MMA is rapidly becoming one of the most popular sports in the world. The competitions have managed to attract numerous fans from all over the world. Competition is at an all-time high and the number of highlight reels is infinite.
These days, the UFC is not the only prestigious competition. You have the likes of PFL, Bellator and ONE, all of which have fantastic fighters. PFL recently purchased Bellator and the joint venture is on its way to become UFC’s greatest competitor.
Although the general rules in these organizations are the same, some of the rules vary. Certain fans are asking for their unification, but some potential changes in the rules are causing quite a stir. That’s what we’ll talk about here; we’ll share some words on the rumored changes and why are they so controversial.
Knees to Downed Opponents
We’ll start with arguably the most controversial rule. A downed opponent is an opponent that has at least one knee on the ground. ONE is an MMA organization that allows these types of blows. However, they are considered illegal in the UFC.
One of the most recent UFC events where we experienced knees to downed opponents was UFC 259. Petr Yan was defending his bantamweight championship against Aljamain Sterling. He was considered the major favourite by all sportsbooks.
Even fans thought that there was no way that he could lose. Everyone who’s a fan of betting registered and wagered with new bookies on Petr Yan. Even though he was dominating the fight, chaos erupted in the 4th round when Yan hit Sterling with a knee while Sterling was down and got DQ’d.
ONE allows knees to downed opponents and we witnessed that in the Demetrius Johnson vs Adriano Moraes fight (the first one). Mighty Mouse got obliterated by a knee from Moraes while he was down and lost his belt.
Knees to downed opponents cause major controversy. Supporters think that they should be legal. After all, they work perfectly fine in ONE. Those who oppose it think that the striking technique itself is too dangerous and can lead to serious injuries.
Downward Elbows (12-6 Elbow)
Elbows originate from Muay Thai, probably the most entertaining striking combat sport. Downward elbows here are legal. Just a reminder, a downward elbow is an elbow strike that’s thrown from the top towards the bottom (12 o’clock towards 6 o’clock).
In MMA, every elbow blow needs to be at a certain angle, otherwise, it’s illegal. The most famous fighter who got DQ’d for this hit is Jon Jones. The GOAT of MMA has only one loss on his record and it’s against Matt Hamill in 2009. After controlling him in a full mount position, Jones struck Hamill with a few 12-6 elbows and got DQ’d.
Many think that elbows are dangerous hits either way, so making 12-6 elbows legal wouldn’t make a huge difference. Even Joe Rogan said in his podcast that he supports the idea of the UFC legalizing them.
Separation When There’s no Action During Ground Game
Finally, we have a big controversy surrounding control time during the ground game. In recent times, judging this matter has been quite dynamic. Some judges value control over damage, while others score damage over control.
Here’s an example. During the first fight between Islam Makhachev and Alexander Volkanovski, Islam had a lot of control on the ground but barely did any damage. Volkanovski was way more effective and still lost the fight via decision.
As a result, some fans are now asking for a rule change on the ground. The requirement is simple. If you are on top and you don’t do any damage, the judge should separate the fighters and reset the fight on the feet. They think that this will save a lot of time and make the fights far more attractive.
Those who oppose it think that this rule change will completely demolish grapplers and wrestlers and make the sport more favorable for strikers. It’s safe to say that both sides have decent arguments and that it’s very hard to determine whether a rule change is required here.
In fact, the general debate over control vs damage has been ongoing for many years now. There are tons of fights where judges award fighters that do more damage and vice versa. For example, the legendary fight between GSP and Hendricks left GSP bruised and beaten up, but he still managed to come out victorious because he had more control (Hendricks did more damage).
Recently, Sean O’Malley vs Petr Yan caused a lot of controversy as well. Although Petr had full control of the fight, judges thought that O’Malley did more damage and hence, gave the win to him.