Douglas Crosby, the judging fool, talks Edgar-Penn scoring at UFC 112

Let me be honest, I’m a Frankie Edgar fan. I won’t lie or pretend that I didn’t grow up in and around New Jersey and I enjoy rooting for east coast fighters who train near me. So naturally I wanted him to win and I was extremely happy for him that he was able to competitively fight someone as good as BJ Penn for 25 minutes. With that being said, I saw the fight going to a split decision and either fight going home with that belt. But, even in the subjective world of MMA judging, there are some objective facts we can look at.

The CompuStrike Stats

Bj Penn		Frankie Edgar
81/242	Total Strikes Landed/Thrown	90/236
33%	Percentage	38%
77/236	Total Arm Strikes Landed/Thrown	73/202
33%	Percentage	36%
74	Power Strikes Landed	72
3	Clinch Strikes Landed	1
4/6	Total Leg Strikes Landed/Thrown	16/32
67%	Percentage	50%
3	Kicks Landed	16
1	Knees Landed	0
0/0	Ground Strikes Landed/Thrown	1/2
0%	Percentage	50%
0/0	Takedowns/Attempts	2/9
0	Submission Attempts	0
0	Knockdowns	0
0	Dominant Positions	0

The objective statistics show a very close fight throughout the five rounds of fighting, right? If you look at the statistics for each round, you can see which fighter did more damage. Rounds 1 & 2 went to BJ Penn while rounds 3, 4, & 5 go to Edgar. This would lead to a simple 48-47 unanimous decision between all three judges. No matter which fighter you picked to win, as long as you could realize that the fight was extremely close, you were on the right page.

But, that didn’t quite happen. Judge Douglas Crosby, appointed by the UFC to represent the athletic commission in Abu Dhabi and the same guy who scored the infamous Matt Hamill vs. Michael Bisping fight 30-27 in favor of the obvious loser (Bisping), scored the Penn-Edger fight 50-45 and then went on the MMA.tv Underground Forum where he tried, in vain, to come across as some intelligent judge. However, it failed miserably and exposed Crosby as a fool who should be removed every State Athletic Commission he has been poorly representing for years.

Props to FightOpinion for listing everything Crosby typed, all in separate posts, in a thread that he created.

Here’s what Crosby had to say after the MMA world went berserk (and rightfully so) after a 50-45 decision erupted by Bruce Buffer’s mouth.

THE JUDGING GENIUS RETURNS FROM THE MIDDLE EAST

So….Just returned from Abu Dhabi, and I haven’t been in my duplex more than 20 minutes, when the Doorman calls me on the intercom in a state of panic…

Seems there are hundreds of moaning, howling ghouls in “RVCA” and “Prodigy/Hilo Boy” T-shirts surrounding the building like extras from “Zombieland”…

And they’re chanting “50/45!” over and over, and trying to push their way into the lobby…..

Which gives me a little time to talk to you, my dear friends.

So I’m wondering…..Should I tell you how I scored Penn/Edgar, and why, right now, up front?

But that seems kinda like the Pope or the King back in the day, just writing down what he wants to say, and having one of his burly churls nail it to the door of the church for everyone to read…It seems a bit…distant, a bit ‘above it all’, don’tcha think?

Because God knows I have plenty to say and no shortage of burly churls; no dearth of hulking familiars to do my bidding have I….

Perhaps just announcing my presence is enough for now. Perhaps simply allowing some of you, my faithful friends and fellow MMA devotees, to say what YOU want to say is more….Democratic; more…..Enlightened.

A behaviour more consistent with a Progressive such as myself.

After all, isn’t that my job? Isn’t it incumbent upon me, as a Judge, to make myself available for your criticism? If I take the plane ride, and get to the venue, and score the fights, I have a kind of….Contract with the fans; a contract that specifically allows you to criticize me. And I will be glad to defend the terms of that agreement, even if it means I have to take the weight sometimes.

I knew this was coming as I scored the fight. I knew the inescapable inevitability of criticism was waiting back here. I saw the ride; and I bought a ticket.

So what I’m thinking is…… why deny you guys? You earned the right to say what you think by buying the PPV. Don’t I owe you a little time to say everything you want to say? Isn’t that a better way to continue to build a bridge to the fans? By giving them their say? Isn’t that what I owe you?

