Do you think the rules of MMA are solely to protect the grappler?

Question

No downward elbow, no strikes to the back or neck, and no up kicks?... I love to watch good grond work, (and i dont want to see anyone seriously hurt) but it seems the times when a grappler is vulnarable during the take down, he is protected...

just to be argumantative the grappler did get to choose his opponents

very good answer Frankthetank you always have good answer.... I guess I realy asked this question for all the MMA ppl that say in the real world, or on the "street".... jus some food for thought

Answer 1

the rules of UFC favor grappling arts, for some of the reasons you mentioned, but as much as I would like to see every sports stadium turned into a collusium and gladiatoral games brought back and have matches fought to the death, those rules are in place for a safety factor.

Think about it- why was pride/fc based outside of the US (prior to UFC aquiring it)?

MMA has fought a long hard battle against the alleged moral watchdogs (who go home and beat thier wives while getting drunk on the road with thier prostitutes) for legitimacy and to not be banned in this country.

this is a battle that is still going on.

you still have these politicians pushing thier imagined morality on us with slogans to enflame the moronic masses like "war on drugs" or "MMA is a human cockfight", etc.

take a look at what you would do, as of now I think the only thing saving MMA in this country (in which many states organized bouts are still illegal). What the hell do you think would happen if someone became a vegetable or died during an MMA match?

As it is MMA refs are better (by far) at stopping a fight than a boxing ref- they HAVE TO BE. MMA is more of an immediate risk of danger than boxing and can't be handled like a boxing match.

These restrictions help keep it going in the USA and are a fair compromise (for now) in exchange for the benefits of having a full contact martial arts outlet which competitors can match up of different fighting styles and systems.

one, I might add whose popularity is overtaking boxing, and will probably replace it during our lifetime- if it doesn't get screwed up.

which right now is likely to happen- ESPECIALLY if someone gets seriously injured in a match.

EDIT: hank, I've heard that life or death crap time and again, most often by teachers too afraid that thier styles won't match up against someone because they never spar. when boxers tear through most stylists that claim that with ease (and MT guys) then they throw in some "but I don't want to dim mak you and make your eyeballs turn green and die" crap. If your style can't be practiced because 90% of it is this kind of "deathblow" crap then you aren't training you are larping.

I'm not saying that you are- its just thats the kind of mentality people need to watch out for. Every style, even bjj has some techniques which are disallowed in the UFC, pride, etc. however if most of your style is too deadly to train, then you aren't learning to apply it. That is the major reason why judo, pankration, sambo, bjj, boxing, muai thai, san da/san shou, etc. are successful, becasue the students can train hard and learn to realisticaly apply thier techniques.

you forget- grapplers can bite/scratch/b itchslap and do the charlston too and since you haven't found a training partner willing to let you poke out thier eyes in sparring practice, you will have just as much experience as them in executing these techniques.

Answer 2

Rules are set, not to favor the grappler... It's to balance the fight out. If you get elbowed in the back of the head in a downward strike, there's a chance their skull would crack.

Like Frank the Tank said, different orgranizations have different rules, but for the most obvious one, you wouldn't want your skull smashed in from one strike...

If an elbow grazes your face, you'll be bleeding from that strike, that's how powerful elbows are.

Answer 3

You forgot that you also can't mash someone's head to the mat during a takedown and no small-joint manipulations

Many kinds of strikes are very dangerous or may cause a cut that leaves the whole fight in question when it has to be stopped.

The whole reason behind making certain strikes illegal is to prevent serious injury. It inevitably changes the way the fight goes.

Answer 4

Partially.

However, with PrideFC rules, as stomps and kicks to downed opponents were allowed, they actually favored strikers.

MMA rules change depending on the organization, but in general you are right, they seem to protect the grappler, but then again, they are rules to protect fighters from being SERIOUSLY hurt.

Answer 5

sort of true. but also with stand up rule it makes it harder for grapplers. but also look at the original ufc rules. all that stuff was legal and it took 5 ufc before the grapler was defeated. rules are for safety not to favor one fightor or the other.

Answer 6

Actually, I always thought the rules were meant to protect the promoter from law suits : P

Answer 7

the simple answer is yes

they could allow such strikes like knees to the head of a downed fighter, it is not worse then allowing elbow strikes so yes they are making it harder to strike on the ground

Answer 8

OFF COURSE!!
Grappler won't stand by bitting, i gogging, claw, or groin attack which kung fu skill has..

the real fight is a fight between life or dead, that means "no rules"..