Two massive changes in UFC policy were made this weekend at Edmonton.
The November 2 Fight Night, featuring a flyweight main event between Brandon Moreno and Amir Albazi, features tweaks to two controversial rules: Both the 12-6 elbow ban, and the grounded opponent rule.
The Association of Boxing Commissions and Combative Sports actually decided on the changes back in July.
No More 12-6 Ban
The 12-6 elbow hit rule has also been taken out. It is a good thing that fighters will not be constrained by the rule which has been an issue of debate for quite some time now. The previous and rather vague regulation focused on a referee’s discretion and the clarification with a definition of a 12-6 elbow was not helped by having refs with their own understanding of what a downward elbow is.
It’s so weirdly specific that it makes you wonder why we even have the rule,” Referee John McCarthy said to MMA Junkie in 2014. “… if it only applies when the offending fighter is throwing the elbow in a perfect perpendicular line with the floor, most situations would render that illegal or ineffective anyway. That is why there could be introduced adopted already prohibition to strike the base of the head or the spinal cord.
New definition of Grounded Opponent
No longer will fighters be able to place a hand on the ground to avoid leg strikes by shinning protect ourselves with our arms. The new ‘downed fighter’ definition is as follows:
“A grounded fighter shall not be legally kneed or kicked to the head if any part of his / her body apart from hands and feet is touching the canvas (ground).” (h/t Ariel Helwani)
This means a fighter can only touch the ground in any other part of the body apart from the hands or feet.
