It was understandable for the UFC to conform to local ACs before the takeover, but now?
Utter bushleaguery
Have an actual unified ruleset & if Location X doesn't like it, fine, the UFCircus can head to Location Y. The locations need the UFC more than the UFC needs them (as evidenced by the comparable quality of Vegas v Canada cards, for example)
Aside from what to me is utter nonsense (it's fine to Thai clinch an opponent's temple onto my uprising knee, but not when they've got fingers on the ground?) it's just so amateurish to have different rules from here to there.
Champions can win a title under one ruleset but lose it under another? Make it make sense
Whatever 'grounded' rules we come up with, they will always be stupid. The lack of grounded knees fundamentally breaks MMA, basically making it an arbitrary and redundant sport.
MMA is not supposed to be arbitrary. It is supposed to be the closest thing to unarmed combat given certain constraints that conform with social norms and lessen the risk of permanent injuries.
There is no need to be dogmatic. Restricting soccer kicks and stomps sucks but it doesn't have that big of an impact as guys can usually use effective alternate offence in those positions.
But restricting grounded knees just completely distorts the 'fight'. It enables guys to be safe in positions they absolutely should not be safe in and allows them to spam shitty takedowns that they wouldn’t try if they knew they could get knee-murdered.
Really, what the fuck even is the point of MMA without them? May as well just go back to watching boxing, wrestling and BJJ separately and arguing over who would win between Tyson, Karelin and Rickson without ever finding out.