Issue 075

May 2011

Fighters are taking unfair advantage of ‘downed’ status, argues our columnist

Down two rounds to none against undefeated South Korean welterweight Dong Hyun Kim, dual-division contender Nate Diaz knew he had to press for a finish in the final five minutes.

Moving forward behind his ever-present jab, Diaz pushed into the clinch and controlled his tiring foe briefly before firing a powerful knee to his opponent’s chin, seemingly turning the tide of the UFC 125 contest. There was just one problem: Kim momentarily placed his hand on the canvas, thus qualifying him as a “downed fighter.”

Forget the fact that Kim’s hesitant hand-placement was so simultaneous to Diaz’s knee strike that even with slow-motion instant replay, it was difficult to determine which took place first. What’s most important is that instead of a game-changing strike, Diaz’s knee was transformed into an illegal blow, giving his opponent time to recover and reset – all because of the location of Kim’s finger at the time the knee was thrown. While referee Yves Lavigne did not deduct a point for the foul, Kim was granted the time necessary to clear the cobwebs, and he survived until the final bell en route to a unanimous decision. 

According to the Unified Rules of Mixed Martial Arts, a “downed fighter” or “grounded opponent” is described as “any fighter who has more than just the soles of their feet on the ground.” The rules go on to clarify that a fighter could have as little as “one shin or one finger down” in order to qualify for the added protection issued to a downed fighter.

When it comes to the regulation of mixed martial arts, there is certainly no more important singular motivation than fighter safety. However, the definition of a downed fighter must be refined. While Kim should certainly not be faulted for his strategy – after all, why not utilize the rules to your advantage when possible – the technique was more gamesmanship than true sporting test.

In the glory days of Pride, hyper-aggressive strikers such as Wanderlei Silva and Mauricio ‘Shogun’ Rua used devastating soccer kicks and crushing head stomps to mercilessly destroy any foe foolish enough to stand on the opposite side of the ring. Of course, with the sport struggling over the past decade to gain acceptance in the US, regulators elected to remove these aspects of MMA in the American version of the game. With the Ultimate Fighting Championship outlasting Pride as the premier organization in the sport, the world’s largest promotion is now spreading those same rules across the globe.

In truth, soccer kicks to the head of an opponent lying flat on his back go well beyond most viewers’ comfort level, and in my own opinion rightfully so. Ditto for standing over a prone opponent and stomping their skull into the canvas. But simply reaching down and laying a single finger on the mat in order to avoid absorbing damage from an opponent in the clinch shouldn’t be allowed either.

There are other recent examples of the need for change. At the UFC’s recent Fight for the Troops 2 event, for instance, some MMA pundits questioned whether the final knee lightweight Melvin Guillard delivered in the evening’s main event was illegal. Sure enough, replays show the final knee, delivered on the tail end of a flurry of strikes that left his opponent Evan Dunham out on his feet, came just as referee Mario Yamasaki was rushing in to halt the action – and just as Dunham was dropping to a knee from the barrage. 

Fortunately, cooler heads prevailed, and Yamasaki’s obviously just stoppage was not contested. But by the letter of the law, Dunham may have had a reason to protest. In what was quite possibly one of the best performances of his Octagon career, an over-zealous official could have easily cost Guillard a signature win.

Sadly, it wasn’t the only fight on the card in which the rule came into play. On the evening’s preliminary card, Waylon Lowe came up short on a takedown attempt against Willamy Freire, and wound up in a kneeling position in the center of the cage. With Freire standing over his opponent, the 23-year-old prospect – who had spent the previous six years fighting in Brazil, where MMA rules often more closely resemble the brutal roots of the sport rather than its current structure – had to visibly restrain himself from delivering a potential knockout via kick or knee. Lowe bobbed and weaved from his knees, drove forward for another takedown attempt and eventually claimed a unanimous-decision win. Meanwhile, Freire was released from the promotion after just one UFC fight.

A downed fighter should be exactly that: down. If any part of the torso or hips is touching the canvas – whether a contestant is laying face-down, face-up or on his side – then common sense dictates the fighter is down. Dropping to a knee or placing hand on the canvas to strike a three-point stance isn’t in the spirit of MMA, and it’s time for a change.