Before British mixed martial artist Stuart Austin began the second round of his heavyweight fight against Adam Paras, he looked up and saw something that changed the course of the fight.
Austin, 35, noticed on the big screen inside Newcastle's Utilita Arena that the judges had awarded his opponent the first round.
The concept of open scoring between rounds (allowing fighters to see how the judges are rating their bouts) is rare in MMA and was first introduced in December before European promotion Octagon brought it to the UK. I adopted it.
Realizing he's losing, Austin gets more aggressive, takes Paras down with an elbow, and submits him with an arm triangle.
“I liked the lead. I looked up and saw the score and thought, 'Yeah, I turned it around and lost that round. I better throw a little more punches and kicks and try a little harder,'” Austin said. .
“I liked it. It actually influenced my strategy a little bit, so I tried a little harder.”
Czech and Slovak promotion Octagon held its first UK show in Manchester in November, but the Newcastle event marked its debut on British soil with open scoring.
US-based promotion organization Invicta Fighting Championships has piloted the system in the past, but most organizations, including the UFC, PFL and Bellator, have a more traditional system in which judges' scorecards are released after the fight. We are particular about the formal format.
In the case of a close fight, this prevents fighters from coasting towards the end, unsure if they are ahead on the scorecards, and increases fan anticipation and excitement around the announcement of the winner.
