Issue 148

December 2016

New regulations mean MMA’s laws have finally caught up with the sport.

In 2016, the biggest changes were made to the Unified Rules of MMA since they were first created.

Influential members of the combat sports world met in Las Vegas, Nevada, to discuss and then implement some much-needed evolutionary changes.

The sport has moved on and evolved on an unprecedented scale.

Since the Unified Rules were first implemented at the turn of the century – so the laws and rulings of the game should too.

In the United States, combat sports fall under the committal of the ABC (Association of Boxing Commissions), which attempts to bring all of its member states together to implement and adhere to a single rule set – so all fighters, officials and promotions are singing from the same hymn sheet.

Older rules that don’t make much sense in today’s game – such as grabbing the clavicle and heel kicks to the kidney from a closed-guard position – have been removed.

We also saw the insertion of a new foul to tackle the issue of eye-pokes.

When the new rulings come into play, a fighter who has their hands open with fingers outstretched toward their opponent’s face will be committing a foul. Referee can now give a single warning for such infractions and, if repeated, deduct points from the offending fighter.

This should lower the risk of unfortunate injuries.

Some further commentary was also given to woman’s clothing, meaning that any form of loose fighting vest or shirt cannot be worn.

Instead, they must wear a tight-fitting, short-sleeved rash guard or sports bra type top.

The long-standing issue about the definition of a downed fighter was also rewritten and clarified. Until now, a fighter was classed as downed when anything other than the soles of the feet came into contact with the canvas – thus preventing knees and kicks to the head.

But this rule is played a little. Some fighters look to place fingertips on the mat or raise and replace one hand to draw their opponents into the foul.

We refer to this as ‘playing the game’.

Under the new ruling, a fighter will now need to have both palms flat to be regarded as downed and be protected from such illegal blows. If a fighter still has anything other than the soles of the feet on the mat – ie. they are kneeling or sat down – then they are still immediately classed as downed, regardless of the position of their hands.

Perhaps the biggest interest centered around the new language and education for judges to aid their decisions to score rounds correctly.

New wording, description and education for the definition of a 10-8 rounds was also greatly discussed and cleared up.

Judges must be able to recognize that any fighter exerting dominance over a prolonged period while inflicting effective impact with of strikes, submission attempts and control should be rewarded by greater margins.

If they demonstrate the three Ds: damage, duration and dominance, they should receive a 10-8 score.

However, the word ‘damage’ will never appear in the written definition – it will only be used for the purposes of training and illustration. ‘Impact’ will be the official criteria.

The reforms and changes became live on January 1st 2017, to give athletic commissions and examiners time to retrain and offer education for their officials.

It is an exciting time for MMA globally and the continual improvement, research and education for all officials has been clearly demonstrated by the reformed changes. It was most welcomed by my peers and me.