Five-round main-card fights are officially making their way to the Desert Force! The promotion has informed ArabsMMA today that going forward, all title fights will constitute of 5*5 minute rounds.
In the UFC, the normal circumstances of a championship bout would be a 5 minutes 5 rounds game. Not long ago in June 2011, UFC president Dana White came with a statement that from then on, all main events fights will be scheduled for 5 rounds, regardless if a title fight is on the line or not.
The reasons behind having a 5 minutes and 5 rounds bout for such matches is due to the following aspects:
Big matches and title main events are prone to controversies regarding the attention they get. A five rounds bout would generate more decisive results , giving the judges more rounds to score. According to statistical studies, a 5 rounds title fight is finished 77% of the time as compared to the MMA average of 67% for the regular 3 rounds.
Also, the relevance of a round would be more diversified, as each round would count into 20% of importance instead of 33% in the judge’s score card, giving the judges a more decisive reasoning especially when the fight is a close one. Additional time means additional action for MMA enthusiasts.
It’s the fight that everyone is waiting for, thus it would bring more excitement for the fans, and more exposure for the sponsors who are investing in these top notch games. On the other hand, adding these two rounds has a consequence of slashing a fight from the live aired fights due to TV broadcasting rights.
No doubt that Karaki vs Sawi’s title fight was a very close one, and had its controversial consequences among the fans and the coaches who had opposite point of views over the decision.
Both fighters performed very well and entertained the audience in a long awaited match, but a 5 round bout would have shunned away all possibilities for such doubtful and controversial decisions, especially that it is a title fight.
Now it’s done. Desert Force has finally considered 5 rounds fights for such events.
