VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. – Improvement is on Megan Anderson’s mind.
That’s true in multiple regards: her own improvement, her UFC on ESPN+ 27 opponent Norma Dumont’s improvement, and even what can be done to improve MMA as a whole.
Anderson (9-4 MMA, 2-2 UFC) and Dumont (4-0 MMA, 0-0 UFC) face off Saturday on the main card. Anderson recognizes Dumont hasn’t competed in 18 months. A lot can happen in a year and a half, so Anderson has solely been focused on herself, not her opponent.
“Her having such a long time off, I’m sure she’s been training and been improving,” Anderson said at a pre-fight media day Thursday. “The Norma who fought last time will be very different to who’s going to step in the cage on Saturday night. We can’t really take into consideration too much of that footage.
“I’m sure there’s going to be some tendencies she carries through, but we’re all improving. She’s going to bring new skills to the table. For us, it’s more about what we’re doing – my game, and implementing that.”
While Anderson will compete inside the cage Saturday, the following weekend, she’ll call fights outside of it. A color commentator for Invicta FC, Anderson will be on duty for the first openly scored event in major MMA history at Invicta FC: Phoenix Series 3.
Recently, Anderson’s coach and fellow UFC roster member James Krause was on the losing end of a controversial decision at UFC 247. One of the judges, Joe Soliz, was a jiu-jitsu student of the coach of Krause’s opponent, Trevin Giles. The fight made Anderson reconsider the current scoring system and open her mind to the idea of open scoring, in which the fighters and viewers are aware of scoring as the fight is ongoing. The UFC featherweight would like to see it implemented more going forward.
“I think as a competitor, I would want to know,” Anderson said. “If we’re going into the third round of a three-round fight and it’s super close, I would want to know. If I need to go (expletive) all out and go for a Hail Mary in these five minutes, I would want to know.
“I know everybody is different. I feel like coaches kind of give you a realistic answer anyway in between rounds. I know James always comes in and is harsher on us. If it’s a super close round, he’ll give it to our opponent. He’s like, ‘Look, we just never know.’ Most fighters know generally. But particularly in title fights going into championship rounds, I would want to know.”
Open scoring isn’t the only change needed to improve MMA’s judging issues, Anderson said. On top of open scoring, she’d like to see judges held accountable for their scores.
“The problem is, the rules aren’t going to change,” Anderson said. “The fact that each state has a different rule set is exactly why it’s never going to change. There’s no one body that controls everything (or) monitors everything, but there definitely needs to be background checks on judges. That (expletive) shouldn’t happen.
“You would never in any other sport – or the Olympics or whatever – you would never let someone who has some sort of relationship (with a fighter) judge a competition at that level. You want judging or scoring in any sport to be as unbiased as possible. That (expletive) should never have happened.”
UFC on ESPN+ 27 takes place Saturday at Chartway Arena in Norfolk, Va. The card streams on ESPN+.
Check out Megan Anderson’s full UFC on ESPN+ 27 pre-fight media scrum in the video above.
UFC on ESPN+ 27's Megan Anderson would like to see open scoring implemented in MMA
