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ABC amends MMA’s Unified Rules for grounded opponents, eye pokes and more
- Updated: August 3, 2016
The 28th Annual ABC conference is well underway in Las Vegas and Tuesday was a big day for the sport of MMA. Representatives from 45 various athletic commissions gathered to vote on a package of six rule changes originally proposed by the ABC’s MMA Rules and Regulations Committee chaired by former Bellator MMA commentator and current commissioner of the Kansas State Athletic Commission, Sean Wheelock.
Prior to the vote, a sometimes spirited discussion and debate took place on the package of changes being proposed: new judging criteria, a new definition of a grounded fighter, the addition of extended finger fouls, the removal clavicle-grabbing and heel-to-kidney fouls, and a change to the regulations on female fighter apparel.
The changes to the judging criteria are about clarity – clarity as to precisely how an MMA fight is to be scored. “Striking and grappling makes up the sport of MMA,” said longtime MMA official John McCarthy. Take out striking and grappling and we’re left with, as McCarthy puts it, “dancing with the stars.”
As respected MMA official Rob Hinds told the audience, “If effective striking and grappling are 100% equal, then we move to effective aggressiveness. If that’s 100% equal, then we move to cage control.” He’s been active in trying to convey this message to his fellow judges. “We’re teaching them the order of the criteria and also how to use it, speak about it properly. In explaining this to judges, you see the lightbulb go on.”
“EFFECTIVE” STRIKING / GRAPPLING
In addition to the order of scoring, changes were meant to clarify the concept of effectiveness. The proposed, new criteria originally included the word “damage” since that’s what you try to do in a fight: beat up the opponent. MMA Fighting’s Marc Raimondi has previously provided the proposed clarification of effective striking and grappling with the word “damage” included.
Effective Striking/Grappling:
“Effective Striking is judged by determining the impact or damage of legal strikes landed by a contestant solely based on the results of such legal strikes. Effective Grappling is assessed by the successful executions and an impactful/damaging result coming from: takedown(s), submission attempt(s), achieving an advantageous position(s) and reversal(s).”
Top and bottom position fighters are assessed more on the impactful/damaging result of their actions, more so than their position.
This criterion will be the deciding factor in a high majority of decisions when scoring a round. The next two criteria must be treated as a backup plan and used ONLY when Effective Striking/Grappling is 100% equal for the round.
The scoring criteria which passed today’s vote had the word “damage” removed. Towards the end of his presentation, McCarthy put up a slide defining Effective Striking as “Legal blows that have immediate or cumulative impact with the potential to contribute towards the end of the match with the immediate weighing in more heavily than the cumulative impact.”
In addressing the current state of affairs in the sport with former UFC fighters Randy Couture and Jeremy Horn at his side, McCarthy alluded to the fact that right now people think Randy can “put Jeremy on his butt” and score points.
“We need to be clear about what we’re giving our judges to help them and help the fans,” said McCarthy. “For the most part our judges are doing a really fine job, but we need to give them the tools that will make them that much better. And that’s what this is all about.”
Bloody Elbow will have more in the future on the author’s experience over the weekend in McCarthy’s COMMAND judge certification course.
EYE POKES
A second rule change is to make extending fingers towards the face of an opponent a foulable offense. Wheelock described it as a “huge, huge safety issue.”
A fighter is still allowed to extend his/her fingers towards the opponent’s body, point their fingers up (in a “talk to the hand” manner), or …
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