MMA Rules - More like guidelines

[Cela]

Now that we are mostly recovered from the queasy feeling Silva's leg brought out, it is time to revisit a forgotten point of the night.

Browne and the debate over 12-6 elbows. This is the second time he has done downward elbows to KO. Perhaps not against the letter of the rule, but definitely against the spirit of the rule. The exact same motion as the ones Jones threw against Hamill, but these got no DQ. Is there that much of a different between 12-6 elbows and 11-5 elbows?

Another weird rule point is the striking of Jones. His eye poke palming and knee joint thrust kicks are as close to illegal as you can get and should at least get him more warnings. But then, he got warned a dozen times in the Gustaffson fight, but nothing ever came of it.

Should they just get rid of these rules if fighters aren't going to follow them?

What other rules seem to be more like guidelines?

["Evil Brood" Jackson Vanik]

While grabbing another fighter's shorts is illegal, I have found that it either does not get noticed or his rarely penalized properly. I also find it strange that you are allowed to grab your own shorts in a fight. That just seems to go against the purpose of the rule itself.

[Wolf Hawkfield no1 NZ poster]

Well it seems that Cheick Kongo thinks that an oppoent is fair game to be either kicked/kneed in the nuts.

[Cela]

Jan 1, 2014 18:47:18 GMT -5 Wolf Hawkfield no1 NZ poster said:

Well it seems that Cheick Kongo thinks that an oppoent is fair game to be either kicked/kneed in the nuts.

Ah, good old Cup Cheick.

[Jazzman]

Cela, I find your complaints of Jones' knee kicks overblown my friend. There is nothing in the Unified rules against those types of strikes at all. Now the eye poking is bad, but it's an issue with open gloves and something that I don't think is exclusive to Jon, but may need addressing so that we don't get more eye poke finishes soon/

[Capt Lunatic]

To be fair, watching the replay of Browne/Barnett his elbows hit the ear and temple.

Now the Gonzaga fight was a different story...

["Sweet & Sour" ImSoFudginGreat]

Admittedly I have not seen the Browne/Gonzaga fight but the elbows against Barnett were thrown 10 to 2 or 9 to 3 were they not??

[Deleted]

12-6 Elbows are a dumb rule anyway. They're a perfectly valid technique that isn't nearly as devastating as some of the other legitimate striking options in MMA. If they were legal, guys would learn to defend them better.

Jones is playing the game by walking forward with his fingers out like that. He knows exactly what he's doing and a ref needs to call him on it, and yes, at some point take a point away.

[Cela]

Jan 2, 2014 11:43:34 GMT -5 "Sweet & Sour" ImSoFudginGreat said:

Admittedly I have not seen the Browne/Gonzaga fight but the elbows against Barnett were thrown 10 to 2 or 9 to 3 were they not??

It's still the exact same motion.


And upon looking at the rules, 12/6 is not on there. The rule is:

"Striking downward using the point of the elbow."
Source: www.ufc.com/discover/sport/rules-and-regulations

Which that pretty much was.

[Capt Lunatic]

Not a good angle, but just for anyone who didn't see it

[Dat Dude]

Awww, I so miss the early days of UFC when the ref before the fight started always said: "You know the rules? There are no rules!!!"

[SEAN CARLESS]

Being there in press row, it was pretty brutal. TV didn't do it justice to how hard Browne was landing, and how quick Barnett had gone out. He was technically out when he caught that first knee on the double leg attempt, and his limp body simply guillotined over Browne's bent knee and the cage from there where he then took a ton of unanswered shots.

As for the 12-6 elbow controversy, no one really called Browne out on it at the presser, or asked Dana his opinion one way or the other. Even though its controversial, the referee rule of thumb seems to be only calling them from a full mount position. There's been a lot snuck by in other scenarios.