"It's a lot of the same dudes" - Ariel Helwani points out that MMA judges and referees have largely stayed the same since 2006

Ariel Helwani believes that the UFC should adopt an open scoring system as the controversy surrounding judging in the sport continues.

Helwani recently noted that the sport still has a large number of the same judges since 2006. He suggested that fans shouldn't expect much change as it hasn't happened previously.

The definition of open scoring, per Martial Arts Insider, is:

"Open scoring allows how the judges scored each round to go public, meaning that fans, commentators and fighters will be able to see how the fight is being scored. This allows fighters to adjust their strategy accordingly depending on whether they are winning or losing the fight."

Speaking during the latest episode of The MMA Hour, Ariel Helwani pinpointed his big issue with those who express opposition against open scoring.

"There are a lot of people thant want to poke holes in the open scoring thing but never really offer anything other than, 'Oh, well, the judging needs to be changed, the judges need to be changed or they need to bring in new judges.' Guess what? I've been watching and covering MMA professional since 2006. There ain't a lot of new refs and judges being brought into this game. It's a lot of the same dudes. Infact I would say the ones in the UK are doing a good job of freshening things up a bit. If we're being honest, it's just a lot of the of the same officials."

The latest UFC judging controversy comes after Holly Holm's split decision loss to Ketlen Vieira. The American almost outstruck the Brazilian by twice as many strikes and had over 10 minutes of control time inside the octagon.

The backlash from fans may come from a misunderstanding or misinterpretation of the judging criteria. An example is Holm's abundance of cage control. While many have used that as evidence that 'The Preacher's Daughter' deserved the win, others have pointed out that, per the criteria, control time doesn't score unless backed up by effective offense.

Those calling for open scoring have suggested that if Holm was able to know that she was being scored down, she could have adjusted her strategy for the later rounds.

Watch Ariel Helwani discuss open scoring here:

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Ariel Helwani and Jon Anik discuss open scoring on Twitter

Ariel Helwani took the open scoring discussion to Twitter after both Holly Holm and Eryk Anders suffered controversial split decision losses at UFC Vegas 55.

Clearly passionate about the subject, Helwani wrote that he doesn't see any reason why the fighters wouldn't want open scoring.

"At this point I can’t honestly think of one good reason why every fighter on the planet, but in particular the ones fighting with so much at stake, wouldn’t want open scoring."

UFC play-by-play commentator Jon Anik wrote that he was coming round to the idea of an open scoring system, but admitted that it may add unnecessary pressure on fighters from a crowd who know they are losing.

"I’m starting to come around. I just think it puts a ton of pressure on the athlete, when the crowd knows you’re down in the final round and they destroy you b/c you are fatigued or can’t pull the trigger for whatever reason, despite that you’re trailing. I love this convo."

While there is no official word from the UFC about plans to change the scoring system, fans can expect the debate to continue if more controversial decisions take place inside the octagon.