In the fourth episode of the Fight Business Podcast, Adam Roorbach, the executive director of the Kansas Athletic Commission, joins host Patrick Auger to provide insight into the inner-workings of how the commission operates.
The interview particularly focuses on the processes involved in training, managing, and selecting judges and referees for MMA events. Roorbach is committed to delivering the best experience possible for fighters and promotions in the area and has been at the forefront of revolutionary steps for the sport such as the introduction of “real-time” scoring for MMA bouts.
MMA open scoring was featured at the Invicta Phoenix Series 3 fight card and Roorbach says that it “couldn’t have gone any better.” Roorbach stresses, however, that it’s important to view open scoring not as a solution to poor judging in the sport, but more as a system that benefits fighters in mixed martial arts. As Roorbach explains, with so much money and essentially their career on the line, the least that a commission can do is show them the score.
Roorbach also comments on why former fighters and coaches rarely feature as judges or referees in the sport and also explains the challenges behind a five-judge system for commissions.
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