Three Rules UFC Needs To Eliminate

It’s no doubt that the UFC has done a good job of keeping up with rules, regulations, sanctions and with the times of the tournament, but there are three old-school rules we believe the promotion needs to eliminate.

As every sport grows older, there would come the need for adaptations to keep up with the times. This means a number of things, including getting rid of old and outdated rules. The promotion has been around and be making rounds for more than 26 years and is considered to be the lead promotion in the MMA industry. However, the writer reckons the promotion seems to be guilty of living in the past in some instances, and in light of the above, here are the three rules the promotion needs to get rid of in order to stay ahead of the curve.

Technically, these rules and made and set by the state athletic commissions but with mounting pressure from the UFC, the hands of those commissions that set the rules could be forced to revisit and eliminating some of these rules.

So here we go with the first on the list of the three deadly rules the UFC promotion ought to take down: 

3. The soccer kicks 

Some say they’re barbaric, others, however, make them the most-watched videos on the internet. A soccer kick is essentially a kick thrown by a standing fighter, against another who is down, kneeling, or staggering to get up. This technique is definitely controversial, but making them legal would add another weapon to a fighter’s arsenal. In a sport already known to be fuelled by adrenaline, the legalization of this would do nothing but brings less worry to any fighter’s mind about disqualification. This technique needs to be scrapped! 

2.  Knees to the head of a grounded opponent 

On this specific one, the outlines differ from commission to commission, and the “unified” rules seem to be anything but unified. Depending on where the bout is scheduled to take place, a fighter has to be aware of specific points about this rule, leading to mass confusion. Basically, what this rule says is that “if your opponent is considered grounded which in most places means has a knee or three points of his body on the mat, you cannot knee him.” 

The above rule, in my opinion, is nothing but a silly rule that oftentimes leads to controversy, chaos in the octagon between respective fighter teams, as we’ve seen recently in the Diego Sanchez vs. Michel Pereira fight, unfortunate finishes. The referees are there to protect the competitors, so I believe the promotion doing away with this rule altogether will suit all parties involved and if a fighter gets into a bad enough spot, the referee should be there to rescue him. 

1. The 12-6 elbows 

Arguably the worst rule in MMA today the UFC should eliminate. A fighter’s use of the 12-6 elbow technique is essentially just a downward elbow striker. This practice was responsible for the disqualification and the lone loss on Jon Jones’ record. No one is really sure why the promotion is taking eyes off the use of this technique by some fighters in most bout, perhaps disqualification should also come with eye-watering fees for whosoever uses this on his opponent in the ring. If the UFC promotion wants to seem innovative and prove they really are a leader in the sport of MMA, then the use of 12-6 elbow has to go.