Organizations:
Mixed martial arts (MMA) is a full
contact combat sport in which a wide variety of fighting techniques are
used, including striking and grappling.
Modern mixed martial arts tournaments as a popular phenomenon emerged in
1993 with the Ultimate Fighting Championship, based on the concept of
pitting different fighting styles against each other in competition with
minimal rules in place, in an attempt to determine which system would be
more effective in a real, unregulated combat situation. In the late
1990s and early 2000s, mixed martial arts events implemented additional
rules for the safety of the athletes and to promote acceptance of the
sport, while maintaining as much of the original no-holds-barred concept
as possible. Since these changes, the sport has grown rapidly, to the
point of setting pay-per-view records.
The history of the modern MMA event can be traced to the Gracie family's
vale tudo martial arts tournaments in Brazil starting in the 1920s, and
early mixed martial arts matches hosted by Antonio Inoki in Japan in the
1970s. The fighting concept of combining various combat disciplines
gained popularity in the late 1960s and early 1970s with the emergence
of Bruce Lee and his theories of mixing various martial art styles. The
sport gained international exposure and widespread publicity in the
United States in 1993, when Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu fighter Royce Gracie
dominated the Ultimate
Fighting Championship, sparking a revolution in the martial
arts, while in Japan the continued interest in the sport resulted in the
creation of the PRIDE Fighting Championships in 1997.
Though rules have been adopted, there is
no general sanctioning body for the sport, and the sets of rules vary
according to the laws of individual organizations and localities. It was
thought that Olympic recognition would be forthcoming for the 2004
Summer Olympics, held in Athens, under the banner of
pankration. However, the
International Olympic Committee was unconvinced that Greece could handle
the total number of sports proposed. To placate the IOC, the organizers
removed all new medal sports and pankration missed out.
The techniques utilized in mixed martial arts competition generally fall
into two categories: striking techniques (such as kicks, knees and
punches) and grappling techniques (such as clinch holds, pinning holds,
submission holds, sweeps, takedowns and throws). Some unarmed hand to
hand combat techniques are considered illegal in most or all modern
competition, such as biting, eye-gouging, fish-hooking and small joint
manipulation. Over the last ten years, strikes to the groin have become
illegal in all sanctioned organizations. The legality of
other techniques such as elbows, head butts and spinal locks vary
according to competition or organization.
A victory in a bout is normally gained by the judges' decision after an
allotted amount of time has elapsed, a stoppage by the referee or the
fight doctor (in the event that the competitor is injured or can no
longer defend himself intelligently), a submission, by a competitor's
corner man throwing in the towel, or by knockout.
While competition in the sport is occasionally depicted as brutal by the
media, there was no death or crippling injury in a sanctioned event
in North America until the death of Houston, Texas fighter Sam Vasquez
on November 30, 2007. Vasquez collapsed shortly after being knocked out
in the third round of an October 20 fight at the Toyota Center in
Houston by Vince Libardi. Vasquez had two separate surgeries to remove
blood clots from his brain, and shortly after the second operation
suffered a major stroke and never regained consciousness. The only other
verified fatality in competition is the 1998 death of Douglas Dedge in
an unsanctioned fight in Ukraine. There are unconfirmed reports that
Dedge had a pre-existing medical condition. Questions also have been
asked about the health of Vasquez before his final bout, although no
firm information has yet surfaced. Since he was age 35, he would have
had to undergo extensive pre-fight medical screening in order to obtain
a license to compete in Texas.
A study by Johns Hopkins University concluded "The overall injury rate
[excluding injury to the brain] in MMA competitions is now similar to
other combat sports [involving striking], including boxing. Knockout
rates are lower in MMA competitions than in boxing. This suggests a
reduced risk of TBI in MMA competitions when compared to other events
involving striking."
As a result of sporting events, martial
arts training, information sharing, and modern kinesiology, the
understanding of the combat-effectiveness of various strategies has been
greatly improved. UFC commentator Joe Rogan has claimed that martial
arts have evolved more in the ten years following 1993 than in the
preceding 700 years.
The early years of the sport saw a wide variety of traditional
styles�everything from sumo to kickboxing� and the continual evolution
of the sport has gradually eliminated less effective techniques and
"pure" styles, usually because specialized fighters were lacking in
skills to deal with broader techniques.
In the early 1990s, three styles stood out for their effectiveness in
competition: Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, amateur wrestling and shoot wrestling.
This may be attributable in part to the grappling emphasis of the
aforementioned styles, which, perhaps due to the scarcity of mixed
martial arts competitions prior to the early 90s, had been neglected by
most practitioners of striking-based arts.
Fighters who combined amateur wrestling with striking techniques
dominated the standing portion of a fight, whilst Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu
stylists had a distinct advantage on the ground: those unfamiliar with
submission grappling proved to be unprepared to deal with its submission
techniques. Shoot wrestling practitioners offered a balance of amateur
wrestling ability and catch wrestling based submissions, resulting in a
generally well-rounded set of skills. The shoot wrestlers were
especially successful in Japan, where this style initially dominated
others.
As competitions became more and more common, those with a base in
striking became more competitive as they acquainted themselves with
takedowns and submission holds, leading to notable upsets against the
then dominant grapplers. Subsequently, those from the varying grappling
styles learned from each other's strengths and shortcomings, and added
striking techniques to their arsenal. This overall development of
increased cross-training resulted in the fighters becoming increasingly
multi-dimensional and well-rounded in their skills. One of the first
fighters to be considered the prototype for mixed martial arts was UFC
middleweight champion,
Frank Shamrock.
"During his reign atop the sport in the late 1990s he was the prototype
� he could strike with the best strikers; he could grapple with the best
grapplers; his endurance was second to none."
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