If fighters are going to get screwed, at least let them know - Ariel Helwani continues to advocate for open scoring in MMA

Ariel Helwani recently reiterated why open scoring should be introduced to help improve MMA judging.

Judges were once again the subject of controversy this past weekend after Ketlen Vieira won a decision against Holly Holm in the main event of UFC Vegas 55. A majority of the fans and the media believed that the verdict should have been awarded to the American. All three judges agreed that Holm won rounds one and five, while Vieira won rounds two and four. The third was the contentious round.

Helwani stated that if a fighter gets misjudged during a fight, they at least deserve to know about it, as he said on The MMA Hour:

"The only reason why I advocate for the open scoring is, I feel at the very least, the fighters should know where they stand. If they're gonna get screwed, if they gonna be misjudged, at least let them know where they stand. I saw people in the weekend, it wouldn't have mattered in the Holly Holm vs. Ketlen Vieira fight because she won the fifth round. Maybe if she found out she lost the third round, she might have done something different in the fourth and fifth round."

Helwani added that there are many people opposing the open scoring system. However, they are reluctant to propose a solution and only say that the judges need to change. While improvement in the quality of judging is a criteria, open scoring will further make the judges accountable for not doing their job correctly.

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Ariel Helwani proposes model of execution for open scoring

Ariel Helwani proposed a model on how open scoring should be done in the sport of MMA. The 39-year-old took the example of UFC 275 scheduled to go down next month. Helwani feels that the commissioner should reach out to Valentina Shevchenko and Taila Satos ahead of their title fight and tell them about the rules.

Watch Ariel Helwani talk about open scoring in MMA:

He further added that the commissioner should ask both fighters if they want open scoring for the fight. If they agree, there will be open scoring. If either fighter opposes the idea, there shouldn't be open scoring:

"Let's say the fight is Valentina Shevchenko vs. Taila Santos. I'm gonna go up to Valentina Shevchenko... 'Are you in favor of open scoring?' She says, 'I would love open scoring. Big fight, lot at stake, cool.' I'm gonna go to Taila Santos... 'Are you in favor of open scoring for this fight?' She says 'yes,' we got a deal. She says 'no,' no open scoring."