Dana White announced that all UFC main events will be now be extended to five rounds during the pre-fight conference call before UFC 131 at the weekend.
The change will not come into effect until after UFC 133, as White believes it would be unfair to ask fighters who had prepared for a three-round fight to change to five half way through their respective camps.
This decision is surely based on the slew of terrible judging decisions presented to the MMA community recently. While there has always been poor judging, with the growth of the sport and increased scrutiny, it seems that bad decisions are happening with more regularity.
Recently at the The Ultimate Fighter 13 Finale, fans were again disappointed in the much hyped match-up between Clay Guida and Anthony Pettis.
Guida used his wrestling to control Pettis and not much else, while Showtime relentlessly sought submissions from his back.
Many observers felt that with so much on the line for Pettis – a title shot against the UFC champion – that five rounds would have been the way to go.
Many fans were left deeply frustrated by the draw in the BJ Penn v Jon Fitch bout at UFC 127. After two competitive rounds, Fitch thoroughly dominated Penn in the third but only came away with the draw. Two more rounds in that fight could have provided the fighters and the fans with a definitive result.
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