Issue 077

July 2011

Like any other sport, MMA has rules. And like any other sport, they’re broken from time to time. This month Andrew Garvey runs through five of the trashiest, dirtiest tactics in the game.

1 Groin Strikes

For the most ingenious use of shots to the groin look to the mid ‘90s and the wild fighting scene in the former Soviet Union. As detailed by Clyde Gentry in the book No Holds Barred: Evolution, during a tournament behind the old Iron Curtain, strapped-for-cash local fighters all shared the same protective cup. But when pitted against each other in a later round, two of them tossed a coin to see which got to wear the (probably quite smelly) vital equipment. When the fight started, the coin-toss winner hoofed his unfortunate opponent right in his unprotected groin, winning the fight by TKO. Today, popular MMA techniques such as inside leg kicks or knees to the midsection can stray south meaning nut-shots remain a problem for fighters, albeit one that usually seems accidental.

2 12-to-6 Elbows

Motivated by an admirable desire to protect fighters from serious injury, the Unified Rules of MMA are generally more than sensible. However, downward 12-to-6 elbows are restricted based on a genuine though misguided fear of what a martial arts master can do to a pile of bricks or boards with the strike. While they were at it, they may as well have explicitly banned ‘death touches’. Still, as silly as it is to ban just one particular form of elbow to the face while accepting others, downward 12-to-6 elbows (named after the positions on a clock) are illegal moves, as UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones discovered in the only loss of his career. Jones had almost obliterated Matt Hamill when he threw several rapid-fire downward elbows. Much-maligned referee Steve Mazzagatti finally intervened and, with Hamill in no condition to carry on, disqualified Jones. The message here? Read the rulebook, kids.

3 Knees and kicks on the ground

In March, former Pride FC wrecking machine Wanderlei Silva asked for knees to the head of a grounded opponent to be legalized in MMA. He reminisced warmly about stomps and soccer kicks, noting that in his heyday, “I used a lot, I used very well.” Many agree, but in an age of regulated MMA, rule changes are far from easy: they require regulators to actually agree and then do the necessary paperwork. Besides, there are real safety concerns, especially if someone is pressed up against the cage and taking full force knees or stomps to the head. Still, the current rules have some perverse effects. Fighters regularly drop to one knee or place a hand on the floor, making them officially a grounded opponent and so stopping their opponent throwing knee or baiting them into an illegal tactic, which is a tad sneaky.

4 Eye-gouging

Using fingers and thumbs to gouge the eyes has always been banned in MMA – a good thing too, given how dirty and permanently damaging it can be. And long gone are the days when a fighter could record a legitimate submission victory by forcing their chin into their victim’s eye, as Mark Kerr did at UFC 14. Eye pokes do happen from time to time and a few years ago swivel-eyed keyboard warriors were busy peddling their theory that Chuck Liddell only won fights because he deliberately thumbed eyeballs. More seriously, having accidentally fluked a UFC light heavyweight title win when the seam of his glove sliced open Randy Couture’s eyelid, Vitor Belfort actually targeted the eyes in their UFC 49 rematch. Frustrated by Couture’s physical dominance, he went for a blatant eye gouge while being pummelled, one of the trashiest moves ever seen in the Octagon.

5 Strikes to the back of the head

The grayest of all gray areas in MMA are punches to the back of the head, especially on the ground. Usually, the perpetrator can plausibly claim to have been aiming for the ears or side of the head but been caught out by their opponent moving around. Determining intent is exceptionally difficult so fighters have been unfairly penalized by overzealous officials – Brock Lesnar having a point deducted in the first fight with Frank Mir is just one example. At other times, in the midst of a fast-moving flurry, even bludgeoning whacks to the back of the skull go completely unpunished and barely noticed, as in Matt Serra’s surprising TKO of Georges St Pierre. It’s hardly surprising that with such confusion and inconsistency, genuinely dirty fighters may get away with a few very dangerous shots aimed at the base of the skull.