This is for those that are perhaps new, perhaps curious, but have not found someone to explain the sport. At the risk of oversimplification, here goes:
First and foremost, the Ultimate Fighting Championship is an organization; it is not the sport itself.
The UFC exists in the way that a high caliber league does for any other professional sport. This is not meant to take anything away from the efforts of the UFC; they succeeded in making themselves the brand name for Mixed Martial Arts in North America, arguably the world. To help, liken it to soccer rather than the NFL. In soccer, there is a wide range of organizations throughout the world with some carrying better talent than others do. As is, some soccer leagues are arguably the ‘best’ but when it comes down to it, there is no way of proving one organization has the absolute best of all players. This is different in football, as the NFL does in fact have the best players. Keep this in mind as you become more familiar with other organizations out there such as Japan’s premiere MMA organization, Pride Fighting Championship (the Pride/UFC rivalry exists within the companies and even extends into portions of the fan base), K-1, and Shooto, the US-based International Fight League and King of the Cage, Canada’s TKO, the UK’s Cage Rage, and many others that bring so very much to our sport. So call the sport “Mixed Martial Arts”, not “UFC”, definitely not “cage-fighting”, and you will be on the way to gaining the respect from the established fans.
Most of you have seen matches and you know the way they work. Two fighters engage each other using a variety of skills with the ultimate goal of dispensing defeat to their opponent. As you familiarize yourself with the range of events, realize that rules are implemented differently according to the respective organizations and governing bodies. The main variations deal with fighting within a ring or a cage, whether to allow elbows, and whether to allow certain strikes to a downed opponent. Other than these, there are possible differences in round duration, number of rounds, judges’ scoring, how long they allow fighters to work on the ground before standing them back up, and other technicalities.
Keeping these things in mind, here are a few sections on what you need to know to appreciate the sport:
Elements of MMA Fighting
There are three main components to fighting: Striking, Wrestling, and Grappling. All fighters have know-how in each area but specialization does exist any more. Added to this, training in certain martial arts and practical application will cause these components to overlap. A further explanation on how these elements are used will follow in the section “Strategies in MMA”.
Striking: Yes, hitting each other. But here we mean a polished and highly scientific means of doing it. For the most part, you will see punches and kicks, elbows and knees. However, you will begin to notice how MMA striking is different from boxing or even kickboxing (See “Stand-up and Strike”). Added to this, striking is allowed on the ground and while proficiency in stand-up helps in this area, it is another part of the sport related to the following section. Striking remains as the most impressive and most instinctual means of damaging an opponent but when implemented incorrectly, shortcomings in the striking department can be brutally exposed.
Wrestling: Think of it as what you already would of “wrestling”. Like in its own sport, the objective of MMA wrestling is to establish a dominant position, most often a top position. Keep in mind that several martial arts, such as judo and sambo, have this same goal in mind but do not call themselves “wrestling”. As such, we measure MMA wrestling skill by how well a fighter can take an opponent down and how well they can pin their opponent helplessly beneath them (See “Ground and Pound”). A high level of wrestling ability actually helps accomplish the complete opposite, as good wrestlers will be able to “sprawl” or keep themselves from being taken down or put into an inferior position.
Grappling: Now, stop thinking about what you consider “wrestling”, the two are not synonymous. Grappling is related to the ability of a fighter to manipulate a given situation in order to transition to a better position, yet the ultimate goal is to submit the opponent—“position before submission” still being the motto of all grapplers. The most obvious contrast to wrestling is that a grappler can secure a finish from a seemingly inferior position such as from bottom. Grapplers accomplish the submission through a variety of techniques that include chokes/strangles, joint manipulations, even simply the application of pressure and pain (See “Submission”). Alongside learning how to submit others, grappling incorporates some takedowns, defense against strikes and escapes/counters to submissions. For roughly the first decade of modern MMA, grappling seemingly reigned supreme but in the modern shift of MMA it has become apparent that this skill is arguably the most difficult to learn and execute. The reason being is that it may take a lifetime to learn to apply submissions, yet only a fraction of the time to learn to nullify them.
Others: As stated earlier, the distinctions made here are for the purpose of simplification. Among other components left out are clinching, throwing, and other specialties.
Strategies in MMA
What is most important to understand is that few fighters excel at all components mentioned above, as either you are not naturally made to be proficient in all areas, or inevitably effort and time become scarce and a fighter must decide on what works best for them. Therefore, most often we discuss MMAists in terms of styles (i.e. a striker, a wrestler, a grappler). For some domestic and mainstream examples: Chuck Liddell a striker with good wrestling, Matt Hughes a wrestler with good grappling, BJ Penn a grappler with good striking. Based on these abilities fighters will undertake several different strategies.
