Refereeing and judging at mixed martial arts (MMA) events are essential tasks carried out by officials guided by rules, criteria, and expertise. In California, the California State Athletic Commission (CSAC) seeks to gives fighters and the public the best officials possible. CSAC licenses and regulates combat sports in California, including officials such as referees, judges, and timekeepers. For MMA events in the state, fight officials are mixed martial artists with considerable officiating experience. This combination helps the Commission carry out its responsibility of scoring fights accurately and consistently.
According to CSAC’s analysis, MMA officiating has improved considerably in the past decade. While improvement can always be obtained, judging at the highest level of mixed martial arts has surpassed boxing consistency levels overall.
Judging at the highest level of mixed martial arts has surpassed boxing consistency levels overall.
CSAC’s analysis of differences in judge’s scores is noteworthy [see graphic, above] because the score of 10-8 in boxing is almost always assessed based on the call of a “knockdown” by the referee. There is no such objective indicator in mixed martial arts.
In addition, MMA rounds are five minutes long, two minutes more than a professional boxing round. MMA judges also have up to three rounds to score in a standard fight and possibly five rounds in a title fight to determine the winner. If a judge misses a round in MMA, the chances of it impacting the fight are considerably higher than boxing matches that are regulated in 4, 6, 8, 10, and 12 (in title fights) rounds.
Here is the list of CSAC officials for Bellator 290 in Los Angeles on February 4.
- Hadi Mohammad Ali
- Michael Bell
- Chris Crail
- Sal D’Amato
- Raphael Davis
- Herb Dean
- Blake Grice
- Eliot Kelly
- Chris Leben
- Felicia Oh
- John Marigliano
- Ron McCarthy
- Jonathan Romero
- Frank Trigg
- Wade Vierra
For more information and bios on CSAC officials, click CSAC officials.
For more information about CSAC, visit www.dca.ca.gov/csac.
