Even Round

Last updated: July 3, 2026

What is an even round in MMA?

An even round is the one score in MMA that declares no winner. Under the Unified Rules of MMA, adopted by the Association of Boxing Commissions (ABC), a round is scored 10-10 when the fighters “appear to be fighting evenly” and neither shows dominance.

The score exists because MMA judging is built on picking a winner every round. The 10-10 is the escape valve for the situations where that is genuinely impossible: a round with no meaningful action either way, or a round cut short after a few seconds by an accidental foul, leaving judges nothing to separate the fighters with.

The ABC’s judging criteria are blunt about how sparingly it should appear. The 2016 criteria instruct that the score should almost never appear, and that it must not become a fallback for judges who cannot separate the fighters. If a judge can find any discernible difference between the two, the round must go to someone.

How the 10-10 fits into the 10-point must system

MMA borrowed its scoring system from boxing. Three judges score every round under the 10-point must system: the round winner must receive 10 points, and the loser receives 9 or fewer, depending on the margin. The even round is the single exception, since both fighters get 10.

Score	What it means	How often it appears
10-9	One fighter won by a close or clear margin	The default score in most rounds
10-8	One fighter won by a large margin through impact, dominance, or duration	Uncommon but increasingly used
10-7	Total domination, close to a stoppage	Rare
10-10	No difference or advantage between the fighters	The rarest score in MMA

To reach a 10-10, a judge has to find the fighters level across every criterion in order: effective striking and grappling first, then effective aggressiveness, then fighting area control. The Unified Rules treat each tier as a tiebreaker for the one above it, so a dead-even round has to be even at every level.

Why 10-10 rounds are almost never scored

The rulebook allows the score, but the culture of judging discourages it. Commissions train judges to find a winner in every round, and reporting by CBS Sports in 2022 noted that judges are actively dissuaded from using the 10-10. The result is that razor-thin rounds and comfortable rounds usually end up with the same 10-9 score.

The numbers show how far judges take that instruction. MMADecisions, which tracks judging data across major promotions, lists roughly 50 individual 10-10 scores in its entire database going back to the early UFC era. According to Verdict MMA, only one 10-10 was scored in the UFC between 2018 and late 2022: judge Christophe Chapuis gave the third round of William Gomis vs. Jarno Errens a 10-10 at UFC Fight Night: Gane vs. Tuivasa in September 2022.

The first round of Tyron Woodley vs. Stephen Thompson at UFC 209 in 2017 became the reference case for the debate. FightMetric recorded five landed strikes for each fighter across the full five minutes, yet all three judges scored the round 10-9 for Thompson. ESPN’s Brett Okamoto argued afterward that the round showed judges will find a winner even when a round gives them almost nothing to score.

A 10-10 has appeared on a championship scorecard. Judge Douglas Crosby included one in his 48-47 card for Johny Hendricks over Robbie Lawler in their welterweight title fight at UFC 171 in 2014, according to MMADecisions.

10-10 vs. 9-9: two different even rounds

A scorecard can show an even round in two ways, and they mean different things. A 10-10 means the judge saw the round itself as dead even. A 9-9 means one fighter won the round 10-9, but lost a point through a referee’s deduction for a foul, which pulls the score level after the fact.

Round type	How it happens	What the judge saw
10-10	Judge scores the round even	No advantage for either fighter
9-9	Judge scores it 10-9, then a point deduction is applied	A round winner who was penalized

The distinction matters when reading scorecards. A 9-9 round reflects a foul, not even fighting, and point deductions are recorded by the referee rather than chosen by the judges.

What a 10-10 means for the final result

One even round can change who leaves the cage with a win. In a three-round fight, a judge’s card with a 10-10 can land on 29-29, a draw on that card. Depending on how the other two judges score the fight, that single card can turn a win into a majority decision or a majority draw.

Draws come in three forms under the Unified Rules. A unanimous draw means all three judges scored it even, a majority draw means two did, and a split draw means the three cards pointed in opposite directions. Even rounds are one of the main routes to each of them, alongside point deductions.

The score also does quiet work in fights that end early. When an accidental foul stops a bout after enough rounds have been completed, the result goes to the scorecards as a technical decision, and judges may need to score a partial round in which nothing decisive happened. That is the situation the 10-10 was kept in the rulebook for.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is a 10-10 round legal in MMA?

Yes. The Unified Rules of MMA explicitly allow it as the one exception to the 10-point must system. Judges are trained to use it only when a round shows no difference between the fighters.

Does a 10-10 round mean the fight is a draw?

No. It means one round on one judge’s card was even. The fight only becomes a draw if the final totals across the scorecards produce one.

Has a 10-10 ever decided a UFC title fight?

A 10-10 has appeared in one: Douglas Crosby scored a round even in Hendricks vs. Lawler at UFC 171, though Hendricks won on all three cards.

Why do judges avoid the 10-10 score?

Commissions instruct judges that any discernible difference in a round requires a winner, and training reinforces picking one. In practice, that turns nearly every close round into a 10-9.

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Sources

1. Association of Boxing Commissions. “Committee Report on Unified Rules for MMA.”
   https://www.abcboxing.com/committee-report-on-unified-rules-for-mma/. Accessed July 2026.
2. Association of Boxing Commissions. “MMA Judging Criteria/Scoring, Approved August 2, 2016.”
   https://www.abcboxing.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/2017-Official-MMA-Judging-Criteria.pdf. Accessed July 2026.
3. ESPN. “Do 10-10 rounds actually exist in MMA?”
   https://www.espn.com/mma/story/_/id/18830550/mma-do-10-10-rounds-actually-exist. Accessed July 2026.
4. MMADecisions.com. “10-10 Report.”
   https://mmadecisions.com/ten-ten-report/. Accessed July 2026.
5. Verdict MMA. “UFC Scoring and MMA Scoring.”
   https://verdictmma.com/guides/ufc-scoring-and-mma-scoring. Accessed July 2026.
6. CBS Sports. “Why scoring MMA fights continues to cause confusion and lack accountability.”
   https://www.cbssports.com/mma/news/why-scoring-mma-fights-continues-to-cause-confusion-and-lack-accountability/. Accessed July 2026.
7. Fighters Only. “How to Score an MMA Fight.”
   https://fightersonly.com/article/ext/5759/Issue+172/1. Accessed July 2026.

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