It's time to talk about the state of MMA

Given the current state of MMA and the global coronavirus pandemic, UFC's Fight Island has opened up the possibilities for a shift in how a fight is now showcased.  Less regulations and oversight is the key.  A fighter wants to fight,  their end goal is the championship.  Gloves and limits to what techniques a fighter can implement inside of the octagon can sometimes lead to boring fights.  This becomes obvious when the strategies utilized are simply a clear manipulation of the rules. Lay and pray, or the 3 round stare down and jab at air strategies come to mind.  While the ones who implement tbe strategies are the victor, they leave the fans disgusted and put off from the sport/art of MMA.  While we as fans have great and exciting fighters and big name superstars who are always exciting.  These fighters are few and far between.  
I believe changes in the rules are necessary in order to avoid boring matches or at least a quicker way to end fights.  So without further ado some rule changes and why they would make MMA more exciting.  

Rule 1: No rounds/no time limits

Fighters should not have a victory snatched from them when in the middle of achieving a knockout or submission by a bell. No rounds and no time limits would nullify such a scenario while granting true victory to the winner

Rule 2: Gloves should be optional/and any weight

Fighters should be able to pick the tools they and their coaches determine would lead them to victory.  Maybe fighters don't want gloves because their opponent keeps grabbing them,  maybe they want them because gloves allow for better grip.  This rule is designed to give fighters more agency in their strategies while creating new strategies to combat gloveless or gloved fighters. 

Rule 3: no chainlink fence/ring ropes/ring out

Fighters fight, that's what they train to do.  But as noted before,  lay and pray is an effective strategy which utilizes the cage and corners of an octagon or ring effectively neutralizing an opponent while neutralizing the interest of the fans. This is why no barriers should be had while implementing a ring out rule. This would require fighters who utilize a lay and pray style or a dodge and counter strategy to keep the action in the center or risk losing tbe match due to a ring out. In the event of a lay and pray situation where both fighters find themselves outside of the ring, they both lose. This will eliminate the boring aspect of a lay and pray or a dodge and counter strategy by eliminating the offenders quickly in order to move on top potentially more exciting fights and different strategies. 

Rule #4 wear whatever makes one comfortable in a fight. 

This rule like the glove rule is designed to give the fighter more agency and also increases strategies.  

Rule #5 No More Judges

Tap, KO, Ring out, towel, ref stoppage, done

Rule #6 disqualify fighters for inaction

Fighters should be given a 4 minute feeling out process when standing, but 1 second over, then they're both disqualified. This applies to later in the match after vigorous combat as well. As for ground inaction, the fighters only get 2 minutes,  after that both are disqualified. This is done in order to encourage action for those fighters who are trying to game the system while trying to avoid a ring out.  

These are some rules i believe should be implemented.  Now some of you may  think these rules are ridiculous.  Fair enough,  just enjoy your watered down commercialized product. For those that think these rules are innefectual, agree to disagree. For proof of these rules' success, i point you all to the 1988 hit blockbuster based on a true story, BloodSport, starring JCVD. All of these rules were implemented and the fighter who won was able to be exciting and masterful, in never limiting themselves to one style and keeping an open mind despite not being Japanese or a Tanaka.  It starts with UFC and Fight Island.  Let's make it happen people!!

TLDR

Go **** yourself troll

This is the most ******** **** i've ever read lol Just go watch UFC 1-5 over and over again if thats what you're looking for. The sport has advanced beyond that and if you dont like the "boring" matches then dont watch it. As for the lay and pray i love how you place the blame on the guy on top for making it boring, Isnt the one bieng laid on supposed to do something about that and get up? Soo 2020 of you lol its not exciting lets punish the guy whos winning and not the one who cant stop him from doing it lmao. go watch tennis 

So you didn't read it yet chimed in? Interesting...

HID, these rules are all designed to make fights more exciting for fans.  In a lay and pray situation,  neither fighter is being exciting to fans, therefore both will be disqualified. 

I’d personally drop Bruce Buffer. I careless about him jumping & screaming all over the ring like a jack@ss waisting time!


More ring girls please!

No i read the stupid ****. I tried to make some sense of it but its literally nonsense. it sounds like you live in some fantasy world where everything is perfect. Your argument makes no sense, just because you find it boring you want to set the sport back 20 years. These rules have changed their label from "Human **** Fighting" to a mainstream sport on the biggest sports platform in the world. But sure lets change all the rules back to 1995 to accommodate you so you're not bored. I always find it amusing when some ass hat wants to change the entire sport instead of just stop watching. That -146 post score tells me you're full of popular MMA opinions

I'd say the fans are entertained just fine. Have you checked the ratings lately? They seem to keep going up which doesnt make sense if everyones so bored watching it. 

