UFC Rules and Judges

For about the last ten years, the Ultimate Fighting Championship has featured the most elite fighters in MMA from around the world. UFC 1 was the first organized and televised MMA event in America. The sport has evolved majorly since its first appearance. The original pay per view was tournament style, and the fighters had up to four fights in one event. There were no rules, and no rounds. The fighters simply fought until someone was knocked out, tapped out, or if the referee stopped it (TKO). There were truly no rules in these fights. The fighters could wear whatever they wanted, and this usually did not include gloves.

To get the sport sanctioned in the US, the UFC had to make some compromises. This included the addition of rules. Most of these rules are necessary, and prevents what could be fatal incidents. There are obviously no “Low blows” and fighters cannot knee or kick a downed opponent in the head. This broke the original constructs of Pride, which allowed “soccer kicks” and “head stomps.” The fighters are also not allowed to grab the cage, hold gloves, and punch to the back of the head. Some of these rules however, are unnecessary. They are simply left over from compromises made to get the sport allowed in the US. They are mostly variations of the kick and knee rule. There was a fight this Saturday, in which a fighter was deducted a point for kneeing the fighter on top of him in the head. This is a rule that I think should be edited. The rule was put in place to prevent kicks and knees from the top position. Knees from the bottom position are defensive weapons that should be allowed. The fighter in the top position should need to account for this. Another rule that needs changing is the illegal “12-6 elbows” from the top position. These are elbows that go straight down instead of from the side. This rule was made by the paranoid athletic commission. They were nervous because there are people who can break cinderblocks that way. This rule however, has been nothing but trouble in the UFC, causing Jon “Bones” Jones to lose an incredibly dominant fight over Matt Hammel by disqualification.

Another aspect of the sport I would like to see changed is the judges. The judges are appointed by the athletic commissions in each state. The commissions appoint who they want, not who knows the most about MMA. The judging is based on effective grappling, striking, and octagon control. Each judge decides for themselves which they will judge as most important. If the judge is uneducated on the sport, they can view haymakers and a few takedowns as more effective than dominance and effective striking. This is what happened to Nam Pham in his UFC debut. This was the first featherweight fight in the UFC, and couldn’t be more controversial. He lost the fight by split decision even though the crowd, fans at home, and even the other fighter knew he had won. Joe Rogan (UFC commentator and former Fear Factor host) was relentlessly tearing down the judges for the rest of the event. The fighters should be able to rely on the judges to know what they are doing. The UFC should be able to appoint the most competent judges possible. The sport has been around for years now, and it is no longer necessary to cater to the athletic commission.