The UFC has established unified rules but how would you feel about having 5, 3 min rds instead of 3, 5 min rds? Championship fights possibly 8, 3 min rds? Would it change the champions we have today? Would fighters fight at a different pace? Would it be more exciting or boring in your opinion? Which fighters do you think benefit most from today's rule set and who would benefit most from the change?
5 minute rounds. Need more time for mat work. The last thing you want is more rounds (shorter too) to confuse the judges further.
3 minute rounds wouldn't give an MMA fighter enough time to get comfortable, it would be okay in a single martial art combat sport but in MMA I don't think it would be good for the fighters in my opinion. 2 minutes of that round could have just been clinch work against the cage.
3min rounds definitely favor a standup fighter, because grapplers have less time to work; first for takedown then for submission. Id rather just keep the 5min rounds though, even if the fighters gas less with more frequent breaks. Boxing sees too many saved by the bell situations with 3min rounds.
Between the two, 3 5 minute rounds I'd really like 2 10 minutes rounds and 5 minute sudden death round if its 1-1
Does anybody think it would push for a faster pace on the ground? Knowing you only have a short time would fighters possibly have a greater sense of urgency to get the sub ?
3 x 5 min rounds has 2 min of rest periods. 5 x 3 min rounds has 4 min of rest periods. That could also affect whole fight cards as well, less fights perhaps. I'm not a fan of heaps of interruptions in a fight. Keep rounds as is, i want fighting not resting.
Its easier to judge a smaller amount of action time. I'd rather judge a 3 minute round of a close fight than a 5 minute round.
I say get rid of rounds all together. Today's athletes are very well conditioned so it wouldn't be a slop fest like 15 years ago would have been. Breaking wills would become a much bigger part of the game.
Let's do 12 3min rounds, add four more ounces to the gloves, lose the submissions and kicks, and add in 50 more weight classes.
Locally a lot of the shows here used to do 3 minute rounds. I actually really liked the three minute rounds. In my opinion fighters are more aggressive when they know they have to work fast for the finish. It is a double edged sword because it doesn't leave a lot of time for submissions if they have to work for the takedown but it also puts the fighters back on their feet in boring fights. I'd be open to seeing 5 three minute rounds in the UFC just to see if it did change anything.
