What is MMA

Mixed martial arts or MMA is a sport in which fighters engage in full contact combat using boxing, kickboxing, karate, muay thai, jiu jitsu, wrestling and other martial arts techniques. MMA fights are spectacular sports events, therefore, despite the fact that this sport is quite young, it has already gained considerable popularity.

Yet often fans miss interesting facts about mixed martial arts. How does MMA stand for? Why do some people call them fights without rules? Why fights take place not in the ring, but in a cage? What is the most popular fighting style? The answers to these and many other questions are in this article.

What is MMA in sports

MMA is classified as a mixed martial arts because both striking and wrestling techniques are allowed in this sport. Strikes and wrestling are also combined in wushu, combat sambo, army hand-to-hand combat. The main difference between MMA and these sports is that here you can use the techniques of various martial arts and combine them in any form. The main thing is not to go beyond the rules.

Mixed martial arts has come a long way to be recognized as a separate sport. Now MMA is popular in the USA, Japan, Russia. But in some countries, for example, in France, this sport is still banned.

MMA: transcript and translation

MMA is an abbreviation that stands for Mixed Martial Arts, which means mixed martial arts. The term was coined in 1995 by Rick Blume, president of the (now defunct) Battlecade organization.

Due to the fact that not everyone knows how MMA and UFC are translated, they are often confused. But in fact, they are different concepts:

MMA (decoding from English - Mixed Martial Arts) is a sport;

UFC (stands for Ultimate Fighting Championship) is the name of the largest mixed martial arts organization.

How MMA appeared and developed

The history of mixed martial arts dates back to ancient Greece. At that time, there was pankration - a type of martial arts based on the use of striking techniques with hands, feet, knees, elbows, head, as well as wrestling techniques. This sport was included in the Olympic Games as early as the 7th century BC. and was considered one of the most spectacular and difficult types of competitions. In Sparta, not only men's, but also women's competitions were held. Later, the Romans took over pankration and the fights became even more cruel.

In the future, interest in mixed martial arts increased only at the end of the 19th century, when competitions between representatives of various styles began to be held in Europe and the Far East: percussion and wrestling. At the same time, the bartitsu system was developed, which was the result of a combination of several martial arts (boxing, jiu-jitsu, savate, wrestling). The next mixed martial arts in the first half of the 20th century were shoot-wrestling, Japanese kajukembo and Goju-ryu karate, Russian sambo and army hand-to-hand combat.

Modern MMA emerged from two events:

Tournaments in Vale Tudo - Brazilian full-contact combat.

Mixed rules competition held in Japan by Inoki wrestler and Shuto sports organization.

However, the UFC president believes that the world owes the birth of mixed martial arts as we know it to Bruce Lee. It was he who developed the universal doctrine that fighters should constantly develop in all directions and not limit themselves to one style.

Significant popularity of MMA began with the advent of the Ultimate Fighting Championship promotion in the United States in 1993. In the first tournament, the athlete Royce Gracie became the champion, who won thanks to the techniques of Brazilian jiu-jitsu. In the future, this style gained wide popularity in battles. Initially, competitions under the auspices of the UFC were characterized by fierce fights due to minimal restrictions, so tournaments were banned in some states. In the early 2000s, the promotion revised the rules, and in a number of states MMA was officially recognized as an independent sport. Now mixed martial arts are allowed in many countries, including Russia.

Rules

The rules of modern MMA are significantly different from the rules of pankration, vale tudo, and even the first UFC tournaments. Until the late 1990s, fights were very traumatic, so sports organizations made a number of key changes:

We limited the duration of fights and divided them into rounds of 5 minutes.

Introduced weight categories.

Made it mandatory to wear gloves during the fight.

They banned cruel tricks that often led to injuries to athletes.

In mixed martial arts, the fight lasts 3-5 rounds and can end ahead of schedule in the event of a knockout (clean or technical) or surrender of the opponent. If this does not happen, the judges determine the winner or declare a draw.

