MMA News, Updates and Exclusive Interviews

The origins of martial arts can be traced back all the way to the times of ancient Egyptian and Greek times. One of the oldest combat sports ever is wrestling, and this is said to date back all the way to 3400 BCE, where it is depicted in ancient Egyptian tombs.

The Greeks helped the development of combat sports by hosting events called pankration in the Olympic games, around 648 BCE. Pankration is a mixture of both wrestling and striking techniques.

Southeast Asia also has a strong heritage of combat sports; one of the oldest forms of martial arts is called Kalaripayattu, originating from India thousands of years ago. However, this would later form into something called Muay Boran, focusing on weaponry and striking techniques, before evolving into what we now know as Muay Thai.

Between the 17th century and 19th century in Japan, samurai's developed a form of grappling called Jujutsu. Nowadays, this has evolved into Judo and Brazilian Jiu-jitsu.

England also has a rich history of combat sports, thanks to their development of boxing, which was originally called Pugilism back in the 1600's. 

Ken Shamrock and Royce Gracie//Getty Images

Modern MMA is where it is today mainly thanks to Vale Tudo, which translated from Portuguese means “anything goes”.

Originating in Brazil in the early 1900s, Vale Tudo bouts were similar to the MMA bouts of today; you had a wide range of martial arts facing off against each other, so the fights were a mixture of striking, wrestling and submissions.

The Gracie family, notably Helio Gracie, made Vale Tudo in Brazil, promoting their version of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu as the most effective combat style. They held “Gracie Challenges”, which were open-invitation fights to prove the superiority of BJJ against other martial arts from other regions of the world.

These challenges inspired the very first The Ultimate Fighting Championship event, held in 1993. Rorion Gracie and Art Davie created UFC 1, a tournament to find out what martial art style was the best in the world.

Another member of the infamous Gracie family, Royce Gracie, won the tournament by submitting everybody. What made this such a great feat is that in the early days of the UFC, there were no weight classes, no rounds and no time limits, and nothing was illegal to do during the fight, even groin strikes and eye pokes.

• Flyweight - 125-pounds
• Bantamweight - 135-pounds
• Featherweight - 145-pounds
• Lightweight - 155-pounds
• Welterweight - 170-pounds
• Middleweight - 185-pounds
• Light-heavyweight - 205-pounds
• Heavyweight - 265-pounds

• Strawweight - 115-pounds
• Flyweight - 125-pounds
• Bantamweight - 135-pounds
• Featherweight - 145-pounds 

General view of the Octagon//Getty Images

Before we get into the rules and regulations of MMA itself, we must first explain the regulations of the octagon.

The average octagon size has a diameter of 30ft, with a height of around 6ft. The purpose of it being an octagon shape is so that there aren't chances of being tripped in a corner which effectively means fighter movement can be a lot more fluid than in a boxing ring.

The caged fence was put in place to stop fighters from falling out of the octagon, which was a huge fighter risk in the early days of MMA when bouts were held in boxing rings.

Having the cage as the wall also allows fighters to fight against the fence, which adds a different element to MMA.

The Unified Rules of MMA were adopted in 2001, and this has gone a long way to helping the sport grow.

Firstly, a round is five minutes long with a minute's rest in between, with professional bouts having three rounds, unless it's a title fight or main event which is five rounds.

Each round is scored by three judges where they follow the ten-point must scoring system. The ten-point scoring system means the fighter that won the round earns ten points unless he has a point deducted. Meanwhile, the loser will score nine or less, depending on their performance.

Referees are in charge of maintaining fighter safety and ensuring a clean fight. They will warn fighters and/or deduct a point from them if they are caught doing an illegal move.

Moves such as: eye pokes, headbutts, groin strikes, strikes to the back of the head, biting, grabbing inside of the gloves, and grabbing the cage to avoid being taken down, are all illegal moves.

• Knockout: When a fighter is unable to continue on their own accord after absorbing a blow.
• Technical Knockout: When the referee (or the corner) steps in and stop the fight if they deem a fighter has taken too much punishment.
• Submission: A submission victory is when a fighter verbally quits or taps (three times). The ref can also step in if a fighter goes unconscious due to a choke or suffers a broken limb/joint.
• Disqualification: The referee can disqualify a fighter if they repeatedly perform illegal moves and break rules.
• Unanimous Decision: A unanimous decision win is when all three judges score the fight to the same fighter.
• Split Decision: A split decision win is when two judges score in favour of one fighter, but the third judge scores in favour of the other fighter.
• Majority Decision: A majority decision win is when two judges agree on a winner, while the third judge scores the fight a draw.

Alex Pereira and Khalil Rountree Jr. //Getty Images

With multiple striking-based martial arts such as boxing, Muay Thai and kickboxing, there are several techniques that each of them offer.

Punches:

• Jab: A straight punch from your lead hand.
• Cross: A straight punch from your rear hand.
• Hook: A wide arching punch which is often targeted to the chin or temple.
• Uppercut: A rising punch coming from underneath which aims for the point of your opponent's chin.

Kicks:

• Roundhouse: A whipping kick aimed at your opponent's body or head.
• Front Kick: A front kick (or teep kick) is a straight kick where you aim to connect with your opponent with the base of your foot.
• Leg Kick: There are several types of leg kicks, but the ideas are all the same. The objective is to land on your opponent's calf or thigh in order to hinder their mobility and stability.

Elbows and knees are quite self-explanatory: drive that bone into your opponent's face or body to do damage to them or wind them.

The rise of women's MMA has been nothing short of fascinating. Despite the first ever female MMA bout being documented in 1995, women's fights only broke into the mainstream media when the UFC introduced the world to Ronda Rousey in 2013.

Rousey paved the way for future great UFC champions such as Joanna Jedrzejczyk, Amanda Nunes and Valentina Shevchenko. Nowadays, women's fights are even landing in the main event and co-main event spots on big fight cards.