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As further proof that the current scoring system in MMA is fine and that it's the judges that are the real problem, look no further than Sengoku. Sengoku's use of ten point scoring features the heavy use of even rounds. If the fight is ruled a draw the judges will select a winner based on whom they feel was more effective across the whole fight. This basically makes it a hybrid ten point must/PRIDE scoring system with emphasis on there needing to be a clear round winner to give them the round. Sounds great right?

Except it gave us the worst decision of 2008 in Takanori Gomi/Sergey Golyaev, a poor decision in the Featherweight Grand Prix semifinal in Marlon Sandro/Michihiro Omigawa, and now this past weekend gave us yet another brutal decision as Omigawa again got the nod, this time over Hatsu Hioki.

Bad judges will ruin any scoring system you can come up with. That's why I still think that keeping it simple, giving the judges less leeway and having a system that should in theory foster more accountability like the ten point must system is still the best option we have until better judges evolve. That being said, I do think North American judges should show more flexibility in giving 10-10 rounds, although not nearly as frequently as used in K-1 or Sengoku, and to a lesser extent I'd also like to see more 10-8 rounds scored.

----Show recap----

The show kicks off with Rashad talking about how great it was to go 7-1 against Team Rampage. But now that it's quarterfinal time he mentions how awkward this will make training as his team prepares to fight each other. Rashad decides to split his team into two, have them all work conditioning together, and not focus on coaching anyone up too much to prevent claims of favoritism. We get lots of shots of Justin Wren and Roy Nelson watching each other train from a few feet away.

Matt Mitrione is continued to be saddled with the "Injury faker?" gimmick. He mentions how since his fight that his head still hasn't felt right. Darrill Schoonover and Justin Wren feel that he's faking as he acts unsteady, grasps his head in pain, and groans. Brendan Schaub gives him the benefit of the doubt and thinks that he does have a concussion as he appears nauseous with bad head aches. Will this be used as a tease to a potential Kimbo come back? What do you think?

Kimbo also keeps his gimmick of "always improving guy". Rampage mentions that and how impressed he was with how Kimbo did against Roy Nelson as reasons why Kimbo should get another shot. Assistant coach Tiki Ghosn thinks Kimbo should get the shot because Kimbo wants to go in there and tear your head off, not show his well-rounded skills...good point Tiki. Kimbo talks about how he keeps adding tools to his tool belt and that pretty soon he'll be good. One day.

Matt Mitrione is taken to the hospital, Rashad says he also thinks that Kimbo coming back would be exciting.

Rampage puts a bunch of chickens into Rashads' and the other coaches cars. Then the chickens run around and everyone laughs and has a grand old time.

Mitrione returns and Wes Sims asks him how the gynecologist was, Kimbo thinks that Mitrione has sand up his aforementioned lady parts for going to the hospital at all. Dana comes by the house and talks about how the Doctor will decide if Mitrione is cleared.

We now move onto previewing this weeks fight between Justin Wren and Roy Nelson. Again, Nelson is the former IFL champion, the favorite of this season, and the only fighter on the show to have faced top competition. Wren is the 22 year old stud wrestler who won two state and a national title in High School, as well as a National Greco title a year later.

James McSweeney actually gives Wren the edge saying he's more athletic, has better wrestling, and has very good submission defence, all of which is true. Nelson has spent very little time fighting off his back, hasn't shown any subs from there, and has relied on creating space with his hips to kick away, a luxury he may not have against Wren.

Schaub thinks that the two will neutralize each other on the ground and that the fight will be a stand-up war which is also very possible. Nelson doesn't have the wrestling pedigree that Wren does but he has shown very good takedown defence against good grapplers including Jeff Monson who has a good double leg shot, and Andrei Arlovski who has always had nice trip takedowns.