Shakespeare wrote

“THE TIME APPROACHES, THAT WILL, WITH DUE DECISION, MAKE US KNOW; WHAT WE SHALL SAY WE HAVE, AND WHAT WE OWE….”

And we all HAVE my scores…..

But what do we….OWE???

So allow me to cast up my accounts with you as equitably as possible, won’t you?

Interestingly, I’ve been slightly taken aback by the response my score for the Penn/Edgar fight has engendered…but not in the way (some of) you guys have responded….I kind of expected that.

What’s been surprising is how many people, at the event, in the hotel, at the airport, fighters, production staff, etc., have told me how glad they were that I scored the FIGHT, and not the FIGHTERS.

Are you guys with me on that, even just a little? Can you understand what I mean by that?

May I also mention that I forgive you?

For your anger, your insults, and your crassness? NOT all of you….You know who you are. Yes; YOU: Over there, with the purple Nikes on, waiting for the spaceship in the tail of comet to come take you to a world where everyone agrees with you….and YOU over there…the one who thinks his heroes never lose….

So yes, I forgive you. I started this thread knowing that a percentage of you would behave the way you have. I knew you would when I scored the fight as well. I forgave you then.

And even as I forgave you, I prepared myself to defend your right to criticize me, and make myself available for that criticism. Isn’t that something I kind of…started out by saying?

As fans, I owe you that. Remember me saying that….Pages ago? That you have the right to criticize me? Wasn’t I the person who brought that up? Wasn’t I the person who gave you the opportunity to be heard? By the person you are angry with?

Should I even mention that most of the virulent criticisms aren’t even consistent with each other? Or is that ‘condescending’? Which is to say…..are the things you’ve written in these last 7 pages available for criticism as well? Or does suggesting that constitute a similar heresy to my scoring in Penn/Edgar?

The reason last question is because I have to make bit of a decision…..Like I said pages ago; do I just lay out why I scored Penn/Edgar the way i did, and leave it at that? Or do I entertain a….dialogue with you (yes, YOU)? Do I go post-by-post and address your issues, both the rational and the ridiculous, for the sake of a democratic dialogue? Do I pick and choose among the posts for the ones (dissenting or otherwise) I feel are worthy of explanation, refutation, argument? Do I respond to ridicule with ridicule? Viciousness with viciousness? Do I pay each and every one of you with your own currency? Or do I just say what I think as far as that fight, and move on?

I posed that question pages ago. What direction would any of you be inclining towards, were you me? I wonder.

I just took a few moments to go back to the beginning of this thread and re-read everything I said, and the responses it engendered. I recommend it to all of you. My intellectual mentor, Dr. Jacques Vallee’, years ago told me “Seek out your enemies, Douglas, and listen to what they have to say. Than go think for awhile.”

Reading over what’s been said, in both tone and content, has been enlightening.

All of that being said…..

I’ve mentioned numerous times on other threads that the scoring criteria exist for a reason, just like the 10-point “must” system exists for a reason; and that the scoring criteria are guidelines within which Judges arrive at a decision on a round-by-round basis.

It is a Judge’s obligation to interpret the fight and use the criteria as guidelines. But a fight is an observed event that does require interpretation, observation, wisdom.

And, in my considered opinion, Edgar dictated the tone of the fight, successfully implemented and executed a strategy, landed better strikes, and basically outworked Penn.

And that is an interpretation by a ringside observer with an understanding and appreciation of MMA, who has Judged numerous (hundreds) of fights.

I re-watched the fight in my hotel in Abu Dhabi and saw nothing that would influence me to score it any differently.

I support and encourage your right to criticize my scoring. And I forgive you for your attacks of both a professional, and, regrettably, personal nature.

From commenter Mortality – “50-45 does not mean a fight was lopsided. Every round could have been razor thin but still had the same winner. Some of you don’t seem to understand scoring at all.”

I just printed this out and dropped it out my window. The RVCA/HILO BOY Zombies read it and they all just walked into the sea. Thanks! DC/NYC

Wow. My guess? He was drunk when he wrote all of this.