"We should have scores like 57-96" - Joe Rogan shares his new idea for MMA judging with Gina Carano

Joe Rogan (left) and Valentina Shevchenko (right) (Image via Getty)
Joe Rogan (left) and Valentina Shevchenko (right) (Image via Getty)

Joe Rogan is continuing to speak out against the current scoring critera used in MMA. Now he has a new idea for a system that would give a more accurate representation of what's actually happening in a fight.

Scoring in MMA has been a hot topic for the past several months as the majority of UFC events take place in Las Vegas under a small group of Nevada State Athletic Commission judges. Every week seems to generate new controversy, and right now the heated debate is whether judges don't know how to score or the commentators don't understand the judges' scoring criteria.

Whatever the case, Joe Rogan wants to throw the whole scoring system out and start again. In a new episode of The Joe Rogan Experience with Gina Carano, Rogan discussed the lack of action during Rose Namajunas vs. Carla Esparza and how difficult it was to determine who was winning. He said:

"This is my number one problem with scoring, the way we have scoring in MMA. Those rounds could be a 10-9 round, or a round where someone beats someone really cleanly and lands a lot of shots could also be a 10-9 round. That doesn't make any sense. That's a flaw in the scoring system. We need a better system, we don't need boxing's system."
"We need something that shouldn't have anything to do with 10-9. There should be a bunch of factors like volume, the amount of strikes, submissions, takedowns, all the damage, all that s***, add it up and it should be a totally different - I mean we should have scores like 57-96 for one round. 120 for another round. That kind of s***. Because that's more indicative of what's actually happening in a fight than 10-9."

As for how to make changes happen in the system, Rogan had no answer.

"Jesus Christ, I don't know. I've been preaching this for years, everyone's like 'Durr, they already fixed the system, durr, you don't understand the system!' Like, I understand the system as it stands. What I'm saying is the system as it stands f***ing sucks."

Listen to Joe Rogan and Gina Carano discuss MMA judging below:

In the past several weeks, scoring controversies have marred the Holm vs. Vieira main event, the Shevchenko vs. Santos title fight, and the Tsarukyan vs. Gamrot main event. There have been many other fights with questionable scoring, but those are just the high-profile ones.


Joe Rogan will commentate UFC 276 alongside Daniel Cormier and Jon Anik

The UFC's main pay-per-view commentary team is re-assembling for UFC 276.

After a two-month break due to UFC 275 taking place in Singapore, Joe Rogan will return to action as a color commentator for the UFC's July 2 card. Joining him in the booth with be Daniel Cormier, also on color, and Jon Anik, who takes care of play-by-play and promotional duties.

UFC 276 is headlined by Israel Adesanya vs. Jared Cannonier for the middleweight title and Alexander Volkanovski vs. Max Holloway for the featherweight title.

It's also International Fight Week, which means there's an entire UFC Fan Expo going on for those lucky enough to be in Las Vegas. And for those who can find tickets, Rogan will be doing a stand-up comedy show at the MGM Grand Garden Arena on Friday night.

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Edited by Ryan Harkness