Itâs safe to say that former UFC bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz didnât get a lot out of a recent judging seminar for commentators.
Cruz is set to face Marlon Vera this weekend in the UFC San Diego headliner. Heâs won back-to-back fights over Casey Kenney and Pedro Munhoz and could potentially move one step closer to a title shot with a victory over Vera.
In addition to his fight acumen, Cruz has developed into one of the top analysts of ESPNâs UFC coverage. He is a frequent presence on UFC Fight Night and pay-per-view broadcasts alongside broadcasters such as Jon Anik, Joe Rogan, and UFC Hall of Famer Daniel Cormier.
MMA judging has become a hot topic over the past few years after a series of controversial decisions. As these incidents have become more frequent, fighters such as Cruz have been vocal in criticizing how bouts are scored.
Dominick Cruz Gives Insight Into Recent Judging Seminar
During a recent appearance on The MMA Hour, Cruz was asked if he felt the recent judging seminar for commentators was effective for all involved.
âWell, effective⌠I think it was effective for the person who set the meeting, because they wanted it to be effective,â Cruz answered. âSo, for them, if it was effective, it was effective. For me, where I stood, I feel that thereâs a man that was on the phone, didnât show up, and just talked to us. Didnât even have his face on there, just talked to us through a microphone. Told us that we were to just trust the people that were reading the analytics, and that we were supposed to trust that those people reading the analytics understood the sport. But we didnât get to see them, know who they are, know anything about them.
âTo me, you can have the biggest, baddest gadgets on Earth, but if the people reading the move canât understand what the move is, whatâs the point of pushing the button to say what it is? Do you see what Iâm saying?â Cruz continued. âIf itâs a takedown, but the person watching the fight doesnât know what a takedown is, they can push âtakedownâ but they didnât even know what it was. So Iâm supposed to trust that these people behind the scenes pushing for the analytics know what theyâre doing? The proof is in the results.â
Cruz was then questioned on if he concluded to learn anything from the seminar.
âI learned that we are to trust some higher power that knows everything, and thatâs it,â Cruz said.
Cruz isnât the only one who has given his thoughts on judging in recent weeks. Fellow commentator and fighter Anthony Smith recently alluded to the criteria that judges are provided to work with as the core issue regarding head-scratching scorecards.
Rogan and Cormier were also the targets of one MMA judgeâs harsh criticism following a controversial scoring of the DonâTale Mayes vs. Hamdy Abdelwahab at UFC 277. This came after Rogan and Cormier jabbed at Seth Fuller after the official decision was read.
Cruz feels that more needs to be done when it comes to transparency and accountability for MMA judges and feels the seminar did little to ease concerns.