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SALT LAKE CITY — While many tend to think of mixed martial arts as a sport devoid rules and filled with no-holds-barred action, it's actually full of laws and regulations.
From times and weight limits to rules about when you can and can't strike, MMA has come a long way since its inception.
Coming from someone who's a mixed martial arts judge, there also aren't as many injuries as you might think. Although MMA fighters do train anywhere from 6-12 times a week, they only compete a handful of times per year. Accordingly, there are not as many opportunities for athletes to get hurt, unlike, say, hockey players, who compete a few times a week during their long season. Additionally, fighters must pass pre- and post-fight examinations from doctors.
With all that in mind, MMA has established many ways to win: Tapping out, knock out, technical knock out, or a referee stoppage. Tapping out in MMA is different from most other unarmed combat sports.
In MMA, tapping out is an acceptable form of losing, according to Dana White, president of Ultimate Fighting Championships.
"The difference with the tap out," White says, "is that if I get you into a submission and you’re in a bad place — you can tap out with honor. It’s acceptable in this sport. In the Roberto Duran v Sugar Ray Leonard boxing fight, when Duran said ‘no mas’ he was ridiculed for the rest of his career.”
That doesn't happen in MMA.
The goal of MMA, in my opinion, is take from established sports like those in the Olympics — boxing, Greco-Roman wrestling, freestyle wrestling, judo and taekwondo — and adds other aspects of sports that have been around for many years.
Because there are so many sports being combined into one, safety is an enormous concern.
To make things as safe as possible in the cage, mouth pieces become very important. According to Brian Sanger, who makes mouthguards, it's important that fighters customize their mouthguards.
"Most out-of-the-box mouthguards provide little protection, while a custom mouthguard prevents costly damage to the teeth and jaw," Sanger says. "It also allows the fighter to be able to breathe more efficiently and can even aid in regards to (not) receiving a concussion.”
Jeff Dutcher is a local mixed martial arts judge. He has had a professional MMA fight in Salt Lake City and has been a fan of MMA for more than 10 years.
