5 Talking points from Fight Night Brisbane
The Fight Night Brisbane card was headlined by the legends, Mark Hunt and Frank MirThe UFC’s modus operandi of stacking the big pay-per-view cards with mouth-watering fights that are extensively marketed, but allowing the Fight Night events to provide the cool-off in between all the razzmatazz has worked soundly for them thus far.But just because the Fight Night cards may not carry as much glitz and glamour as the PPV cards, don’t mistake that for a lack of entertainment. And the Brisbane card that saw the company revisit Australian shores for the first time after Holm’s mega upset of Ronda Rousey at UFC 193, provided entertainment aplenty.The event featured comebacks, rising stars, timeless veterans, perennial underdogs, the usual quota of questionable calls from the referee and even an instance of atrocious scoring from the judges.Not only that but the fight fans that tuned in were treated to a bevy of absorbing fights and even the vintage ‘gansgta’ one punch walk-off routine from Mark Hunt to cap off the night’s proceedings.On that note, here are 5 talking points thrown up by the Fight Night Brisbane card that are worth debating about.
#5 The judging quandry
Unheralded names though they may be, hometown girl Rowdy Bec Rawlings and South Korea’s Seo Hee Ham set the tone for the fights to follow on the night by putting on an engaging women’s Bantamweight encounter to inaugurate the main card.
The fight itself played out predominantly on the feet, where the intriguing battle between Rawling’s reach advantage and Hee Ham’s efficient counter striking took centre stage, with the occasional scramble on the ground providing the perfect foil to the stand-up.
But, as is becoming a worrisome trend off late, it was the ridiculous scoring of the encounter by the judges that instead took precedence over the fight itself.
Although two of the judges scored it as 30-27 to Bec Rawlings with the other one also giving the Australian the nod, the fight was far closer than what the judges had made of it with the South Korean reserving every right to feel aggrieved at the outcome.
Not only was the fight definitely not a wash-out in favour of Rawlings, but a salient case could be constructed as to why it was Hee Ham who deserved to have her hand raised at the end of it.
But as the oft-repeated MMA mantra chimes, “Never leave it in the hands of the judges.”