1. A. Judges shall consider damage, domination, and duration when evaluating the relative merits of each fighter’s performance in each round. Towards that end they shall use the following prioritized criteria to establish their score.

   1. (1) A fighter who has an advantage in the number or quality of knockdowns in a round shall never lose that round.
   2. (2) If there is no advantage in knockdowns, the fighter with a clear advantage in cumulative damage shall win the round.
   3. (3) If there is not a clear advantage in cumulative damage, the fighter with the greater number and/or variety of clean scoring Muay Thai techniques shall win the round.
2. B. If the criteria in §A of this regulation fails to distinguish either fighter, the round may be awarded to the fighter who was more successful in applying either aggressiveness, control or effective defense in their efforts to win the round.
3. C. All bouts will be evaluated and scored by a minimum of three judges.

4. D. The 10 Point Must System will be the standard system for scoring a bout.

   1. (1) Under the 10 Point Must Scoring System, ten points must be awarded to the winner of the round.
   2. (2) The fighter who has lost the round may be awarded nine or less points depending on the margin of advantage.
   3. (3) In the very rare case that neither fighter has shown even a marginal advantage, a 10-10 round may be awarded.
   4. (4) Partial or incomplete rounds shall be scored. If no significant action has occurred, the round shall be scored as 10-10. This is at the discretion of the judges.
   5. (5) Any time the referee penalizes either fighter, then the appropriate points shall be deducted when the scorekeeper calculates the final score including partial rounds.

5. E. The following objective scoring criteria shall be utilized by the judges when scoring a round:

   1. (1) An extremely rare 10-10 round is not a score to be used as an excuse by a judge that cannot assess the differences in the action of a round. It should only be used to score an incomplete round where nothing occurred in the round.
   2. (2) A round is to be scored as a 10-9 round when there is a slight or clear advantage in overall action favoring one fighter, but not an overwhelming advantage.
   3. (3) A round is to be scored as a 10-8 round when there is an overwhelming advantage without a knockdown, or a fighter won the round and scored a knockdown.
   4. (4) A round is to be scored as a 10-7 round when a fighter won the round and scored two knockdowns.
   5. (5) A round is to be scored as a 10-6 round when a fighter won the round and scored three knockdowns.

Authority: Business Regulations Article, §§4-205, 4-301, and 4-303, Annotated Code of Maryland

Effective date: September 29, 2025 (52:19 Md. R. 956)