Live scoring is different from Open Scoring. In Open Scoring, after each round the judges score is transparent to fights and their teams. This allows the fighters and coaches to adjust their strategy for the remainder of the fight. What we love about Open Scoring is that it leaves little room for surprises amongst fighters and fans. There are rounds that can appear to be close but judges might have scored a particular way. Fighters should be able to adjust their strategy to compensate.

Live scoring allows fight fans from all over the world to participate in scoring. This was created by the Verdict MMA team after they witnessed Georges St-Pierre vs. Johny Hendricks. The result of the fight was surprising and we'll never know the true outcome of the fight. St-Pierre being at the height of his career could definitely have swayed judges. Now, each fight for the UFC is available on the Verdict MMA app to score live after a push notification.

Live Scoring vs Open Scoring

They're both incredible tools to keep fighters focussed and keep judges accountable. Live scoring crowd sources the round score and this should align closely with the judges. The Live Score includes a decimal, so that a score of 9.5 to 9.5 indicates that a large part of the audience believes that the round was extremely close.

In the future, it'd be amazing to see Live Scoring become a part of the judging criteria after users are given some level of training. For now, we rely on judges to play their part and hope that they're held accountable by references the Live Score or Global Scorecard that's available through the Verdict MMA website.