I really don't like draws in MMA or any other combat sport, but it can happen. Thankfully it is rare that it happens but when it happens like it did the other day in Mexico, you kind of have to ask yourself if the judges really are unbiased as they claim to be.
The judges aren't supposed to know what the other judges are scoring. It is supposed to be independent analysis that is based on objective information and not anyone's feelings. However, the result of the Grasso vs. Shevchenko rematch brings about some criticism to one of the judges, who as they saying goes appears to have "been watching a different fight than the rest of us were."
The fight itself was a winner, with plenty of exchanges, constant engagement, and some stiff strikes as well as submission attempts on both fighters' parts. It honestly was anyone's guess who was on top here going into the 5th round. I had the women tied at 2 rounds a piece and to me and many other people, this is exactly why they have an odd number of rounds so that draws are very unlikely.
If you were watching the fight you already know that both fighters seemed to be aware that everything was resting on the 5th and final round as well and that both of them really needed to go for it in order to win this thing. When you look at the scorecards through 4 rounds you will see that there were mixed feelings among the 3 judges about who was winning. I think that for the most part the champions of any division are given favoritism when defending a belt and that the challenger really should never leave it up to the judges. Shevchenko appears to share this sentiment and when round 5 began she came out with a fury.
For 3 minutes of the 5th round it looked like Shevchenko was on her way to putting the gold back around her waist when a botched headlock attempt resulted in Grasso being on top for the last 2 minutes of round 5. This resulted in some vicious ground and pound including hammer fists. Shevchenko is excellent at defense so there was no reason for Herb Dean, who I consider to be the best MMA official in the game, to stop the match.
In the end when the draw was announced and both of the fighter's hands were raised it was a bittersweet moment because nobody likes a draw. This results in Grasso keeping her title of course but even she was a bit disappointed (or at least appeared to be at the post conference) that she didn't get the clear win.
This all boils down to Mike Bell giving a very strange, rare, and confusing 10-8 score in round 5. Sure by the END of the round Shevchenko was at a disadvantage but for more of the round than not she was in charge of basically everything that was happening. Normally, when a fighter gets an "8" in a round, it is because they were absolutely dominated in the round and did basically nothing at all. That is NOT what happened.
This leads people to think that Bell might have done this on purpose to rig the match even though he is considered one of the best judges in MMA. I don't know how else to look at it to be honest but even if he was rigging his own scorecard he isn't supposed to know what the other judges have on their cards.
Had he given Grasso the round at 10-9 the way it appeared to be, Shevchenko would have won a majority decision and would be champion again. She won more rounds (8-7) than her opponent, but she didn't get the win or the title because of one line on the scorecards. She was clearly winning the round for the first 3 minutes of the round and even though momentum swung greatly towards Grasso, enough for her to win the round, it wasn't enough of a swing or a failure on the part of Shevchenko to justify a 2-point deduction.
This had a lot of people upset both in attendance and around the world and there is now some talk about investigating Bell and any connection he might have to gambling. It really doesn't make sense by any other means for that round to be scored 10-8 and to me, this is unacceptable.
I know that it has become cliché to say "never leave it in the hands of the judges" but I suppose this is just more proof of exactly that being the case. Was Mike Bell cheating? It is unlikely that we will ever know but that was one of the most egregious scoring errors that I have seen in the many years that I have been watching UFC.
I hate draws but I REALLY hate draws that appear as though they could have been influenced by something other than what was going on in the actual fight and to me, this is very suspicious.