“THERE ARE NO RULES”

The UFC 1 marketing slogan wasn’t factually correct, but it sounded cooler than “There are very, very few rules.” There were in fact just a handful:

•Eye gouging and biting were prohibited, with a $1,500 fine. However, when Jason DeLucia bit Royce Gracie at UFC 2, no fine was levied. Royce did hang onto the finishing armbar for a time though.

•The rounds were 5 minutes in length.

•You could only win by submission, KO, or the opponent’s corner throwing in the towel. The referee was not allowed to stop the contest.

•Winner had to fight three times in one night, and won $50,000. It was won of course by the great Royce Gracie.

(From left: Father Helio, baddest ass brother Rickson, Royce, wife Marianne, UFC-founding business brother Rorion)

The event was more spectacle than sport, and declined very nearly into non existence. It was saved through regulation, and the attendant development of The Unified Rules. Some of the prohibitions, like no pinching, are simple to understand, but others now have a depth of sophistication that takes seminars to fully understand. Further, while every commission subscribes to the Unified Rules, minor interpretations may vary

EYE GOUGING

Since UFC 1, eye gouging has been illegal. However, there was a period where inventive fighters were getting a submission via eye gouge, using a different body part to attack with.

Mark Kerr tapped out Dan Bobish with his chin at UFC 14. And Mark Kerr had a huge chin.

Russia’s Mikhail Iloukhine did it a few times.

But the greatest record for Eye Gouging with the Chin goes to Aussie Chris Haseman, who won two fights with it, in one night! He tapped Hiriwa Te Rangi in 55 seconds and Elvis Sinosic in 2:47, before being stopped by Mario Sperry in the finals.

Now the rules explicitly prohibit eye gouging with the chin:
Intentional use of the fingers, thumb or chin as a gouging instrument will be considered eye gouging.

Still, it doesn’t say anything about gouging with your elbow …

SPIKING

The prohibition against ‘spiking’ is clear.

Any throw that has an arc is a legal throw. A fighter may not pick up their opponent, invert them placing the fighter’s feet straight up in the air and their head straight down and pile drive their opponent into the canvas. When a fighter is using a takedown or a throw against their opponent they are allowed to throw their opponent to the ground without worry as to whether their opponents head makes contact with the canvas before another part of their body as long as they have not placed their opponent into the above stated pile driver position.

However, while the vertical spike is prohibited if the aggressor has control of the opponent’s body, there is no such prohibition if the spiked fighter is in control of his own body, as for example when he has an armbar. To protect against a spike, all you have to do is let go of the armbar.

If you don’t, the spike’s on you, and it is not prohibited.

BACK OF THE HEAD

Striking to the spine or the back of the head is prohibited in MMA, and defined:
No direct striking attacks are allowed to the spine or the back of the head. A direct strike is an aimed and executed attack to the area. The back of the head is considered the direct center of the head with 1 inch of tolerance to either side.

There were competing definitions of the back of the head. One, the Mohawk definition, defines the area as that covered by a cell phone placed on top of the head and slid down to the neck. The Headphone definition prohibited strikes anywhere between the ears on the back half of the head. The Association of Boxing Commissions MMA Rules committee offered a solomonic compromise.

The Committee has found a compromise between the Mohawk definition and the headphones definition. The Committee recommends a nape of the neck definition. Basically, the group concluded that a strike that touches the ear is generally acceptable. Strikes are not permissible in the nape of the neck area up until the top of the ears. Above the ears, permissible strikes do not include the Mohawk area from the top of the ears up until the crown of the head. The crown of the head is found where the head begins to curve. In other words, strikes behind the crown of the head and above the ears are not permissible within the Mohawk area. Strikes below the top of the ear are not permissible within the nape of the neck area.

The prohibited area is defined in this image from Nick Lembo, legal counsel for the New Jersey Athletic Control Board, and one of the central figures in the development of the sport.

A good rule of thumb is, any strike to the back of the head region has to land at least partially on the ear. But there’s more.

Both fighters have responsibility where back of the head strikes are concerned. If one fighter throws a blow intending to hit a legal target, and the other fighter turns, exposing the back of the head, then no foul has occurred.

Now you make the call. Were these blows by Travis Browne vs. Gabriel Gonzaga legal?!?

SOURCES:
NSAC fouls, submissions, and scoring criteria
Unified Rules of Mixed Martial Arts
ABC Rules Committee report