There are some changes underway to the Unified Rules of mixed martial arts, particularly with regard to knees. In the past, a fighter could avoid a knee to the head by dropping a pinky to the mat. Now a standing fighter has to have both hands (or fists) on the ground to be considered grounded, IF he is standing on both feet.
A fighter with a knee on the ground is grounded under the old interpretation of the Unified Rules. A fighter with a knee on the ground is grounded under the new rules, too.
The new rules were voted on, and were supposed to be started Jan 1, 2017. While some progressive states have already instituted them, others are not. Nevada may vote on them in January. In any case, at UFC 207, the old rules applied and in both the old and the new rules, a knee down is down.
Unfortunately, there was some confusion around the rules when Tim Means fought Alex Oliveira. Oliveira started off nicely, with a spinning kick knockdown.
GET BACK GET BACK!!
What a spinning back kick from @AlexCowboyUFC! #UFC207 pic.twitter.com/eS6TfIDnO3
— UFC (@ufc) December 31, 2016
“>@AlexCowboyUFC! #UFC207pic.twitter.com/eS6TfIDnO3
— #UFC207 (@ufc)
GET BACK GET BACK!!
What a spinning back kick from @AlexCowboyUFC! #UFC207pic.twitter.com/eS6TfIDnO3
— UFC (@ufc) December 31, 2016
“>December 31, 2016
Unfortunately, Means later intentionally threw two knees to a grounded Oliveira. However, he thought doing so was legal. Referee Dan Miragliotta paused the fight to give Oliveira time to recover, but the damage was such that the fighter could not continue, so Mirgliotta called a No Contest.
Means later acknowledged his lack of understanding about the rules on his social network …
https://twitter.com/MeansTim/status/815009277907607552
And in an interview …
Announcers Joe Rogan and Mike Goldberg, and UFC VP of Regulatory Affairs Marc Ratner discussed the rules, but many viewers still did not have a sense of clarity about what happened.
What is difficult to understand is how the fight was a No Contest and not a Disqualification. If you think an eye poke is legal, and you poke someone in the eye, and they can’t continue, that is a DQ. In this case, Means thought kneeing a fighter on one knee was legal, and he landed the knee, and Oliveira could not continue. It appears to be a clear DQ. Mirgliotta will presumably make clear in the near future how he came to the conclusion that an NC was the appropriate call.