On the feet Nelson would have the pronounced advantage, Wren has yet to show any stand-up in his fights while that's a strong suit for Nelson. Nelson constantly pumps a hard straight jab, has a powerful followup in his straight right and has been mixing in uppercuts recently. He's shown good footwork early in his fights so we'll see if Nelson tries to circle off of Wren and box with him.

Nelson has never fought someone he hasn't been able to get down, or someone who can control him on top so this is a very interesting matchup. Alternately, Nelson has only lost when facing opponents who can take advantage of the fact that he's hittable on the feet, reacts awkwardly when flurried upon, and is open to strikes as he mauls in for the clinch. Wren doesn't look to have the ability to take advantage of these holes.

If Nelson could manage to takedown or sweep Wren it may be game over for Justin as Big Roy has an incredible top game. He has fight ending ground and pound from the guard, very quick and opportunistic passing skills, and such a strong base that only top grapplers like Monson, or good scramblers like Arlovski or Ben Rothwell have had any success getting up. I think Nelson completely controls Wren from on top, but we'll see if he can get it there.

We actually get a quick cutaway to the fighter house of Nelson showing Kimbo how he strikes while standing over his opponents open guard back. He put both Fabiano Scherner and Bryan Vetell to sleep this way, pumping both hands hard. This time he actually turns a willing Kimbo over and sits down on a half-crab. Lance Storm he was not.

Dana continues to paint Roy as the arrogant guy who needs to prove himself. Dana says no one loves Roy more than Roy loves Roy. He also says he's yet to see anything to be impressed by Nelson. Dana buddy, you bought the IFLs' assets, you have all the tape you need right there. Rashad is another who thinks we could see a stand up battle between the two.

Quarterfinal Fight #1

Roy Nelson (13-4) vs. Justin Wren (8-1)

Round One

Like normal Nelson opens up the fight with great footwork, let's see how long it lasts. He takes the centre, is feinting, and is cutting off Wren, backing him into the cage. Nelson with a jab. Wren starts to press back, straight forward with two jabs that land. Still pressing straight forward which allows Nelson to easily circle away off his next two flurry attempts and land counter jabs. More counter jabs as Wren presses forward, Nelsons hands don't come back up though and Wren lands an overhand right on the circling Nelson. Nelson stops moving once hit and Wren lands another hard right. Just misses with an uppercut and Nelson grabs a hold of Wren and bulls him to the fence. Nelson is great at securing double underhooks and has them immediately here.

Inside knees by Nelson. It's funny, his takedown game is actually hurt by the cage. Nelson has fought the majority of his career in the ring and has been able to secure his trip takedowns when pressed against the ropes time and time again, the cage obviously doesn't give him the same space to do so and we've seen him be very passive against both Kimbo and now Wren in the clinch. His only takedown against Arlovski in the cage actually came off of a switch while Nelson was the one pressed against the fence. The two are broken up by Josh Rosenthal.

Roys' footwork has already slowed down. He's barely off the end of two hard Wren punches as Wren bulls straight forward. Nelsons counters aren't as forceful, they're landing but he's dropping his hands when he throws them. Nelson now against the cage and not moving off of it, Wren with a left hook. Back in the centre now Nelson with a looping left. And a right, but not the typical hard straight shots he's shown in the past. Hard jab. And another. Wren bulls straight forward and lands a right as Nelson regroups. Nelson circles away from a Wren flurry, does so again and lands two counter jabs while circling. 1-2 lands from Nelson. And two more. We're in a definite pattern here, Wren is coming straight forward with a few punches, Roy moves straight back and away. Then the majority of the time Wren stands right in front of the more active Nelson. Wren was landing the harder shots earlier when he didn't stop pressing forward but is slowing down already.

Two counter jabs from Nelson. And a leg kick as Wren stands in front of him. Wren presses forward again with wide shots, none land, Nelson with an uppercut as the two come together and another counter jab when back at distance. 1-2 misses from Roy, but he follows with a left that lands and another leg kick. Roy throwing more forceful counters as Wren again comes barreling straight at him, these don't land but Wren is no where close on his strikes as Nelson circles off and the round ends.

