ONE FC says goodbye to confusing rules for soccer kicks on downed opponents
Posted on September 4, 2012, 02:36 AM by Mike SearsonFollowing the controversial ending of Andrei Arlovski vs. Tim Sylvia this past Friday, ONE FC has implemented a rule change. The bout ended in a "No Contest" due to the promotion's rules on the use of soccer kicks: ONE FC has decided to eliminate the rule all together.
ONE FC's rule set combines the North American unified rules of MMA with the soccer kicks and stomps of Pride, however fighters must wait for a referee's open attack signal before using the more violent maneuvers on a downed opponent. Arlovski had floored Sylvia with a big overhand right and landed a pair of soccer kicks to the head and shoulder. In almost any other MMA promotion this would have been a win for Arlovski via TKO. However, in this instance, the referee had not given the "open attack" signal and when Sylvia could not continue; it was ruled a no contest.
ONE FC officials have wisely decided to adopt the same rules as used in the former Pride Fighting Championships where soccer kicks are allowed at all times when an opponent is grounded.
The promotion made this announcement via Twitter:
Effective immediately, ONE FC has adopted full PRIDE rules for soccer kicks.Catch ONE FC: Rise of Kings on Oct 6!
— ONE FC (@ONEFCMMA) September 3, 2012
Comments
agh i liked the kicks
did you? so shouldn't you be happy they are KEEPING them??? LOL @ reading and comprehension in 2012...
my mistake i wrote the comment after misreading the title, and without reading the article. i thought it said "one fc says goodbye to rules for soccer kicks on downed opponents."
i know the soccer kicks and head stomps are sometimes brutal to watch, but i think the american rules without the soccer kicks are protecting the ground fighters and wrestlers!!
i mean remember anderson koing okami from his guard that was awesome. these rules are brutal but realistic. the soccer kicks should stay and sylvia was done before he hit the ground
Could you imagine those Wrestlers / Lay-N-Pray artists getting soccer kicked and head stomped? Wow - would that be nice.
i saw the fight and imo silvia looked ok to continue....arlovski's kicks weren't even that hard...if silvia cud not continue it wud be from the punch that knock his azz down...i feel bad for arlovski, they shud give him that win....
I get your point and can't disagree with you UDG but how would (say for example) Dan Hardy or Josh Koshcheck have soccer kicked or stomped GSP. They were never in a position to use the kick. I see it of limited use against wrestlers and Lay n' Pray fighters.
The issue really is do we want MMA to be mainstream, on network TV, with big time sponsors and lots of shows in countries like America, UK and the rest of Western Europe, Australia, Canada or do we want realistic, knock-down-drag-out fights that are as brutal as we would hope for with a decisive and dramatic finish.
Lets face it, from the early days to now MMA has been softened to make it more palatable to legislators, sponsors, athletic commissions etc.
WEAK MICHAEL!!!!!!!!! How dare you put in any sort of common sense onto an article!!!!!!!!
mainstream.. hard to talk to people about it anyway, cos they only know like 10 fighters
network tv.. bleh, adverts adverts adverts
bigtime sponsors.. good for fighters, but i'm not fighting so bleh
lots of shows in other countries.. as long as its broadcast live doesn't matter where it is
/selfish fan is selfish
I'm still wishing Arlovski's chin returns under that massive beard. I enjoyed his days in the UFC. Great hands, good movement, horrible chin. Shame
Just plays right into the hands of the people that think the sport is barbaric.
Sets the sport back years
if any thing the sport has gone backwards. i can not remember the last truly exciting fight!
so many wrestling lay and pray fighters or a bjj fighter laying on there back waitng for the guy to enter there guard or the "keep ya hand on the floor so you can not get kneed in the head" crap fights!
stomps and soccer kicks help stop this!
good change! waiting for the ref signal was just dumb,it felt like waiting for the ref to blow the whistle in a soccer match before one shoots a penalty kick.
I can't help but laugh at the thought of seeing Werdum or some other bjj guy flop on the floor trying to coax a dude to jump into their guard only to get kicked in the face. Good times....