When an MMA fight goes the full distance, the result is in the hands of three judges. Each one scores every round, and the totals on their three cards decide the winner. For UFC fights in the United States, they work under the Unified Rules of Mixed Martial Arts, published by the Association of Boxing Commissions and Combative Sports (ABC). The current text was amended in July 2024, with non-substantive changes in August 2025. This is how those rules turn five minutes of fighting into a number.
Ten points to the winner of each round
The rules say every bout is scored by at least three judges using the 10-Point Must System. The winner of a round must get 10 points and the loser nine or fewer. A 10-10 round, where neither fighter did more, is allowed but described as rare. After the last round each judge adds up their own card, and the fighter with the higher total wins that card.
The totals are easier to read once you know the rounds behind them. At UFC 324 in January 2026, Justin Gaethje beat Paddy Pimblett over five rounds by scores of 48-47, 49-46 and 49-46. The simplest reading of 48-47 is three rounds to Gaethje and two to Pimblett, all scored 10-9, and 49-46 is four rounds to one. On the same card Sean O'Malley beat Song Yadong 29-28 on all three cards, which means each judge gave O'Malley two of the three rounds. A 30-27 card, like one of the three in Ateba Gautier's win over Andrey Pulyaev that night, means that judge gave one fighter every round.
What judges look at, and in what order
The rules give judges three things to assess, in a fixed order. The ABC calls them Plan A, Plan B and Plan C, and a judge only moves on to B and C when A is even.
- Plan A is effective striking and grappling. Striking is judged by the damage or effect of the legal strikes a fighter lands, and the rules say this is based only on the results of those strikes. Grappling is judged by the successful execution and impact of takedowns, submission attempts, reaching advantageous positions and reversals.
- Plan B is effective aggressiveness, which the rules define as aggressively making attempts to finish the fight.
- Plan C is control of the fighting area: who is dictating the pace, place and position of the bout.
The order matters in close rounds. A fighter who presses forward all round but has the weaker striking and grappling does not win it on aggressiveness, because Plan A was not even. Cage control only decides a round when the striking, grappling and aggressiveness have all come out level.
Defense is missing from the list on purpose. In 2012 the ABC's MMA judging committee removed effective defense as a scoring criterion and gave striking and grappling equal weight. One line of its report sums up the reasoning: "Defense is its own reward." A fighter who blocks and slips everything but throws nothing has not scored.
10-9, 10-8 and 10-7 rounds
The rules describe four possible scores for a round:
- 10-10 when there is no difference or advantage between the fighters.
- 10-9 when a fighter wins by a close margin, landing the better strikes or using effective grappling.
- 10-8 when a fighter wins by a large margin through damage, dominance and duration of striking or grappling.
- 10-7 when a fighter is completely dominated through damage, dominance and duration.
Those three words each have a definition. Damage includes visible evidence such as swelling and cuts, and also covers a fighter's energy, confidence and abilities being worn down by strikes or grappling. Dominance in striking is when the losing fighter is forced to keep defending, with no counters when openings appear. On the ground, merely holding a dominant position is not enough; judges assess what the fighter does from it, such as submission attempts and strikes. Duration is the time one fighter spends attacking, controlling and hurting the other while the opponent offers little or no offense.
Fouls, point deductions and fights that end early
Point deductions come from the referee, not the judges, and are taken off the fouling fighter's total. If an intentional foul causes an injury and the fight continues, the rules make a two-point deduction mandatory. Holding the fence can cost one point if it had a real effect on the fight.
Judges also score rounds that do not finish. If an accidental foul stops a fight after two rounds of a three-round bout, or three rounds of a five-round bout, the fighter ahead on the cards wins a technical decision. Stopped before that point, it becomes a no contest, because not enough of the fight was completed to go to the cards. The same two-of-three and three-of-five rule applies when a fight has to end for reasons outside the fighting itself.
Decisions and draws
A unanimous decision means all three judges picked the same fighter. A split decision is two judges for one fighter and one for the other. A majority decision is two judges for the same fighter and one scoring a draw. Draws follow the same pattern: unanimous when all three cards are even, majority when two are, and split when the three cards all differ and the totals still come out level.
Who picks the judges, and can a result be overturned?
The judges are chosen by the athletic commission that oversees the card. In Nevada, where many UFC events are held, the regulations list judges among the ring officials and say the commission or its executive director selects and approves all of them. Nevada's rules also limit when the commission may change a result: collusion, an error in adding up the judges' scorecards that gave the win to the wrong fighter, or a referee or review official applying a rule wrongly. A round that fans think was scored badly is not on that list, so a disputed score on its own is not grounds for a change. Separately, NAC 467.579 lets the commission change a win or a draw to a no contest when the fighter is found to have committed an anti-doping violation. Other commissions have their own rules.
UFC.com publishes the official scorecards after its events, so you can see how each judge scored every round. The next cards to be scored are on our UFC schedule, and if you want to know how a win on the cards moves a fighter up, read how UFC rankings work.
