sitnspin

What a strange ruling. I can see corners exploiting the opportunity to buy more time for an exhausted fighter, and I can also see most organizations just skipping it all together, since they still have the freedom to do so.





NEW JERSEY INSTITUTES INSTANT REPLAY IN MMA
Friday, January 05, 2007 - by Ken Pishna - MMAWeekly.com

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New Jersey announced that they have introduced instant reply into mixed martial arts bouts. In a statement released by the State Athletic Control Board, instant replay is allowed effective immediately for all regulated mixed martial arts, professional boxing, and kickboxing contests.

Though competitors currently have a process by which they can appeal a decision made by a referee in New Jersey, that process does not take place until well after the bout has taken place. With instant replay, the state hopes to “allow the Commissioner's review to commence in a more timely fashion, namely, on the night of the bout itself.”

Instant replay, according to New Jersey, would allow the Commissioner to review certain issues on the spot, such as:

– a knockdown versus a slip
– accidental versus intentional fouls
– if a cut was the result of a legal strike
– if a fighter beat the count
– low blows
– whether or not a strike landed before the bell rang

According to the statement, “The Commissioner, if approached during a round by the contestant's chief second, would review the issue at the end of the round. The bout would be temporarily stopped during the rest period and the Commissioner would have a maximum of three minutes to render a decision or choose to reserve his judgment because further review is needed. Upon the Commissioner's ruling, the bout would then be restarted and would continue.”

There is a catch though. The State of New Jersey is not able to supply instant replay. They are leaving it up to the promoter to provide the necessary equipment if the promoter so chooses. Promoters that don’t have the funds or simply choose not to employ instant replay will not be required by the State to do so. At this point, instant replay will be employed if the promoter chooses to utilize it, but it will not be uniformly required.

Instant replay is employed in many other professional sports leagues, such as the National Football League, the National Basketball League, the National Hockey League, the Canadian Football League, and others.

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Nimmy

i dotn know if it would, in most of these circumstances the fight can be stopped for up to 5 minutes, i just dont really think the fight will benefit, its a fight damnit not a rugby match. where is the heat of the moment goign to go?

Kochman

i agree with the heat of the heat of the moment statement. if they are right in the middle of a slug fest and someone lands a blow a little low they are going to stop it an dtake all the momentum out of the fight? i would find it hard to stay pumped up if i kept getting told to stop

Crashsti

all the instant reply in the world does'nt make up for an inexperienced and uneducated referee. the 3rd man in the ring needs to being watching everything that he can, he can't simply be a spectator with a great seat. instant replay is'nt going to help the sport solve a problem that begins and ends with the referee. i would say that a better solution would be a a pair of cageside refs watching the action from outside the octagon. they're opinions are void unless there is an issue such as an eye poke or maybe a groin shot that was missed. the ref can't see everything but 3 of them should do better than a camera.

Gygax

The process as described would take place between rounds at the request of the cornermen. It would go to the commisioner present, not the referee. So it would not stop a fight in the middle of the round. The commisioner also has the right to refuse to look at it. So if its even slightly questionable circumstances, they'd likely refuse to look at it.

For the most part, these rules are aimed at boxing events and would rarely affect MMA fights IMO. Not saying it wouldn't happen, but it wouldn't be a constant happening. It wouldn't affect the smaller organizations at all as they are rarely televised and likely will not have the proper equipment necessary.

I don't see any need for it in MMA, but it could be pretty helpful in boxing matches.

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