Sports Then and Now

Whether you are a sports fan in general or a martial artist, there is a good chance that you’ve heard talk about the world’s fastest-growing sport. This is what is known as mixed martial arts and it continues to grow apace. New fans are being attracted to the sport all the time. That being said, MMA is nothing that’s all too new. MMA is something that has been around for some time now, but it certainly isn’t what it once was. No, it has dramatically changed from its early days of mismatches and freak show elements. It is now deemed a legitimate, widely respected and hugely popular sport. Despite this, there are still some individuals that are discovering it for the first time. And, that’s okay, but if you want to get the most from the sport, you really need to get an innate understanding of the sport in general and everything that it brings to the table.

Exactly What Is Mixed Martial Arts?

Mixed martial arts, referred to as the fastest growing sport in the work, is disciplines from various martial arts and Olympic sports combined. For instance, it combines kick-boxing with karate, jiu-jitsu, muay Thai, tae kwon do, wrestling, and judo. There are even elements of boxing thrown into the mix as well for those that like a good slugfest. The rounds are five minutes in length and there are typically three rounds to every fight. Some title fights and contentions for title fights are 5 rounds.

UFC Is Not The Sport

If you’ve just started tuning into MMA, you’ve likely seen UFC attached to everything that is MMA. Well, mixed martial arts is the name of the sport. The UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship) is just an organization in that sport. It might be the premier organization in the sport, but there are others like Bellator. Think about basketball. The NBA is the name that most people recognize, but there are all different types of leagues from all across the world. It is just the UFC that is the driving force behind the sport’s popularity and they have done more than a great job of marketing their brand. That being said, you’ll hear people say that they know people who train for UFC, so next time you hear this, you can correct them. Let them know that they train MMA.

There Are Lots Of Rules

If you go back and look at past MMA fights, it’ll likely seem like there were no rules. This is because you had guys three times bigger than others fighting. And, they fought ironman-style, where punching in the nuts and head kicking was legal. This is still a misconception with the sport today, but the truth of the matter if that today’s MMA is governed and run by all kinds of rules and regulations. The Unified Rules of Mixed Martial Art is the most common ruleset used throughout the world.

All state athletic commissions in the United States have adopted the Unified Rules to help regulate the sport. The rules included in the Unified Rules cover everything from fight area size to hand wrappings, information on judging, and fouls.

There Are Fouls As Well

That’s right, anyone that bets on fights online or plays baccarat online will tell you that today’s MMA has fouls as well sanctioned rules. Within the Unified Rules, you’ll find that there are actually 25 types of official fouls. Some examples of these fouls would include head butting, joint manipulation, and unsportsmanlike conduct that may cause intended injuries to opponents. If there is a foul by a competitor and that foul is deemed by the referee as intentional and flagrant, he can disqualify that competitor. Most of the time, a foul usually just results in a point being deducted, which is more than crucial in a 3-round fight. When a fighter is fouled and sustains an injury they typically get 5 minutes to recover before being forced back into the fight.

There Are Also Weight Classes

The sport now does have weight classes as well. There are no more mismatched fights. The weight classes are flyweight, bantamweight, featherweight, lightweight, welterweight, middleweight, light heavyweight, and heavyweight.