A unanimous decision (UD) is a winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, Muay Thai, mixed martial arts and other sports involving striking and submission in which all three judges agree on which fighter won the match. [1]
In boxing, each of the three judges keep score (round by round) of which fighter they feel is winning (and losing). This only includes landed blows to the head or the body. In MMA, judges look for different criteria such as kicks, take downs, punches, knees, elbows, cage control, submission attempts and aggression. [2] A decision is not required to be unanimous for a boxer or mixed martial artist to be given a victory. In modern era of Olympic boxing, UD is utilized more often than other outcomes including stoppages. [3] Unanimous decision should not be confused with a majority decision or split decision.
In the early days of combat fighting, winners were determined only when one party was unable to continue the fight. [4] The National Sporting Club started to promote professional glove fighting, and introduced the use of officials and their capacity to declare the winner of a fight. Officials began using a scoring system to determine the winner of the fight and this made unanimous decisions a logical outcome.
Any combat sports decision has the potential to be overturned. Some reason for this may include counting errors, misdeclaration, and retroactive disqualification due to rule violations. There has never been a unanimous decision overturned.
| Date | Winner | Opponent | Notes |
| March 8, 1971 | Joe Frazier | Muhammad Ali | For WBA, WBC, and vacant The Ring heavyweight titles |
| January 28, 1974 | Muhammad Ali | Joe Frazier | Retained NABF heavyweight title |
| March 7, 1987 | Mike Tyson | James Smith | Retained WBC heavyweight title; Won WBA heavyweight title; Heavyweight unification series |
| June 11, 2009 | Georges St-Pierre | Thiago Alves | Defended the UFC Welterweight Championship. |
| May 2, 2015 | Floyd Mayweather Jr | Manny Pacquiao | Retained WBA (Unified), WBC, and The Ring welterweight titles; Won WBO welterweight title |
| February 8, 2020 | Jon Jones | Dominick Reyes | Defended the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship. |
| Date | Winner | Opponent | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| December 5, 1947 | Joe Louis | Joe Walcott | Scores were split in favor of Louis: 6–7, 8–6, 9–6. [5] |
| April 10, 2010 | B.J. Penn | Frankie Edgar | Lost the UFC Lightweight Championship. [6] |
| February 4, 2012 | Carlos Condit | Nick Diaz | Won the interim UFC Welterweight Championship. [6] |
| July 2, 2017 | Jeff Horn | Manny Pacquiao | Lost WBO welterweight title |
| February 12, 2023 | Islam Makhachev | Alexander Volkanovski | Retained UFC lightweight Championship. [7] |
Mixed martial arts (MMA) is a full-contact combat sport based on striking, grappling and ground fighting, incorporating techniques from various combat sports from around the world. The first documented use of the term mixed martial arts was in a review of UFC 1 by television critic Howard Rosenberg in 1993.
Kenneth Alan Florian is an American retired mixed martial artist and commentator who formerly competed in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). He formerly served as an analyst for UFC on Fox from 2011 to 2018, provided color commentary for UFC Fight Night, and provides color commentary on the robot combat television series BattleBots. He is currently signed to the Professional Fighters League (PFL) as a commentator.
Spencer William Fisher is a retired American mixed martial artist. A professional competitor from 2002–2012, he is best known for his 17-fight tenure with the UFC, winning "Fight of the Night" honors three times.
Joseph Jonathan Riggs is an American professional bare-knuckle boxer and former mixed martial artist who is currently signed to Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship. A professional competitor since 2001, Riggs formerly competed for the UFC, WEC, Strikeforce, Bellator, ProElite, M-1 Global, and King of the Cage. Riggs is the former WEC Middleweight Champion.
Chris Scott Lytle is an American retired mixed martial artist and boxer. A professional from 1999 until 2011 and twenty-fight veteran of the UFC, Lytle also fought in Pancrase, Cage Rage, and the WEC. He held the inaugural Cage Rage World Welterweight Championship and was a finalist on The Ultimate Fighter 4. During his tenure in the UFC, he was awarded "Fight of the Night" honors six times.
Most rule sets for mixed martial arts (MMA) competitions have evolved since the early days of Vale Tudo. As a result of health, legal, and moral concerns, many different rulesets were created, which give different countries and promotions very different tactics and strategies. Similarly, shoot wrestling organizations, such as Shooto, expanded their rulesets to integrate elements of Vale Tudo into their sport. However, for the most part, fighters accustomed to one rule set can easily acclimate to the others.
Nathan Donald Diaz is an American professional mixed martial artist who is currently a free agent. Diaz is most known for his time spent fighting in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), where he fought for over 15 years after winning The Ultimate Fighter 5. Prior to signing with the UFC, Diaz competed in World Extreme Cagefighting, Strikeforce, and Pancrase. Diaz has the third most UFC bonus awards, with 16 in total. In his debut professional boxing match, he was defeated by Jake Paul.
