Grounded Rule needs to change

[NoBiasJustMMA]

I think knees and kicks should be legal. Having said that if they were legal Aljo likely never would have been hanging out in that position in the first place to get hit.

 

[Paolo Delutis]

Firstly let me say that Yan's knee was 100% illegal under the current rules and Sterling had no reason to expect it. That being said, that knee from Yan should be legal 100%.

The grounded opponent rule was created to protect fighters from having their heads smashed against the canvas by knees/stomps ala Mark Coleman vs. Igor Vovchanchyn or Kevin Randleman vs. Kenichi Yamamoto, not to protect them from getting struck in a crouching position. The definition of grounded needs to be changed to refer only to fighters who are on their backs or in a turtle position. Its an outdated rule that does nothing for safety and just limits fighters tools.

What next if we change this?

Shots to the back of the head?..

Nut shots...

All those are old rules designed to prevent u from being smashed by an opponent..

Knees to head... of a grounded opponent especially or potentially to the top of the head is fucking dangerous for a sport..

Save that for the streets or real combat

 

[El Fernas]

Actually, this article makes a very compelling argument that that’s exactly what Sterling was doing - playing a rules game. And that what he was doing was a perfect example of why the rule needs changing.

https://www.mmamania.com/2021/3/7/2...time-to-legalize-knees-to-a-grounded-opponent

curious if you agree or disagree after reading it.

That image points out what playing the rules exactly means, or meant, i mean, touching with your fingers is one thing, dropping yourself (knee) to the ground is way different, as different as the position was, no one has questioned those knees as playing the rules as before, if he cant hurt him in that position thats on him, but its not really "playing the rules" as it was before with guys finger touching the ground to be safe in certain positions like your image.

 

[SeattleFightFan]

That image points out what playing the rules exactly means, or meant, i mean, touching with your fingers is one thing, dropping yourself (knee) to the ground is way different, as different as the position was, no one has questioned those knees as playing the rules as before, if he cant hurt him in that position thats on him, but its not really "playing the rules" as it was before with guys finger touching the ground to be safe in certain positions like your image.

The image was an accident. I thought I was copy pasting the article, but accidentally pasted the image. Now I cannot delete it. IPhone phail. Forgive me, I suck.

Did you read the article? Please do. It’s worth reading. Makes a much better case than TS does.

 

[Pressure Project]

If both balls of your feet are on the ground....you aint down.

 

[Gambit MMA]

idk about having to be all the way down on their back or stomach

but having 1 knee down is fucking ridiculous. he was basically 1 step away from standing up. i could see if both knees are down, because the impact of a knee to the head is different now with both knees resting on the mat. but he had 1 knee up, and the knee that was down was pretty close to being up off the mat as well.

i agree 100% with the hands touching the mat. that rule was dumb as fuck to begin with. both hands, 1 hand etc. if you're knees are up off the ground and ur on ur feet, you should be open to taking strikes to the head. guys were putting 2 fingers down with 1 hand for christs sake

 

[tramendous]

On the back

What next if we change this?

Shots to the back of the head?..

Nut shots...

All those are old rules designed to prevent u from being smashed by an opponent..

Knees to head... of a grounded opponent especially or potentially to the top of the head is fucking dangerous for a sport..

Save that for the streets or real combat

Theres no difference in flying knee to a standing opponent vs knee to a crouching opponent who is on his knees. At the very least it should be two knees and 2 hands to be considered grounded.

 

[aerius]

The definition of grounded needs to be changed to refer only to fighters who are on their backs or in a turtle position. Its an outdated rule that does nothing for safety and just limits fighters tools.

I'd change it to flat on the back only, turtle position still leaves the door open for gaming the system.

 

[scorpipede]

They need to change it so a fighter can't hang out in that position. It isn't safe there. Taking that shot is nasty. Aljo was fucked up hard. There's no doubt about it. Winning a title like that is weak as fuck but it's legit. Now change the rule so it can never happen again, thanks.

 

[tatsuke]

100% agree. On the stomach or back should be considered grounded while hands or knees touching should be fair game. It's ridiculous that these guys can attempt takedowns get stuffed and then not get punished for it because they intentionally put a hand or knee down stalling to find a safe time to stand up.

Yeah, being able to crouch safely and intentionally in the middle of the octagon like Sterling was is kind of silly.

 

[Mike Hagger]

We’re dealing with a world where CTEs and sports have a huge negative connotation and you guys wanna add knees to grounded opponents?

Good luck.

