Retire from the fight game and then become judges. As more fighters retire, i am sure more will become judges. At first I thought 'finally we'll get judge that understand exactly what they are scoring!' this is a good thing! But now I am wondering, and as such asking you, do you think they will be able to judge fairly? I see a ton of potential conflict of interest. They are for sure going to end up judging people they trained with, were in camps with, fighters they may have lost to or just hate for other personal reasons. There are a lot of potential conflicts and bias. Do you see this being a potential problem if fighters become judges? Does the good out weigh the bad? Or are we just solving one problem of bad judging with a different type of bad judging?
What do you think?
This is true. I think this might actually worsen the problem. If i was a fighter and then a judge, i might have a little biased towards a guy that i like/trained with/knew on a personal level. On the other hand, fighters obviously understand exactly how the sport works, and could judge better on positioning, octagon control/aggression, etc. Does the bad outweigh the good? Not sure. Seems like even if they are signing contracts to prevent biased decisions, etc. It would happen anyway.
I think it would be very hard to separate personal feelings, relationships and history I have with fighters I knew well both good and bad. I suppose the athletic commission could screen the judges for potential conflict of interests but that isn't going to be fool proof. If you are loyal to your gym/camp you might sneak past the screening to make sure you get to judge and be bias on purpose. 
Definitely agree. I definitely don't think it's a good idea.
Ricardo Almeida is a Professional MMA judge.
I would imagine there are some pretty strict regulations (as there are in any regulated sport) that would try to avoid this conflicts. But its an intangible problem that would ultimately be hard to track.
I mean, do you think NHL refs dont have favourite teams?
I doubt that many would risk their position as a judge just to help their training partners win.
The main difference I see there is that judging is a little more subjective than reffing a hockey game. Judges could taint the outcome in the shadows a little easier than refs.
Voodoo- some may do it subconsciously. Others may be able to justify their bias judging. These are the potential problems I am seeing.
"The main difference I see there is that judging is a little more subjective than reffing a hockey game. Judges could taint the outcome in the shadows a little easier than refs"
Youre absolutley right, but as a result, their attempts to taint would be much easier to see...
The Welshman - I would certainly hope that would be the case. But as I mentioned to 'Voodoo' - some may do it subconsciously. Others may be able to justify their bias judging.
we need real mma fighters to judge.
I understand your point. I have judged when friends were fighting. Yes, I hoped they would do something that allowed me to score in their favor, but it was not difficult to remain objective. I can't see that being too much of an issue.
Thank you Voodoo - that is the kind of information I was curious about.
After some years, though, the new judges' affiliations and feelings towards fighters should become less relevant since they can judge for, say, 30 years after they're done fighting.
isho21 - After some years, though, the new judges' affiliations and feelings towards fighters should become less relevant since they can judge for, say, 30 years after they're done fighting.
Im pretty sure Ricardo isnt gona make insane decisions and come on here and call himself Uncle Ricky