MMA Vietnam can't change the outcome of Oliveira vs Ngoc Luong

"The announced results cannot be changed," General Secretary of the Vietnam Mixed Martial Arts Federation (VMMAF) Mai Thanh Ba told MetaSports on the morning of April 24. "But I must admit that the referee is not good. As the General Secretary, I have gone around a few times to see how the referees score. When the President of the Federation Ngo Duc Quynh asked normally what the outcome of this match would be. Anyway, I always say Oliveira wins. But these are the referees, must respect their decision. The organizers must announce the results according to the referee."

According to Vietnamese MMA rules, the score is decided by three referees (or judges), based on the evaluation of the effectiveness of striking skills - grappling - controlling the ring - actively striking and defending.

Based on this rating system, there are four ways of dividing points on a 10-point scale for boxers, specifically as follows:

- The score of 10-10 is given when both are effective blows, no one is superior.

- A score of 10-9 is when one of the two fighters is slightly better in a specific skill area like striking - grappling.

- A score of 10-8 is when one of the two fighters shows dominance and control of the game with grappling or striking.

- The score of 10-7 is when one of the two boxers completely excels in striking - grappling.

MMA's scoring is heavily based on how aggressively the fighters perform in the ring whether it's in offensive situations – defending or gaining or losing the upper hand. This comes from the fact that the legislators want MMA to be maintained as an "eye-catching, effective" form of fighting competition - both meeting the professional factor as well as being highly entertaining.

According to Mr. Ba, because the referees score based on emotions, there are also many controversial matches in the world. In order to avoid the recurrence of situations like the battles of Oliveira and Ngoc Luong, VMMAF is planning to deal with it. "VMMAF has an arbitration panel, but they operate independently, we must always respect their decisions," added Mr. Ba. "In the near future, VMMAF will convene the referees to re-evaluate why the score is so."

The match between Oliveira and Ngoc Luong belongs to the 60 kg category in the LION Championship. Brazilian boxers excelled thanks to effective grappling, take-down and striking moves. But two of the three referees awarded the home fighter the victory with scores of 29-28, 29-28 and 28-29 over three rounds. After the match, Oliveira got angry and left early, not receiving the reward. Coach Gilberto Bottiglieri said that this was the worst cheating ever witnessed in an MMA match, and declared never to return to MMA competition in Vietnam. Many fans present at Rach Mieu Stadium that day also booed and protested against the results of the organizers.

Mr. Ba - the first Vietnamese to win a gold medal in the world championship in 1993 - confided: "The federation has only been established for a year, so mistakes are inevitable. In addition, in sports, there are times - At other times, it can't be all smooth. However, the Federation will try step by step to perfect and organize the matches in a better way."

Ngoc Luong has won the national jujitsu championship for three consecutive years, at the same time competed in national-scale vovinam, won the Coco Championship martial arts championship in 2017 and is currently practicing at Saigon Sports Club. He is a very expected name of the Vietnamese MMA village. Meanwhile, Oliveira holds a jujitsu black belt, won a gold medal at the Brazilian Championship and is the highest level jujitsu belt holder among athletes registered to compete in this season's LION Championship.