The judges at ringside: dumber than Jim Lampley's Ridiculous Glasses.

Making the performance of Florida officials on Friday night’s UFC on FX 3 card look competent would be a tall order for any Commission, but the Nevada State Athletic Commission was apparently up for the challenge.

In case you don’t know already, last night’s bout between Manny Pacquaio and Tim Bradley ended in a controversial split decision. And by controversial, I mean batshit crazy. After doing everything but taking out a gun and shooting Bradley point blank in the head for twelve rounds, two of the three judges gave it to the fighter that was outstruck in every round in regards to both volume and power.

The tempered reactions I’ve read have almost exclusively come from people who didn’t see that fight. If you didn’t see it, I don’t think you can appreciate exactly how bad this decision was.

The official scorecards (Sports Illustrated)

Let me put this into a personal context: anyone who knows me and is a fan of combat sports knows that I’m not one to launch into hyperbole after a close decision. Quite the opposite, in fact, as I’ve gotten into some disagreements with people who have labeled a decision they did not agree with a robbery.

But in this instance, there’s no question. I have only two of the twelve rounds to Bradley, and I was being generous. The other ten weren’t even close.

I have never, ever, seen a worse decision, and I don’t think I ever will.

After the fight, Bob Arum dumped some dirt onto the fire by speaking out against the decision and announcing that the rematch in November wouldn’t take place in Nevada but would instead occur in a “non-tax” state. Likely Texas, as Kevin Iole speculated.

Iole also states that the controversy will only help, not hurt, boxing. I have to respectfully disagree. Particularly with fighters like Pacquaio and Mayweather who are likely to go the distance in their fights. If fans know they won’t see a finish by KO, they’re less likely to drop sixty dollars on a fight that they know will be better off left to the flip of a coin than in the hands of judges. It particularly hurts other cards, which were already suffering from a dwindling hardcore fanbase.

Between this and the absolutely ludicrous Therapeutic Use Exemptions being granted so fighters like Chael Sonnen can compete while using steroids, it’s been an embarrassing year for the Nevada State Athletic Commission. Their spectacular ineptness and speculated corruption is unprecedented. Something has to give here.

Fight Opinion has a collection of some of the reaction. The outrage here is warranted, folks.

Earlier this week, the Nevada State Athletic Commission announced that Muhammad “King Mo” Lawal had tested positive for another anabolic steroid, drostanolone, the day of the January 7th event.

Zuffa, the parent company of the UFC, acquired Strikeforce last Summer. Despite having some big names attached to it, the promotion itself was never a big money maker. Even the most recent card, which featured some of its bigger names and a former UFC main-eventer, only garnered a $65,000 live gate. But the deal with Showtime made it valuable, as did the marquee talent it had under contract. King Mo was certainly one of those guys who the UFC was hoping would give the promotion some momentum to build on and keep the Showtime brass happy.

As with nearly every fighter who’s failed a drug test, Mo is denying any wrongdoing. I’m sure the “tainted supplement” defense might rear its ridiculous head. But the bottom line is that Mo’s failure underscores a very real problem in MMA in regards to not only PEDs but fighters’ seeming inability to effectively cycle and avoid a positive drug test.

The response from Zuffa has been to announce that all fighters must pass a drug test before they’re signed. It’s certainly a start, although hard to imagine someone failing that test with advanced knowledge. On the other hand, it’s not all that different from knowing ahead of time that there’s a good chance you’ll be tested the day of a fight.

Zuffa, for their own sake, needs to go one step further and initiate their own random drug testing. The last couple years has seen a rash of fighters failing drug tests or having issues related to PEDs with State Athletic Commissions, many of them marquee names. And unlike the NFL and other professional sports, the UFC can’t regulate and control that testing, which means that guys are going to get caught. It’s in Zuffa’s best interest financially, then, to cut it off at the pass and protect themselves from public embarrassment and the financial loss that results when main event fighters get popped and shelved for a six months, a year, or more.

Will it happen? I’m skeptical, but think it’s a possibility. In addition to PEDs, the UFC has also had a rash of injuries to main eventers that have postponed fights and jeopardized entire cards (their inability to put together a main event for March resulted in them outright cancelling an event in Montreal). Those injuries lead many fighters who need the money to turn to PEDs and painkillers to accelerate their recovery, which only feeds into the problem.

While most arguments for random drug testing center around fairness and fighter safety, the only one that will matter to a company like Zuffa is that it’s good business. Given the increased exposure from the deal with Fox and the money lost in the last two years due to drug test failures, I think you’ll see that argument gaining more traction.