 

[Johnny_Knuckles]

 

[AnotherOldGuy]

Firstly let me say that Yan's knee was 100% illegal under the current rules and Sterling had no reason to expect it. That being said, that knee from Yan should be legal 100%.

The grounded opponent rule was created to protect fighters from having their heads smashed against the canvas by knees/stomps ala Mark Coleman vs. Igor Vovchanchyn or Kevin Randleman vs. Kenichi Yamamoto, not to protect them from getting struck in a crouching position. The definition of grounded needs to be changed to refer only to fighters who are on their backs or in a turtle position. Its an outdated rule that does nothing for safety and just limits fighters tools.

Prize fighting rules are set by political appointees though, and so anything that appears to be extremely dangerous or dirty is going to be very hard to change. MMA is always on the edge of being banned in various states, so its hard for the UFC to bring any pressure on politicians -- and almost every politician has much bigger things to worry about than MMA rules, so it'd be hard to get them to listen in the first place.

Sport is full of arbitrary rules. Part of being an athlete is knowing those rules and not breaking them. Yan made a mistake, one he probably won't repeat. Changing the rule would be nice, but it's very unlikely to happen in the near future, given all the other political things going on (ie no politician is going to be interested in getting the rules changed because it won't make much difference to being re-elected).

 

[welcometohavoc]

I think knees and kicks should be legal. Having said that if they were legal Aljo likely never would have been hanging out in that position in the first place to get hit.

Which is just another reason why they should be legal. Guys shouldn't be able to use that position to escape punishment. A guy squatting in front of you is not defenseless

 

[JustforBROCK]

Nope. Wont happen. Just because you goofs want to see people knee the fuck out of each other in the head doesnt mean the rules need to be changed. Fighting is already dangerous enough. they can smash each others head plenty under the current rules without stupid shit like this.

 

[welcometohavoc]

Ok, why are you bring this after Yan losing due to not knowing/or incapable of following the rules?

This still look like an excuse.

The discussion would be fair if you mention this before Yan making a mistake.

If Sterling knew Yan can use his knee, he would defend himself, he relied on the rules that he can't be hit by knee on the ground, Yan didn't follow the rules. Yan lost, it's as simple as that.

Because at the end of the day, Yan beat the shit out of Sterling. That knee was alot less vicious than for example, the knees Anderson Silva hit Chris Leben and Rich Franklin with from the Muay Thai clinch, yet because he was squatting, Yan is disqualified

 

[welcometohavoc]

Nope. Wont happen. Just because you goofs want to see people knee the fuck out of each other in the head doesnt mean the rules need to be changed. Fighting is already dangerous enough. they can smash each others head plenty under the current rules without stupid shit like this.

I'm sorry but if your first reaction to seeing that knee is "omg I hope Sterling is ok. Man this sport is dangerous" this might not be the sport for you

 

[JustforBROCK]

I'm sorry but if your first reaction to seeing that knee is "omg I hope Sterling is ok. Man this sport is dangerous" this might not be the sport for you

That wasnt my reaction goof ball. You guys wanna see shit like Dan Severn vs Taktarov but that shit just aint Kosher no more. We can go on and on about they know they are fighting and blah blah blah but CTE and head injuries and real and the world is changing. We're probably lucky we get to see guys beat the shit out of each of other the way they do. Knee's to a grounded Opponent will likely NEVER be legal in the US going forward. Just my opinion, but I could be wrong.

 

[welcometohavoc]

That wasnt my reaction goof ball. You guys wanna see shit like Dan Severn vs Taktarov but that shit just aint Kosher no more. We can go on and on about they know they are fighting and blah blah blah but CTE and head injuries and real and the world is changing. We're probably lucky we get to see guys beat the shit out of each of other the way they do. Knee's to a grounded Opponent will likely NEVER be legal in the US going forward. Just my opinion, but I could be wrong.

What I want is for fighters to be able to fucking throw strikes when a guy is squatting in front of them.

If a guy a like Brock Lesnar can forearm shiver someone's head through the canvas when they're on their back, there is absolutely no argument for why that knee shouldn't be legal

 

[NoBiasJustMMA]

Which is just another reason why they should be legal. Guys shouldn't be able to use that position to escape punishment. A guy squatting in front of you is not defenseless

They aren't defenseless, they can still get punched with the current rules(which is what Yan should have done). I was just saying a lot of these guys that get hit with illegal shots probably wouldn't be getting hit with the same shots if they were legal. Like in Pride if you failed a takedown guys would often fall to their backs or to their side to avoid getting blasted with knees or kicks, it makes MMA a lot more dynamic and I think the main reason why they are illegal is the visual of it rather than the potential damage caused.