The day before the competition, athletes are weighed - as a rule, they come to the procedure dehydrated and emaciated in order to meet the limits of their category. For example, the usual weight of Khabib Nurmagomedov is more than 80 kg, and for tournaments he loses weight to 70.

Despite its reputation as a blood sport, since 1993, only 2 fighters have suffered non-life-threatening injuries in legitimate MMA fights, while there are about 100 times more casualties in professional boxing. This can be explained by the fact that in mixed martial arts, athletes often win with the help of suffocating and painful techniques. Accordingly, knockouts and head injuries are rarer.

clothing

According to the rules of most promotions, clothing for competitions should not injure the opponent, so men compete in shorts, and women in shorts and sports tops. Shoes are prohibited. Fighting with bare hands in this sport was abandoned due to fist injuries, cuts and, as a result, frequent stoppages of the fight. Athletes are required to perform in special overlays with open fingers weighing 4 (for professional fights) or 6 (for amateur competitions) ounces.

Rubbers do not allow you to effectively use some of the techniques of professional boxing - such as blocking with a glove. Therefore, in MMA, athletes with non-standard striking techniques show the best results, for example, the Russian fighter Fedor Emelianenko, who uses punches in a circular trajectory and avoids straight lines.

Cell

Unlike professional boxing, fights are not held in the ring, but in the so-called cage. Instead of ropes, it is fenced with a strong mesh above human height. The cage is one of the hallmarks of mixed martial arts, it is needed in order to:

The fighters did not fall out of it, were not injured, and the fight did not have to be stopped.

Push off from the fence and perform a spectacular kick - showtime kick.

In different promotions, the shape of the cell is different, for example:

UFC - the famous octagon (octagon).

Bellator - circle.

M-1 Global is a hexagon.

Restrictions

Because of the brutality of the fights, mixed martial arts are often referred to as MMA. But in fact, even in the first UFC tournaments there were forbidden tricks. There were few of them, so the authorities considered such a sport as MMA to be bloody and cruel. In the future, with the support of the sports committee, more humane rules were developed that made it possible to remove unpleasant elements, but at the same time maintain entertainment.

There are some differences in the rules in different promotions, but in general, fighters are prohibited from:

Beat with the elbow from top to bottom, with the head.

Biting, scratching, spitting, pinching, holding an opponent's hair, gloves or clothing.

Intentionally tearing ears, nostrils, mouth, etc., gouging or gouging eyes.

Beat in the groin, throat, on the back of the head, spine, heel on the kidneys.

Beat a lying opponent with legs and knees to the head, stomp him.

Throw an opponent out of the cage, stick upside down into the mat.

Hold on to the fence.

Twist your fingers.

Grab the throat, collarbones.

Simulate an injury, deliberately spit out a mouthguard, avoid contact with the enemy.

Attack when the round is over.

Sports organizations

The most famous mixed martial arts promotion is the UFC. It is so popular that many fans do not know what MMA is and mistake the name of the organization for the sport. UFC stands for Ultimate Fighting Championship, which means the ultimate fighting championship. Its history began in 1993 - then only one tournament was planned, but it was such a success that the organization continued its activities.

The first competitions were held under the slogan "No Rules", although biting and eye gouging were actually prohibited. Headbutting, groin strikes, cheek-tearing, hair-grabbing were permitted but frowned upon. In addition, fighters, following sports ethics, rarely used such techniques. Another problem of early tournaments was the lack of weight categories - the difference in body weight of rivals reached 180 kg. But this did not stop the 78-pound Royce Gracie, who was much lighter than his opponents, from defeating in the first three tournaments.

Starting with UFC 12, the promotion changed policy and began working with professional committees to make the rules fair. Tournaments very quickly gained popularity in the United States, and then in other countries. Now the promotion broadcasts fights in 130 countries, in 20 languages, and most of the best fighters cooperate with this company.

In addition to this, there are other, less well-known organizations of mixed martial arts: Bellator, One Championship and the Russian M-1 Global. But not all companies could compete with the giant UFC - it bought out the previously popular Pride Fighting Championships, World Extreme Cagefighting and Strikeforce.