CSAC's Andy Foster explains shake-up to MMA scoring criteria, potential for future rule changes

Andy Foster, the California State Athletic Commission executive director and one of MMA’s most influential regulators, is pushing this week for a major scoring shake-up. If successful, it'll prioritize damage over all else, offering a clearer pathway for judges to identify 10-8 and even 10-7 rounds.

In boxing, a knockdown often triggers a 10-8. In MMA, that’s not always the case.

A proposed update to the Unified Rules of MMA could change that — pending a vote that's expected to pass this week at the Association of Boxing Commissions and Combative Sports' (ABC) annual conference in New Orleans. Once official, it will formalize what Foster says many judges already practice — that is, scoring based on the visible effect of strikes and grappling, with damage at the top of the criteria list.

“To get a 10-8 in mixed martial arts is now going to require significant damage,” Foster told Uncrowned's "The Ariel Helwani Show."

That’s "as close as we can get" to boxing’s clearer 10-8 system, per the commissioner.

Foster said the new language — if approved by ABC — solidifies how judges interpret dominant rounds. While 10-8s already account for “damage, domination and duration,” damage takes precedence, always.

https://sports.yahoo.com/mma/article/csacs-andy-foster-explains-shake-up-to-mma-scoring-criteria-potential-for-future-rule-changes-223314290.html


They say they want to prioritize damage over everything else in judging criteria.

Could it make a difference.