New Unified Rules Passed

by Kid Nate on Jul 3, 2008 10:48 PM EDT in News

A revised edition of the Unified Rules of Mixed Martial Arts was passed Thursday by the Association of Boxing Commissions via a majority vote at the ABC's annual conference.

The amended document -- drafted by the ABC's MMA Chairman Dale Kliparchuk, New Jersey State Athletic Control Board Deputy Attorney Nick Lembo, ABC President Timothy Leuckenhoff and veteran referee "Big" John McCarthy -- primarily provided clarifications to the already existing Unified Rules instituted in April 2001 that serve as a regulatory beacon for the sport throughout North America.

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Forty regulatory bodies were in attendance for the annual event. The California State Athletic Commission and the Nevada State Athletic Commission, both known for regulating a large amount of MMA events in their states, did not attend.

Notable rules changes include:

The back of the head is clearly defined as the "Mohawk" definition -- "crown of the head down the centerline of the skull into the spine, with a one-inch variance to each side."
Downward elbow strikes are now legal unless aimed at protected areas.
Smothering the mouth or nose of an opponent is now a foul.
Weight classes are changed as well:

Fourteen weight classes are now defined in the men's division under the Unified Rules, beginning at the 105-pound flyweight division and moving up in 10-pound increments to super heavyweight at 265 pounds and over. In particular, the welterweight division will now range from 165-175 pounds, while light heavyweight fighters will be specified between 205-225 pounds. Heavyweight entrants will be asked to weigh in between 225-265 pounds.

UPDATE: via FightOpinion here's the complete breakdown of the new weight classes:

MEN’S DIVISIONS

Flyweight (Up to 105 pounds)
Super Flyweight (Over 105.1 to 115 lbs)
Bantamweight (Over 115.1 to 125 lbs)
Super Bantamweight (Over 125.1 to 135 lbs)
Featherweight (Over 135.1 to 145 lbs)
Lightweight (Over 145.1 to 155 lbs)
Super Lightweight (Over 155.1 to 165 lbs)
Welterweight (Over 165.1 to 175 lbs)
Super Welterweight (Over 175.1 to 185 lbs)
Middleweight (Over 185.1 to 195 lbs)
Super Middleweight (Over 195.1 to 205 lbs)
Light Heavyweight (Over 205.1 to 225 lbs)
Heavyweight (Over 225.1 to 265 lbs)
Super Heavyweight (Over 265.1 pounds)

WOMEN’S DIVISIONS

Flyweight (95 lbs. and below)
Bantamweight (95.1-105 lbs.)
Featherweight (105.1-115 lbs.)
Lightweight (115.1-125 lbs.)
Welterweight (125.1-135 lbs.)
Middleweight (135.1-145 lbs.)
Light Heavyweight (145.1-155 lbs.)
Cruiserweight (155.1-165 lbs.)
Heavyweight (165.1-185 lbs.)
Super Heavyweight (185.1 and above)

Download the full rules here.

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Wow, the weight classes are a major change.

by Popetastic on Jul 3, 2008 10:57 PM EDT 0 recs

Wow

I wonder what this means for the UFC

by TannerMatthews on Jul 3, 2008 10:59 PM EDT 0 recs

Ah, here we go:

Promotions will not be required to adopt the new weight divisions. However, if they do not, they will not be following Unified Rules.