Hippie, YES! MORE SPECTACLE! MORE RING GIRLS! And a better announcer for sure.  Who would you suggest? Remember, Senzo Tanaka is no longer alive so he's out. 

HID, that question was directed towards Flying Frontkick. But as for your other concerns,  i don't recall early UFC using a BloodSport model for its rules.  And buyrates don't always translate to exciting fights.  Buyrates translate to buyrates, and do nothing to prove whether fights themselves were boring or not. And with the negative votes, i never said i was popular,  nor the same for my opinions. Now of you stick to the topic instead of personal insults we could very well have a conversation. 

@thebertogarcia

" Now some of you may  think these rules are ridiculous."


Yes. Yes I do and here's why:


Rule 1: No rounds/no time limit

Having no time limit or set number of rounds could make it far more dangerous for the fighters. If both fighters are taking a lot of hits but were not being submitted or knocked out then the cumulative damage from the strikes could cause serious long term injuries to the fighters. For example, a bleed on the brain and other types of brain injury that would require immediate medical attention may not necessarily be easy to spot and even the fighters themselves may not realise how badly they have been hurt. It isn't perfect in the current system with a set number of rounds and time limits on those rounds but at least the fighters would be able to get medical attention after 25 minutes (using a 5 round MMA fight in this example) which would still give them a chance of being saved. If the fight could go on indefinitely then the fight would only end once a fighter has been knocked out or passed out due to the injury, at which point it is often too late to save them. The safety of the fighters must ALWAYS come before "finding the true victor".

Rule 2: Gloves should be optional/any weight

In theory, this would be fair as both fighters would have a free choice over the weight of the gloves or lack thereof. This however is an extremely slippery slope. There would have to be some form of regulation on what constitutes a "glove" depending on things such as size, weight, design, material ect. Where would you draw the line in this case? If you are allowing all types of "glove" then you would end up with some that are more weapons than gloves and this could cause some serious injuries to the other fighter. You would also end up with a lot of incidences of fighters using loaded gloves (Where a fighter conceals a hard substance under or within the glove such as when the boxer Antonio Margarito was caught by Shane Mosley's trainer putting an illegal Plaster of Paris type substance on his wraps before their fight that would've then hardened due to the moisture inside the glove).

https://www.ringtv.com/120715-margaritos-wraps-were-loaded/

Needless to say, this could've ended in tragedy and absolutely nobody in their right mind would want to see a fighter get seriously hurt due to another fighter using modified gloves even if, in your hypothetical reality, this sort of thing were allowed.

Rule 3: No chain-link fence/ring ropes/ring out

There are some martial arts/combat sports such as Judo and Grappling that often take place on an open mat with no cage/rope (I'm just gonna call it a "wall" from now on as it describes both styles and is less to type) simply because in these disciplines, it isn't needed. In MMA however, the wall helps to keep the fight within a defined area. This is because there is generally more running around and it could be hard for the fighters to try and keep the fight, especially if it's a heated and competitive fight, in the center of the ring. The wall also provides a tactical element that you simply wouldn't get in an open mat fight such as using the wall to get out of tight corners or, when using a cage, kicking off of the cage to break a submission attempt. Yes, fighters often get pinned against the wall and you may find this boring to watch but often, if you look closely, there are a lot of subtle yet very clever maneuvers going to try and use the wall to their advantage either to cut off space for your opponent (when on the offensive) and using the wall to maneuver against and get themselves in a more favorable position or, as I mentioned earlier, break out of a lock (when defending). The wall often requires the fighters to fight more intelligently leading to smarter moves.

Rule 4: Wear whatever makes one comfortable in a fight

As long as the fighters don't wear anything that could put their opponent in serious danger or give them an unfair advantage then I have absolutely no problem with this rule. Royce Gracie chose to wear his robes in the early days of the UFC.


Rule 5: No more judges

Yes, fighters who out-point their opponents and win decisions may not always be the most spectacular to watch but this is another example of intelligent fighting. After all, they are winning a fight while taking hardly any damage which is undoubtedly smart. Winning is all that matters to the fighters and if you can win without getting hurt in the process then why wouldn't you?

