By Ivan Stewart Saldajeno/PNA
MANILA — One Championship chief executive officer Chatri Sityodtong reiterated how judging in the said promotion goes as discussions continue to date about the outcome of the third showdown between Geje Eustaquio and Adriano Moraes.
“It is important to highlight that the judging criteria in One Championship is under the Global Ruleset in the true spirit of authentic martial arts. It is not under the UFC Ruleset,” Sityodtong said in a statement on Saturday via his Facebook account.
On Friday night, despite Eustaquio seemingly looking to successfully defend his One flyweight title at home, all three judges gave his Brazilian opponent the win and the belt back, leading to mixed reactions at the packed Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay and even the viewers on television and live streams.
Unlike in the UFC, in which judges score a showdown per round, Sityodtong explained One’s “Global Ruleset” have the judges assess the fight in its entirety, regardless of whether it’s a three-round or, in the case of Eustaquio-Moraes 3, a five-round affair.
“The main scoring criteria (in order of importance) for the Global Ruleset are as follows: near KO or near submission, damage (internal, accumulated, superficial), striking combinations and cage generalship (ground control/superior positioning), earned takedowns or takedown defense, aggression,” Sityodtong further explained.
Moraes’ biggest moment in his rematch against Eustaquio was a fourth-round kneebar that stretched the latter’s left leg at full extent upward.
Eustaquio held on despite the rare submission attempt, which Moraes called the “Mikinho Kneebar” and eventually brought the match to the distance.
But if the One judging rules are to be considered, the said kneebar greatly impacted Moraes’ cause.
“For Moraes vs. Eustaquio, I had Geje winning a very close fight until the moment where Adriano locked on the knee bar. Adriano won the fight on that knee bar (because the rest of the fight was very close). If you see the criteria above, a near KO or submission is the most important criteria (apart from an actual KO or submission),” Sityodtong further said.
He also said that he agrees with the judges’ decision that Danny Kingad prevailed over Tatsumitsu Wada in their clash that essentially became a qualifier for the One Flyweight Grand Prix.
“I thought that Danny won a very close fight despite all of the takedowns by Wada,” Sityodtong reacted on the said bout.
He then reiterated, “One Championship uses the Global Ruleset because it is the most authentic for martial artists. It is the closest to real combat of a hand-to-hand, self-defense situation. It is true martial arts.”