I'm going 10-10. Wren landed the hardest shots of the round but they all came early. The last three minutes was all Nelson either countering with his jab while moving away from Wrens telegraphed charges or Nelson landing the jab and a few power shots as Wren stood in front of him. If he's going to stand then Wren needs to keep going when he charges, at times Nelson has gotten lazy and not circled off the fence, also Nelson drops his hands when countering so if Wren doesn't stop it opens up chances for him to land his right.

Round Two

Hard jab from Nelson kicks the round off. This round looks like it may repeat the last as Nelson steps away from Wren flurries. Wren with a leg kick. That's good strategy, both Arlovski and Ben Rothwell had success using leg kicks against Nelson. Another jab from Nelson, Wren barely misses with a hard right while stepping forward. Then punctuates a missed flurry with a leg kick. Again, Wren misses with all his punches and lands a leg kick on a retreating Nelson. Straight right counter by Nelson. Jab from Nelson, a straight left and he moves away from the counter. Counter jab.

Wren bulls straight forward but this time to clinch. Nelson easily shrugs Wrens left arm up with an underhook, Wren uses this to try to grab the Thai plumb, Nelson lands a right over the top and Wren stumbles away. Nelson now not moving away as quickly and two Wren lefts glance home. Wren is again able to secure the Thai clinch but doesn't throw knees allowing Nelson to pump uppercuts and rights, Wren does come with an inline elbow before stepping away.

Leg kick from Nelson, counter jab. Nelsons hands are real low. Nelson with his hardest shot, a looping right around Wrens' earmuffs. Then he counter jabs and spins off Wren when he tries to answer. Leg kick from Nelson, both land hard jabs with Wrens' snapping Nelsons' head back. Nelson jab, Wren throws lots of hard shots in close but none land. Two more jabs from Nelson. And two more. And a right body shot by Nelson. Both guys had been exclusively head hunting until this point.

Wren with a leg kick. Nelson with a left hook. Wren had had his hands up high until now, he's wearing out a little. Both guys throw wildly in the last twenty seconds but both are tired, neither are moving their feet and so neither land.

Nelson 10-9, he landed far more volume whether he was standing still, coming forward, or moving back. I've got a 20-19 card for Nelson but would not be surprised by the judges favoring Wrens' use of power shots and moving forward even if it wasn't effective.

Adelaide Byrd has it 20-18 so does Patricia Jarman, Glenn Trowbridge has it 19-19. Roy Nelson gets the nod by majority decision.

Dana has some hilarious lines here "Wren came out and absolutely destroys Roy Nelson" (he landed three hard shots but Nelson wasn't wobbled), "had he not reached and grabbed for that life saving clinch then he was getting knocked out." Nelson may have gotten KO'd, who knows. Nelson has gotten hit and battered by every opponent he's faced....literally...and only Andrei Arlovski has been able to put him down so I doubt Wren was about to finish him after three clean shots.

Nelson doesn't help that impression by how awkwardly he bends and moves after getting punched. It makes the shots look a lot worse than they are. Everyone at the gym seems to think the fight should have gone to a third round which would've been fine by me. But to be honest Wren didn't have much outside of that one flurry and a few other looping shots. Nelson outboxed Wren for the last eight minutes straight and in my opinion did enough to make the first round even, giving him the fight. Dana does admit that Wren probably would have had trouble in a third round as he slowed substantially from that flurry on.

Nelson is going to get plenty of backlash for this win. A close first round and the nature by which he won guarantee that. He's FAT! He's BORING! He got punched THREE TIMES IN A ROW, he should have lost the whole fight! Outboxing someone shouldn't count as MMA is a REAL FIGHT! Haymakers and following someone as they jab you is what being a REAL fighter is about. Dana actually pretty much echoes these sentiments.

Next week Kimbo comes back for real this time. Not like those last four times. Please keep watching. Please.