AFTER sports fans stormed social media on what they think was unfair judgment leading to the loss of former champion and Team Lakay’s Geje Eustaquio to eventual flyweight champion Adriano Moraes in the main event of One Championship’s “Heroes Ascent,” CEO Chatri Sityodong came to the defense of the judges.
Sityodtong in a lengthy Facebook post, explained ONE Championship uses the Global Ruleset which scores the fight in its entirety and not round – by - round.
The ONE CEO added under the global ruleset, a fighter can win based on the main scoring criteria which is near knockout or near submission, damage (internal, accumulated, superficial), striking combinations and cage generalship (ground control/superior positioning), earned takedowns or takedown defense and aggression.
“Some fans disagreed with the victories by Adriano Moraes and Danny Kingad from ONE: Hero's Ascent, but I personally agreed with the judges for both of these two fights. 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),” Sityodotong added.
Sityodotong said ONE Championship uses the global ruleset because it is the most authentic for martial artists and the closest to real combat of a hand-to-hand, self-defense situation.
“The reason you don't see silly lay and pray games or ridiculous three point standing position tactics in ONE Championship is precisely because the global ruleset is geared for true combat. In my opinion, you are not a world champion if you lay and pray to win,” defended Sityodtong.
“Along the same vein, takedowns mean nothing if you do not inflict damage, advance position, or go for submission attempts,” he quipped.
Sityodotong added in other major global organizations, fights are often won or lost by the number of takedowns.
“If you think about that concept, it is silly. Martial arts is not meant to be a game of hide and seek or tag or any other childhood playground game. You should not win a fight if you scored three takedowns and your opponent scored two takedowns. You should win a fight because you finished your opponent or came close to finishing him many times or inflicted the most damage,” Sityodotong added.
The ONE CEO added under the global ruleset, a fighter have to score a takedown and inflict damage or attempt a submission for his effort to matter.
Sityodtong also said it is no secret ONE has the highest finish rate percentage in the world of any major global organization because athletes compete to finish fights and because the global ruleset does not tolerate lay and pray or stalling as a strategy.
“Lastly, I would like to express my sincere gratitude and appreciation to all of the ONE officials, referees, and judges for their outstanding work and excellence. While I may disagree with them on occasion, our officials, referees, and judges are truly the greatest in the world. Since 2011, they have been the guardians of the integrity and safety of ONE Championship. And they have done a fantastic, world-class job. I am truly thankful for all of their hard work, dedication, and commitment. ONE Championship would not be where it is today without the extraordinary team of officials, referees, and judges,” Sityodotong said.