3 rules we think the UFC should eliminate

The UFC has done a good job of keeping up with the times, but there are three old-school rules that they need to eliminate.

As sports grow older, it will adapt to keep up with the times. This means a number of things, including getting rid of old and outdated rules. The UFC has been around for more than 25 years and are considered to be the lead promotion in the MMA industry. However, even they are guilty of living in the past, so here are three rules they need to get rid of to stay ahead of the curve.

Technically it’s the state athletic commissions who make and set the rules, but with backing or pressure from the UFC, they could force the hand of those commissions to make these changes.

3. Soccer kicks

Some say they’re barbaric, others make them the most-watched videos on the internet. A soccer kick is essentially a kick thrown by a standing fighter, against a fighter who is down, kneeling, or getting up. They’re definitely controversial, but making them legal would add another weapon to a fighters arsenal. As well, in a sport fuelled by adrenaline, legalizing soccer kicks would mean one less thing for a fighter to worry about getting disqualified for.

2.  Knees to the head of a grounded opponent

The outlines differ from commission to commission on this specific rule, and the “unified” rules seem to be anything but unified. Depending on where the event is taking place, a fighter has to be aware of specific points about this rule, leading to mass confusion. Basically, what this rule says is that if your opponent is considered grounded which in most places means has a knee or three points of his body on the mat, you cannot knee him. It’s a silly rule, that oftentimes leads to controversy, chaos and, as we’ve seen recently in the Diego Sanchez vs. Michel Pereira fight, unfortunate finishes. The referees are there to protect the competitors, so do away with this rule altogether and if a fighter gets into a bad enough spot, the referee will be there to rescue him.

1. 12-6 elbows

Easily the worst rule in MMA today, the 12-6 is essentially just a downward elbow strike. It’s also the strike responsible for the lone loss on Jon Jones’ record. Pretend your elbows a clock and you are striking downward from 12 o’clock to 6 o’clock. No one is really sure why this strike is still illegal, and Joe Rogan loves to tell a story about the UFC rule-makers watching videos and demonstrations of people breaking ice chunks with this variety of elbow. It’s no less lethal than a slicing elbow, a side elbow, or an upward elbow. If the UFC wants to seem innovative and prove they really are a leader in the sport of MMA, then the 12-6 elbow has to go.