Another problem with this, once again, comes down to the fighter's safety. If the only way that a fight could end is through a knockout, submission, referee stoppage, corner stoppage, doctor's stoppage or disqualification then this could lead to more fighters getting seriously injured or killed. Knockouts are inherently dangerous and you wouldn't want to see an exhausted fighter get knocked out after dominating a fight for the last 5 hours (or at least I hope you wouldn't). As for submissions (possibly the safest of these endings though by your rules, the standards of safety are almost non-existent) some fighters are too proud to tap out and would rather get choked unconscious than tap. While their bravery is certainly admirable, it isn't doing their health any favors. As for referee's, corner's and doctor's stoppages, some referee's have very poor judgement as to when to stop a fight and stop them way too late, cornermen are sometimes more concerned with winning than their fighter's safety and while most doctors can be trusted, they may not be able to see what exactly is going on at all times of the fight (this would also be a problem for the cornermen and the referee) and may not be in a good position to make the call, while others are just incompetent. You may think that the chances of all of these factors combining in a single fight are slim but occasionally they do and it can result in tragedy as was the case for the Amateur Kickboxer, Dennis Munson Jr.

Tragically, it was too late to save Dennis on this occasion as they still missed opportunities to save him even after the fight had ended (sheer incompetence all-round) but if you were relying on these people to actually stop the fight then I doubt the fight would've ended anytime soon and they would've had absolutely no chance at all of saving him. 

Rule 6: Disqualify fighters for inaction

A lot of the time that "feeling out process" is where the fighters are looking for any chance or opening to launch an attack. You see it all the time when a fighter drops their guard for a split second and them BAM! The next thing they know they are on the floor, looking up at the spotlights with their team and doctors staring down at them. This stage of a fight can often be very exiting as you just don't know when an attack is going to happen. As for "inactivity" on the ground, as I mentioned earlier, there are a lot of subtle yet skillful moves going on to try and improve their position. As for the "Lay and pray" method, I'll admit that it's not the most spectacular strategy but at the end of the day, both fighters should weigh about the same due to the weight divisions so it just comes down to strength. If a fighter ended up in the receiving end of that position in the first place and isn't strong enough to undo it then quite frankly, they are the worse fighter. As I said earlier, a fighter's job IS TO WIN FIGHTS. If they are in a promotion such as the UFC then their contracts depend on winning fights. This combined with the fact that the whole point of the fight is to see who is the best (as you said yourself "Their end goal is the championship") it will inevitably lead to some fights with little action in them. You call them "boring", I call them "tactical". 

Also, if you go around disqualifying both fighters every time a 4 or 2 minute feeling out process is passed then LOADS of fights will end in a disqualification which will anger the fans far more then a 5 round decision would as at least with a decision you get a winner. Imagine if every other title fight ended in a disqualification. That would completely mess up the rankings lead to a whole lot of vacant titles. This would be far worse for both the fans and the sport of MMA.

Your "proof" of these rules working is a movie

While Bloodsport is based on a true story, a lot of creative liberties would've been taken to make the film (this happens to a certain extent with any "based on a true story" movie or show) and so I am highly doubtful as to how effective these rules would be in a real world situation. If you set up your own MMA promotion and implemented these rules and it went on to be as big and as mainstream as the UFC, then I will take it back but otherwise I don't think these rules would work.

Other sports/forms of entertainment you might like

It is clear that you don't really like grappling all that much. That's fine. It's not everyone's cup of tea however, it is going to be a key part of MMA for a long time to come. You may prefer to watch something like Boxing or Kickboxing as these are legitimate fights that have no grappling (clinches, yes but no BJJ). Although it's not real fighting, WWE or other fake wrestling is designed solely for entertainment while still having the aesthetic of a real fight. On a slightly less serious note, Ballroom dancing can be entertaining with a lot fast paced dances such as the Salsa. Please don't tell me you find this boring!



A final note: Despite disagreeing with almost everything you said, it did get me thinking about the nature of MMA which is exactly why I'm on this site in the first place so I gave you what might turn out to be your post's only thumbs up! 

Steve out!

@ImperatorFishrat

I completely disagree with the rule changes proposed by @thebertogarcia. I was just trying to break them down and explain to him why I felt that these rules wouldn't work. Taking the lack of judges as an example, the only way a fight would end would be through some kind of stoppage which would be extremely dangerous and am 100% against that idea.

As for the long post, I only put this much effort into it as it was either that or spend the evening being forced to watch Titanic with my family (again), otherwise I wouldn't have bothered.

@ImperatorFishrat

Normally I wouldn't bother reading or responding in a thread like this either but I had a lot of time to kill yesterday so down the rabbit hole I went lol

Check back a week later to find out i'm not the only one who thinks this is ridiculous. 

OP is trolling right?

i feel like the people who say MMA is more boring now than it used to be literally didn't even watch MMA before it was popular

80% of pride fights were boring, and for nearly a decade tito ortiz was considered an elite talent


wow exciting stuff wish we could go back to watching that

lets watch kevin randleman lay on top of bas rutten for 23 minutes just like the olden days when ufc was badass

maybe pedro rizzo can come out for a 25 minute staring contest

perhaps even dan severn can show up and do nothing

* Edited at 10.14.2020, 5:05 PM ET *