I would actually like to see UFC use the new divisions. They would have to rename the belt that Rampage is holding. Guys like Nogueira would likely qualify for “Light Heavyweight,” while guys like Lesnar would still need to cut to make the 265-lb HW limit. This is very interesting.

by Popetastic on Jul 3, 2008 11:11 PM EDT 0 recs

but

they also have to fill 2 divisions with heavyweight being arguably there weakest division and now they’re splitting it. Do you think guys like Rampage, chuck, forrest will still cut to 205 and guys big nog, fedor, veras be fighting in the light heavy division. it’ll interesting to see how things unfold.

by TannerMatthews on Jul 3, 2008 11:46 PM EDT up 0 recs

So…all of these changes but no knees to the head on the ground.

by Tonley on Jul 3, 2008 11:12 PM EDT 0 recs

I know Big John wanted that rule reinstated. I guess he couldn’t convince the other guys.

by Popetastic on Jul 3, 2008 11:18 PM EDT up 0 recs

UFC will just laugh it off. They aint changing their weight classes.

by MrNiceGuyMMA on Jul 3, 2008 11:24 PM EDT 0 recs

I don't think so

I think it means to much to say they follow the unified rules to not change it.

by TannerMatthews on Jul 3, 2008 11:44 PM EDT up 0 recs

Meh

I don’t see why they wouldn’t just ignore the 165, 195, and 225 weight classes, the same way they currently ignore 145 and under.

And I also don’t see a problem with a lot of “catch weights” of 170 to keep their current WW division, or just moving it to 175. It all doesn’t really matter until some ACs start approving these rules, since the ABC changing the unified rules doesn’t really affect anything until the ACs change their rules individually.

As for the other rules, if the ACs ban smothering the UFC has to, the refs will enforce whatever back of the head rule the commission tell them, and I can’t think of any reason why the UFC would continue to ban the 12-6 elbows if commission say they are legal. They keep pushing for knees to the ground, so I’m sure they’d be open to more types of strikes if they became legal.

by Phildo on Jul 4, 2008 12:09 AM EDT up 0 recs

I always thought covering people’s mouth and/or nose was a cool move

by monkeyfightclub! on Jul 3, 2008 11:35 PM EDT 0 recs

I never had much of an opinion on it until I saw it in the Silva/Hendo match. It’s fine for KOTC but it just looks cheap in high level matches like that. Good rule change, IMO, along with the downward elbows. Maybe we’ll get the knees someday…

by ChrisNelson on Jul 3, 2008 11:44 PM EDT up 0 recs

Same here, it never bothered me much until the Hendo/Silva fight when Hendo was really under the spotlight to finally test Silva and when I saw him doing that I couldn’t help but think IF THIS IS HIS BIG TEST, I didn’t see him having much problem passing. It’s a great rule change and I’m also glad they’ve cleared up the elbow ?’s definitively. The knees will come once Big John can get people on board. It’s a rule I want to see changed

all you gotta do is...

by imapimp08 on Jul 4, 2008 10:50 AM EDT up 0 recs

I was just sick of hearing – in every single match that went to the ground – Mike Goldberg say, “So-and-so is covering the mouth, not to smother his opponent, obviously, but just to disrupt his breathing.” And then whoever was sitting next to Goldie would have to say something like, “uh, yeah. That’s great.”

Don't believe a word I say, I don't train BJJ. -- TangleBones

by jemaleddin on Jul 4, 2008 8:55 AM EDT up 0 recs

Haha

I was waiting for somebody to point that out.

by thetakeover on Jul 4, 2008 12:59 PM EDT up 0 recs

Pretty good news for Thiago Alves, right?

by Mike Fagan on Jul 4, 2008 3:58 AM EDT 0 recs

Exactly what I was thinking.

by idefinecagefighter on Jul 4, 2008 5:40 AM EDT up 0 recs

Yeah haha

by goo on Jul 4, 2008 10:19 AM EDT 0 recs

I like the simplicity of the weightclasses the UFC has. The unified rules present too many weight classes, similar to boxing.

by monkeyfightclub! on Jul 4, 2008 2:14 PM EDT 0 recs

I may be missing something, but what is gained by changing up the weight classes? If there is a deep enough pool of fighters, I can understand using the 10 lb. increments. I don’t think the UFC even has enough good fighters to fill out all the divisions, though. Squeezing the heavyweight division into a 40 lb.increment seems odd.

by Cannon J on Jul 4, 2008 3:36 PM EDT 0 recs