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Decisions in combat sports


In combat sports, a decision is a result of the fight or bout that does not end in a knockout in which the judges' scorecards are consulted to determine the winner; a majority of judges must agree on a result. A fight can either end in a win for an athlete, a draw, or a no decision.

If a fight ends with neither fighter getting knocked out, the fight is decided based on the judges' scorecards. In most professional boxing and mixed martial arts fights, there are usually three judges.

In a "ten-point must system", a judge must award a fighters whom s/he judged as have "won the round" ten points, while the other boxer receives nine points or less. If a judge feels that there was a no clear winner in a round, s/he must award both fighters ten points. This doesn't include point deductions from referees, so there could be rounds where neither fighter scored ten points.

At the end of the bout, each judge will tally the scores to determine which fighter had won, if any, according to the judge's tally; a fighter than "won" a majority of rounds usually emerges with more points. If a fighter ends up with a higher amount of points, that fighter "won" on that judges' scorecard. A fighter has to "win" in at least two scorecards to win the fight. If neither fighter "won" in at least two scorecards, the match is a draw; in championship fights, the champion usually retains the title in a draw. The scores do not necessarily have to be identical in unanimous decisions.

A fight can end in other circumstances:


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