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There are far too many threads that have already sussed out the details of the BW controversy from last night - the bullet-points:
-Yan deserved to be DQ'd
-Knees to a grounded opponent is a stupid rule, but rules are rules
-Sterling was right to take the DQ, though looks like he did ham it up (though maybe that's just really his personality, what the fuck do I know), as there was no point getting finished in a fight he was completely lost in (gassed, losing on multiple cards, starting to break down and get savaged).
The question I'm interested in is the one in the thread title:
Is Kneeling from Failed Shots the Most Exploited Rule in Combat Sports?
You could also argue for various "Dundasso" techniques (fouling without getting points deducted - eye pokes or groin strikes) but I don't think any rule has been used by fighters as much to change the natural flow of what a "fight" should be. Groin strikes/eye pokes are almost "accidental" freebies to hurt your opponent in a very compromising way, but kneeling is just a pure rule exploit the manipulates how a true fight would play out.
Most us don't want groin strikes, eye gouging, spiking, headbutts, shots to the back of the head, and even soccer kicks/head stomps are still borderline iffy just because of situational interpretations (spots where guys are already done like Roger Huerta and then get their heads punted off).
Knees to the head of a grounded opponent never made sense to me because it always allowed the fighter attempting the takedown a "Free Out" - they could just drop to a knee and opponent is then unable to effectively strike. They aren't really down with one knee, they are still in position to explode back to their feet, so you don't have them sprawled on or anything - they literally chose to drop down.
You can't really punch someone hard when you are sprawling on top of their head (can punch around the arms but it's tough unless you are at bigger weight classes, guys are too quick and squirmy at the lower weight-classes) and you can't punch effectively downwards without hitting the back of the head when someone is curled over and you are standing over them. So strikers with good takedown defense get in this position against wrestlers and if takedowns start getting spammed and stopped they can be forced to play this game.
It makes perfect sense as a wrestler to use this tactic, so I can't hate on it - if it's not cheating you can use it to your advantage, which is how most sports work (and why MMA rules have long needed a lot of work).
If your opponent is crouched over in front of you in a fight - you can't really punch and do any damage really without risking them going for your legs or standing back up [can't time the knee while punching]; in real life you would kick or knee them in the face 100% of the time. But because of this rule you are incredibly safe in positions in fights you would normally be incredibly at risk in. Side control would be a great position as you could knee your opponent in the head now, so this would force guys to give their back and create more scrambles/dynamic positions. Guys wouldn't just stay in these spots, they'd be forced to be aware and this would affect the attacks as well.
We'd see wrestling in MMA get a lot better since set-ups would be key, as the consequences of failed shots would be devastating - if you didn't get kneed in the face you'd at minimum have to flop to your back and play guard and wrestlers typically hate fighting off their backs. How can you spam a takedown then where the consequence is getting kneed in the face or having to play guard if you can't pull it off? Fighters wouldn't be able to shoot as often knowing they didn't have this "Free Out" and if they did get in this position they would be forced to transition immediately (or get kneed/kicked in the face).
Sterling (like many of other fighters before him) CHOSE TO KNEEL. Yan didn't snap his head down to get him to that position, and he wasn't sprawling on him or trying to keep him there.
When he stopped the gassed takedown he wanted to knee as a consequence and Sterling "gamed the system" by dropping to a knee, where he's now in a position where Yan can't really effectively strike him without letting him back up. So Yan is trying to figure out if he's down/get a feel for when he's standing back up so he can throw the knee as he stands back up.
His corner apparently fucked him with the advice, but In actuality it's really stupid on Yan's part as well, because he was clearly winning the fight and starting to dominate, I felt like he could've just waved Sterling up when he was flopping around on his back or even just kneeling. He literally had nothing left for Yan at that stage and was getting finished within the distance like 99% of the time. Maybe it's always easier to say after the fact but I feel that a killer like Yan had to know he had almost completely broken Sterling physically and mentally at that point.
