When judges plunk down cageside to score the fights at UFC 131, they'll have more than just their eyes and ears to do the job.
According to UFC Vice President of Regulatory Affairs Marc Ratner, the Vancouver Athletic Commission on Tuesday approved the use of cageside monitors for the June 11 event. Sherdog first reported the news.
"It's just another tool for the judges," Ratner today told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com).
Vancouver Athletic Commission head Jonathan Tweedale echoed those sentiments.
"Hopefully this small step, along with mandatory education for all officials, will enhance the fairness and consistency of judges' decisions if other jurisdictions follow suit," he said. "The fighters deserve as much."
The tool already has been in play for the UFC, at least in one part of the country. Cageside monitors have been used on three occasions: UFC on Versus 1, UFC 117 and UFC 121.
California State Athletic Commission Executive Director George Dodd told MMAjunkie.com that he requested the use of monitors shortly after he took his position in February 2010.
"There are no regulations that say we can't have monitors in that area," Dodd said. "Sometimes we don't get the best look because those big bars are in the way. It just gives the judges another angle to score fights."
Ratner said the UFC will request the use of monitors for UFC 130 – which takes place May 28 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas – at the next meeting of the Nevada State Athletic Commission, which is expected sometime this month.
NSAC Executive Director Keith Kizer on Monday said the NSAC would need to approve the use of monitors in a regulatory hearing before they could be used at events.
At The Ultimate Fighter 11 Finale this past June, Kizer unplugged video monitors installed next to the judges' stations.
"The UFC had no idea why they were there," he said. "I talked to the producer for the [Spike TV broadcast]. He said the [production] company put them there as a favor I guess."
Kizer then noted that he wasn't necessarily opposed to the use of monitors. But he didn't think they were entirely necessary, and he feels judges may become overly dependent on them.
"When we passed MMA (legislation) in 2001, we required at least two big monitors for both the fans and the judges," he said.
"I'm not saying we won't use them one day. But right now, we don't really need them with the big screens and everything else."
Ratner said today that the technology for cageside monitors has improved. The monitors are movable and don't require a big shift in attention when looking at what's going on inside the cage and that which is on the screen.
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