but how do you prove a criminal charge?
Exactly! Nothing can be done. A UFC judge can score a fight for the loser and no investigation will prove anything. The ringside judge can just say "I judged the fight based on what I saw." And there's nothing anybody can do.:dunno: The investigation will conclude that it was a case of 'incompetence' and be done with it. :: Isn't that what happened with Eugenia Williams who scored Holyfield as the winner for Lewis/Holyfield I? Including giving round 5 to Holyfield which was Lewis' best round and Holyfield's worst? :laughing:
Exactly. Unless they have someone recorded agreeing to score the fight in favor of a fighter in exchange for a financial reward, they can't really do anything. Even though it's obvious there were shady dealings.