Fighters Only

Issue 102

June 2013

This is your page to tell us what you think of all things Fighters Only and MMA. Get your feelings off your chest where it really matters – in print! Send us your best pictures with your favourite fighters, or copies of FO, and we’ll print them too.

TAP OR SNAP

After recently re-watching UFC 140 (more specifically Frank Mir vs Rodrigo Nogueira and Jon Jones vs Lyoto Machida) it got me thinking; where does the line between submission and technical knockout stop?

As when a fighter taps to strikes then it counts as a submission, then surely if one were to be choked unconscious or, in the case of Mir’s kimura, a bone break then it may be construed as a TKO. No? Thoughts?

Long-time fan, Kieran Weatherley, via email

Thanks for your enquiry, Kieran. Instead of us answering your question we thought we’d get one of the best in the business instead, interntional referee Marc Goddard: “The term technical submission denotes when the decision was taken out of the fighter’s hands and decided by the referee. Being choked unconscious for instance; the ability to tap is no longer with the fighter. A fighter willingly submitting has done just that, submitted so it should be recorded as so.

“Same as an applied submission, such as ‘Big Nog’s arm break against Mir. It has to be left to happen, unfortunately. A referee simply cannot stop a fight based on a ‘what if.’ Imagine stopping a fight in a UFC world title match because the ref thought that the arm ‘might break.’ You can transfer that to a fighter stood up and just as he throws a right hand you jump in and say, ‘I thought you ‘might’ get knocked out!’ Labouring the point but it illustrated the ‘what if’ factor.

“The term technical submission fits the bill perfectly and it says a lot about a fighter. You can look at a record and see three submission losses – but they are all technical. This means this particular fighter certainly will not tap and will let happen what is absolutely necessary in order to try and remain in a fight. When you are training tactically at the highest level this can factor greatly into your game plan and just what might have to be done.”

LEADING PROSPECTS

I just wanted to write in to say how much I enjoyed reading ‘The 25 Hottest Prospects in the World’ feature in the last issue (UK Issue 101). Needless to say, this gave me plenty of ammunition when I hosted a UFC 158 party and allowed me to impress my pals with my knowledge of rising talent.

As an ex-pat Brit now living in Toronto, it was especially satisfying to read about all the British and Canadian stars you earmarked. Can you make this a regular feature? As surely by next spring Joe Silva and the rest will have snapped up all the fighters on your list for the big time.

Glenn Harvey, via email

Watch this space, Glenn...