J
JDenz
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With the surprising outcome of the Penn/Uno Lightweight belt at NJ's UFC 41 last Feb. 28th, fans are left wondering how the lightweight scene will continue from here. Although it is too early to say for sure, taking a look at precedents set in the boxing world provides clues for what to expect. Deputy Attorney General Nicholas Lembo is not just a huge fan of boxing and mixed martial arts but is also the current spokesperson for the New Jersey Athletic Control Board, the governing body of sport fighting in New Jersey.
In boxing we used to have a thing called the New Jersey Championship, which means you were the champion from New Jersey, says Lembo, We used to have rules where it was a draw after twelve rounds youd fight up to three more rounds and see if you could determine a winner after each of those rounds. ESPN in the 80s also used to have an ESPN Championship and theyd make you fight an extra round if it was tied. Maybe thats something the UFC wants to consider; its currently not in their rules. Boxing has moved away from that though and its a draw, its still vacant.
Mr. Lembo goes on to say, In 2001 the Light Heavyweight title was vacant and it was Lou DelValle vs. Bruno Girard. They fought to a draw so the title remained vacant. The biggest name fight is probably Lewis and Holyfield but they already had belts; thats the distinction. They already had belts so they kept them.
For the Penn/Uno II championship fight at UFC 41, the final scores were 48-46 Penn, 48-48, and 48-47 Uno. A ten point must means somebody has to get 10 points not counting referee point deductions. 9 or less to the loser except for a rare even round. Thats exactly the way the rule reads. Of the four sanctioned judges used that night, three are routinely UFC judges, the fourth has scored a lot of martial arts, according to Mr. Lembo.
Regarding what the strategy is likely to be Mr. Lembo said, Trying to overturn a judges decision just based on the scores, Im not ever aware of that happening.
Fans are already speculating on if Penn/Uno III would be for the belt in three months or if the fight would be Penn against a top contender. With the first Penn/Uno fight back in November 2001 resulting in a Penn KO in just 0:11 seconds, chances are they will pull in a top contender to fight Penn for the belt. In the past ZUFFA pulled in Hayato Sakurai to fight Matt Hughes, so the have a precedent.
Beyond the UFC, the other two consistently ranked top Lightweights are Takanori Gomi and Jens Pulver. Gomi may be unlikely to fight outside Shooto, but Pulver hasnt yet signed a contract with that organization. Another potential include Duane Ludwig who recently picked up the UCC belt by beating Pulver and is sitting on a 9-2 record and a 5-fight winning streak stretching back almost two years.
The UFC crew deserve extra credit for addressing the situation surrounding the Din Thomas and Matt Serra fight, originally ruling it a decision for Serra. Mr. Lembo explains, On the scorecard youll assign a fighter either the left side or the right side of the scorecard. Lets say its me and you. Im on the left youre on the right and thats the way it is. Thats the way one judge did it the first two rounds. In the third round in that fight for some reason he flipped Serra and Thomas. I guess you could say its still our error because we should have looked closer. Thats just a mistake and it was corrected, thats all it was. Before the crowd cooled down the situation was addressed, Din was announced the winner, and a situation most promoters would have taken a couple days to rectify was already history.
Although the UFC hasnt been to New Jersey since UFC 32 in June of 2001, there have been plenty of sanctioned MMA shows in the Garden State, including shows put on by Lou Neglia, Kipp Kollar, and D. Benjamin Brown. Add to that the amateur MMA shows and the grappling tournaments the state has been looking at sanctioning and its obvious New Jersey is developing a pool of MMA experience.
Since there probley will be alot of debate and interviews with these guys in the next couple weeks I will put all the news on this thread.
In boxing we used to have a thing called the New Jersey Championship, which means you were the champion from New Jersey, says Lembo, We used to have rules where it was a draw after twelve rounds youd fight up to three more rounds and see if you could determine a winner after each of those rounds. ESPN in the 80s also used to have an ESPN Championship and theyd make you fight an extra round if it was tied. Maybe thats something the UFC wants to consider; its currently not in their rules. Boxing has moved away from that though and its a draw, its still vacant.
Mr. Lembo goes on to say, In 2001 the Light Heavyweight title was vacant and it was Lou DelValle vs. Bruno Girard. They fought to a draw so the title remained vacant. The biggest name fight is probably Lewis and Holyfield but they already had belts; thats the distinction. They already had belts so they kept them.
For the Penn/Uno II championship fight at UFC 41, the final scores were 48-46 Penn, 48-48, and 48-47 Uno. A ten point must means somebody has to get 10 points not counting referee point deductions. 9 or less to the loser except for a rare even round. Thats exactly the way the rule reads. Of the four sanctioned judges used that night, three are routinely UFC judges, the fourth has scored a lot of martial arts, according to Mr. Lembo.
Regarding what the strategy is likely to be Mr. Lembo said, Trying to overturn a judges decision just based on the scores, Im not ever aware of that happening.
Fans are already speculating on if Penn/Uno III would be for the belt in three months or if the fight would be Penn against a top contender. With the first Penn/Uno fight back in November 2001 resulting in a Penn KO in just 0:11 seconds, chances are they will pull in a top contender to fight Penn for the belt. In the past ZUFFA pulled in Hayato Sakurai to fight Matt Hughes, so the have a precedent.
Beyond the UFC, the other two consistently ranked top Lightweights are Takanori Gomi and Jens Pulver. Gomi may be unlikely to fight outside Shooto, but Pulver hasnt yet signed a contract with that organization. Another potential include Duane Ludwig who recently picked up the UCC belt by beating Pulver and is sitting on a 9-2 record and a 5-fight winning streak stretching back almost two years.
The UFC crew deserve extra credit for addressing the situation surrounding the Din Thomas and Matt Serra fight, originally ruling it a decision for Serra. Mr. Lembo explains, On the scorecard youll assign a fighter either the left side or the right side of the scorecard. Lets say its me and you. Im on the left youre on the right and thats the way it is. Thats the way one judge did it the first two rounds. In the third round in that fight for some reason he flipped Serra and Thomas. I guess you could say its still our error because we should have looked closer. Thats just a mistake and it was corrected, thats all it was. Before the crowd cooled down the situation was addressed, Din was announced the winner, and a situation most promoters would have taken a couple days to rectify was already history.
Although the UFC hasnt been to New Jersey since UFC 32 in June of 2001, there have been plenty of sanctioned MMA shows in the Garden State, including shows put on by Lou Neglia, Kipp Kollar, and D. Benjamin Brown. Add to that the amateur MMA shows and the grappling tournaments the state has been looking at sanctioning and its obvious New Jersey is developing a pool of MMA experience.
Since there probley will be alot of debate and interviews with these guys in the next couple weeks I will put all the news on this thread.