Cole Miller is a retired American mixed martial artist, who most recently competed in the featherweight division in the UFC. His nickname "Magrinho" means "skinny" in Portuguese.
A majority draw is an outcome in several full-contact combat sports, including boxing, mixed martial arts (MMA), and other sports involving striking. In a majority draw, two of the three judges agree that neither fighter won, while the third judge indicates one fighter being the winner on his/her scorecard. Thus, the majority of judges see the outcome as even and the result is announced as such, although one judge gave a victory on his/her card to one fighter.
Holly Holm is an American mixed martial artist, who competes in the Ultimate Fighting Championship. She is a former UFC Women's Bantamweight Champion, and a former professional boxer. She was a multiple-time world champion in boxing, defending her titles 18 times in three weight classes, and a two-time Ring magazine fighter of the year. She is ranked by BoxRec as the 20th greatest female professional boxer of all time, pound for pound.
Felice Nicole Herrig is an American retired kickboxer, Muay Thai fighter, and mixed martial artist who competed in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) in the strawweight division.
Demetrious Johnson is an American mixed martial artist. He currently competes in ONE Championship, where he is the current ONE Flyweight Champion. He is the inaugural and former UFC Flyweight Champion. Known for his quick striking and elusive movement, Johnson co-holds the record for the latest finish in UFC history with a submission win at 4:59 of the fifth round against Kyoji Horiguchi. Johnson also holds the record for most finishes in UFC flyweight history with 7. Johnson is widely regarded as one of the greatest MMA fighters of all time and is even considered to be the greatest mixed martial arts fighter of all time.
BAMMA (British Association of Mixed Martial Arts) was a mixed martial arts promotion based in the United Kingdom. It premiered on June 27, 2009, and was shown on the television channel Bravo. BAMMA events were shown live on ITV4 in the UK and Ireland, KIX in Asia (in Indonesia aired on tvOne), VEQTA Digital Broadcast Sports Network in India, Kwesé Sports in Africa, DAZN in Germany & Russia, FITE TV and UNILAD (Online). BAMMA events stream live on the UNILAD Facebook Page (Prelims) and ITV4 (UK) & Fite.tv (US) (Main Card). BAMMA 29 was shown on free to air channel Dave, and BAMMA 30 was also shown there on 7 July 2017 as was BAMMA 31. BAMMA 33 was shown on ITV4 on December 15 2017. The last BAMMA event was held in London on June 28, 2018.
Julia Alexandrovna Berezikova is a Russian female mixed martial artist and boxer. In February, 2014 she was the #7-ranked 125-pound female fighter in the world according to the Unified Women's MMA Rankings. She has not fought since she knocked out Rosy Duarte in October 2015. She is a W5 World Champion and is also a champion in Judo, Boxing, Wushu, Sambo and Muay Thai.
David Rickels is an American professional mixed martial artist and bare-knuckle fighter who is currently competing in the Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship. A professional since 2010, he is a 23-fight veteran of the Bellator MMA, and won the Season Eight Lightweight Tournament.
World Series of Fighting (Central America) formerly Omega MMA is a Nicaraguan Mixed Martial Arts promotion based out of Managua, Nicaragua. The promotion made its debut on May 3, 2013. In the Summer of 2013, Omega MMA was quietly purchased by WSOF, and was rebranded as World Series of Fighting: Central America. The promotion held its first event on July 27, 2013, headlined by former boxing world champion Ricardo Mayorga.
In combat sports, a decision is a result of the fight or bout that does not end in a knockout, submission or other finish, in which the (usually) three judges' scorecards are consulted to determine the winner; a majority of judges must agree on a result. The judges' result can either award a win, loss, or draw.
Julianna Nicole Peña is an American professional mixed martial artist who competes in the bantamweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, where she is a former UFC Women's Bantamweight Champion. Peña is the first woman to win The Ultimate Fighter. As of August 1, 2022, she is #1 in the UFC women's bantamweight rankings, and as of September 5, 2023, she is ranked #4 in the UFC women's pound-for-pound rankings.
Goiti Yamauchi is a Brazilian mixed martial artist who currently competes in the Welterweight division for Bellator MMA. As of September 26, 2023, he is #4 in the Bellator Welterweight Rankings.
Israel Mobolaji Temitayo Odunayo Oluwafemi Owolabi Adesanya is a New Zealand professional mixed martial artist, kickboxer, and former boxer. As a mixed martial artist, he currently competes in the Middleweight division in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), where he is the former two-time UFC Middleweight Champion. In kickboxing, he is a former Glory Middleweight Championship title challenger. As of 12 September 2023, he is #1 in the UFC middleweight rankings, and as of 14 November 2023, he is #9 in the UFC men's pound-for-pound rankings.
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