New York Codes, Rules and Regulations
Title 19 - DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Chapter VII - State Athletic Commission
Part 212 - Special Rules for the Conduct of Professional Mixed Martial Arts
Section 212.8 - Method of judging and scoring

Universal Citation: 19 NY Comp Codes Rules and Regs ยง 212.8

Current through Register Vol. 46, No. 12, March 20, 2024

(a) The method of judging professional mixed martial contests or exhibitions must comply with the Ten-Point-Must System of scoring professional matches.

(b) Under the 10-Point Must Scoring System, 10 points must be awarded tothe winner of the round and 9 points or less must be awarded to the loser, except for arare even round, which is scored 10-10.

(c) Judges shall evaluate mixed martial artstechniques, such as effective striking/effectivegrappling, effective aggressiveness, and control of the ring/fightingarea .

(d) Evaluations shall be made in the order inwhich the four techniques appear in paragraph c above, and as directed by paragraph (k) below, giving the most weight in scoring to effectivestriking/effective grappling, effective aggressiveness,and control of the fighting area.

(e) Effective striking is judged by determining the total number of legalstrikes landed by a contestant and the impact of the strikes.

(f) Effective grappling is judged by considering theamount of successful executions of a legal takedown and reversals, and their impact.

(g) Fighting area control is judged by determining who is dictating the pace,location and position of the bout. Examples of factors to consider are countering agrappler's attempt at takedown by remaining standing and legally striking, taking downan opponent to force a ground fight, creating threatening submission attempts, passingthe guard to achieve mount, and creating striking opportunities.

(h) Effectiveaggressiveness means moving forward and landing a legal strike.

(i) Effective defensemeans avoiding being struck, taken down or reversed while countering with offensiveattacks.

(j) The following objective scoring criteria shall be utilized by the judges when scoring a round, and is provided as a general non-exclusive guideline for purposes of illustration:

(1) a round is to be scored as a 10-10 round when both contestantsappear to be fighting evenly and neither contestant shows clear dominance in a round;

(2) a round is to be scored as a 10-9 round when onecontestant wins by a close margin,landing the greater number of effective legal strikes, grappling and other maneuvers;

(3) a round is to be scored as a 10-8 round when onecontestant overwhelminglydominates (wins by a large margin) by striking or grappling in a round;

(4) a round is to be scored as a 10-7round when onecontestant totally dominates by striking or grappling in a round.

(k)Judges shall use a sliding scale and recognize the length of time the fighters are eitherstanding or on the ground, as follows:

(1) If the mixed martial artists spent a majority ofa round on the canvas, then:
(i) Effective grappling is weighed first; and

(ii) Effectivestriking is then weighed;

(2) If the mixed martial artists spent a majority of a roundstanding, then:
(i) Effective striking is weighed first; and

(ii) Effective grappling is thenweighed;and

(3) If a round ends with a relatively even amount of standingand canvasfighting, striking and grappling are weighed equally.

(l) Incomplete rounds should be scored utilizing the same criteria as the scoring of other rounds up to the point said incomplete round is stopped.

Disclaimer: These regulations may not be the most recent version. New York may have more current or accurate information. We make no warranties or guarantees about the accuracy, completeness, or adequacy of the information contained on this site or the information linked to on the state site. Please check official sources.
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