Can't wait for the rematch, that's for damn sure!
-Yan deserved to be DQ'd
-Knees to a grounded opponent is a stupid rule, but rules are rules
-Sterling was right to take the DQ, though looks like he did ham it up (though maybe that's just really his personality, what the fuck do I know), as there was no point getting finished in a fight he was completely lost in (gassed, losing on multiple cards, starting to break down and get savaged).
The question I'm interested in is the one in the thread title:
Is Kneeling from Failed Shots the Most Exploited Rule in Combat Sports?
You could also argue for various "Dundasso" techniques (fouling without getting points deducted - eye pokes or groin strikes) but I don't think any rule has been used by fighters as much to change the natural flow of what a "fight" should be. Groin strikes/eye pokes are almost "accidental" freebies to hurt your opponent in a very compromising way, but kneeling is just a pure rule exploit the manipulates how a true fight would play out.
Most us don't want groin strikes, eye gouging, spiking, headbutts, shots to the back of the head, and even soccer kicks/head stomps are still borderline iffy just because of situational interpretations (spots where guys are already done like Roger Huerta and then get their heads punted off).
Knees to the head of a grounded opponent never made sense to me because it always allowed the fighter attempting the takedown a "Free Out" - they could just drop to a knee and opponent is then unable to effectively strike. They aren't really down with one knee, they are still in position to explode back to their feet, so you don't have them sprawled on or anything - they literally chose to drop down.
You can't really punch someone hard when you are sprawling on top of their head (can punch around the arms but it's tough unless you are at bigger weight classes, guys are too quick and squirmy at the lower weight-classes) and you can't punch effectively downwards without hitting the back of the head when someone is curled over and you are standing over them. So strikers with good takedown defense get in this position against wrestlers and if takedowns start getting spammed and stopped they can be forced to play this game.
It makes perfect sense as a wrestler to use this tactic, so I can't hate on it - if it's not cheating you can use it to your advantage, which is how most sports work (and why MMA rules have long needed a lot of work).
If your opponent is crouched over in front of you in a fight - you can't really punch and do any damage really without risking them going for your legs or standing back up [can't time the knee while punching]; in real life you would kick or knee them in the face 100% of the time. But because of this rule you are incredibly safe in positions in fights you would normally be incredibly at risk in. Side control would be a great position as you could knee your opponent in the head now, so this would force guys to give their back and create more scrambles/dynamic positions. Guys wouldn't just stay in these spots, they'd be forced to be aware and this would affect the attacks as well.
We'd see wrestling in MMA get a lot better since set-ups would be key, as the consequences of failed shots would be devastating - if you didn't get kneed in the face you'd at minimum have to flop to your back and play guard and wrestlers typically hate fighting off their backs. How can you spam a takedown then where the consequence is getting kneed in the face or having to play guard if you can't pull it off? Fighters wouldn't be able to shoot as often knowing they didn't have this "Free Out" and if they did get in this position they would be forced to transition immediately (or get kneed/kicked in the face).
Sterling (like many of other fighters before him) CHOSE TO KNEEL. Yan didn't snap his head down to get him to that position, and he wasn't sprawling on him or trying to keep him there.
When he stopped the gassed takedown he wanted to knee as a consequence and Sterling "gamed the system" by dropping to a knee, where he's now in a position where Yan can't really effectively strike him without letting him back up. So Yan is trying to figure out if he's down/get a feel for when he's standing back up so he can throw the knee as he stands back up.
His corner apparently fucked him with the advice, but In actuality it's really stupid on Yan's part as well, because he was clearly winning the fight and starting to dominate, I felt like he could've just waved Sterling up when he was flopping around on his back or even just kneeling. He literally had nothing left for Yan at that stage and was getting finished within the distance like 99% of the time. Maybe it's always easier to say after the fact but I feel that a killer like Yan had to know he had almost completely broken Sterling physically and mentally at that point.
Can't wait for the rematch, that's for damn sure!
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