LOS ANGELES – Referee and judge Cecil Peoples has no doubts he scored the main event of Lyoto Machida vs. Mauricio Rua correctly, though he admits he struggled with the first round of the fight.
Minutes after the judges’ decision announced Machida the winner at UFC 104, boos showered Los Angeles’ Staples Center. Reporters collectively scratched their heads. On the Wikipedia entry for the card, someone slipped “fixed fight” beside the decision for Machida.
UFC president Dana White thought Rua won and greenlighted an immediate rematch.
Peoples, 61, has often been the target of fan outcry for his judging, or lack thereof. He attributes the attacks to his kickboxing background and a memorable name (which is always announced last, he claims).
“The fans and all the naysayers, I don’t worry about,” he said. “I don’t back down because it’s not popular.”
Peoples said Tuesday he has not reviewed last Saturday’s fight, nor the statistics compiled in its wake that overwhelmingly gave the decision to Rua (he has done so only once, after Georges St. Pierre at UFC 58). He maintains that in a close fight, quality of damage is king.
“My thing is, Rua did hit him more,” said Peoples. “But Machida hit him harder, especially in the early rounds.”
Every time this guy talks he looses more and more credibility. He failed as a ref and a judge, and this may seem harsh but I think he might just fail at life too.
bismanfightclub - LOL, even if people changed the score of the 1st round for Shogun, it's still a split decision in favor of Machida. If anything it shows that the judges either are afraid to score a round a 10-10 tie or are just too stupid to know they can.
“I’m really perplexed about how you give (Rua) this round, because Shogun was kicking (Machida) a lot in the legs, but every time he kicked him in the legs, he got hit in the face,” he said. “Shogun would put his hand up, and Machida would go right through, sweat’s flying off (Rua’s) face. Shogun kicked (Machida) in the belly – that’s how he got the red mark.
“But you gotta remember, Machida is stepping back, so when he gets kicked, he’s getting brushed. But he counters Shogun with a hard kick to the belly. Which one counts more for the exchange? I give it to the (second one), because it was harder. It wasn’t brushed.”
Equally important to his decision was the movement of Machida, which he believes showed more authority.
“Machida was controlling that round because he was dominant in not getting beat up in that round,” he said. “He was the general in that first round."
The problem with 10-10 rounds is if they become overutilized by judges who are indecisive and can't make up their minds about who won a particular round.
For example, the infamous Cecil Peoples when he astonishingly scored the Sean Sherk/Kenny Florian fight 50-48 for some God awful reason.
Pagero - Every time this guy talks he looses more and more credibility. He failed as a ref and a judge, and this may seem harsh but I think he might just fail at life too.
"Peoples said Tuesday he has not reviewed last Saturday’s fight, nor the statistics compiled in its wake that overwhelmingly gave the decision to Rua (he has done so only once, after Georges St. Pierre at UFC 58)."
uuuhh...ummm... hmmm
Let me make sure I have this straight... he never reviews fights? Not even the ones he judges? He doesn't read the statistics either? And he judges UFC main events? Judges should be watching these fights over and over. How can this guy have this job? WTF is wrong with the athletic commisions? This is all wrong on so many levels. MMA has some major probs and some serious changes need to be made. Getting rid of Cecil would be a great first step.