Stand-up and Strike: Good strikers often dedicated the bulk of their training to finishing an opponent via punishing combinations or the always-decisive knockout. To compensate for the decrease in wrestling and grappling they will, of course, try to keep the fight standing. In order to do this striking techniques are modified so as not to leave themselves vulnerable to tie-ups, throws, and the like—sometimes this is actually accomplished by being supremely aggressive. If you see a traditional striker first make their move into MMA, you will note why the striking is different. This is not to say training in other areas is overlooked. Wrestling becomes a means of defending against takedowns. Grappling becomes a means of preventing submission. Recognize this strategy when you see fighters scramble to their feet or stand over a downed opponent and not engage.
Ground and Pound: Self-explanatory to an extent. In two parts: Take your opponent to the Ground and Pound them into utter defeat. Wrestlers excel in this area but are not the only ones to rely on this method. However, keep in mind that with dedication to this strategy, power and strength receive emphasis over great striking and slick submission work. In fact, some ground and pounders have very poor striking and finishing technique. This will help you understand why a fighter will sometimes repeatedly attempt for takedowns even though they take punishment and tire out. Furthermore, even though a fighter may force the contest to the mat, they may be so bad at striking and submission that critics will jokingly call their strategy “lay and pray”. This happens when the fighter takes top position but is so inept at damaging an opponent that they must lay on top and pray for a favorable judges’ decision.
Submission: Essentially, the focus is to seek a controlling position in which you take minimal damage and work towards applying an absolute submission. This being a no-questions-asked means of defeating an opponent either by making them go unconscious or crippling them. A tradeoff theme will follow throughout this strategy: taking strikes or getting thrown in order to take the match to the ground (highlighted by the fighter’s act of pulling an opponent down on top of themselves), giving the opponent an opportunity to escape or reverse in order to seek a better position or the submission, risking self-exhaustion by trying to apply a finishing technique, etc. However, one of the true and tested means of avoiding a submission is a punch in the face. Also, keep in mind that while a grappler can seemingly be losing a fight, a submission is the only other spilt-second victory aside from a knockout.
“The Puncher’s Chance”: Not the most tactical strategy, but this is a throwback term used in boxing to describe the reality that no matter what, it is a fight and both guys are going to get hit. Following that line of thought, some fighters will simply go and try to beat up an opponent relaying on toughness, instinct, and athleticism. Extremely wild, and sometimes a bit sloppy, this can also make for a very entertaining match. At the same time, fighters that can use this method effectively are rare and suffer from limitations in other areas, especially as they face higher-level competition and wear away due to injury or age.
“???”: I hate to have a miscellaneous category, but this is it. An even harder one to label, but there exists an all-encompassing game plan that many well-rounded MMAists currently use. In short, use everything you know to finish your opponent. The other side to this is to use everything your opponent does not know against them, to take them out of their element and expose their weaknesses. It can be sudden, or it can turn into a war of attrition, but the emphasis is on actively imposing a game plan onto the competition, outlasting them with superior conditioning, and wearing them down with measured aggression. This tactic combines the above strategies in a variety of scenarios: Beat up an opponent standing, take them to the ground, and beat them until you have the opportunity to apply a submission, or go back to the feet to beat them some more. Though clearly the essence of Mixed Martial Arts, this strategy is highly dependant on a fighter’s abilities. In fact, you will only see this style from the most gifted MMAists.
A Final Word on Strategy: When considering an opponent, it is possible to pick up not only on their styles, strengths, and weaknesses, but also on their tendencies, preferences, and even their mentality. Having an accurate scouting report on an opposing fighter can prove invaluable if one is able to develop a specialized line of attack. Even if an opponent has a definitive advantage in every aspect of the game, it is entirely possible to defeat them with proper scheming. Also, remember anything can happen in a fight.
Match-ups in MMA
The following section is only meant to give the MMA beginner a sense of how certain styles match-up in a fight. This is not intended to show any sort of “rock, paper, scissor” system or narrow the way we look at MMA. Following each scenario is a ‘mainstream’ fight example for those that would like to do further research into this area. Note: The MMAists exemplified a given style in the mentioned fight; this is not to say that we label them as ONLY that style or that we should fail to appreciate their talents in other areas.
Striker Vs Striker: This is usually a good showing, especially if the fighters are aggressive and have equal skill in areas of wrestling and grappling. However, strikers will occasionally have long feeling out periods in which they truly want to engage, but are patiently, at times too patiently, looking for opportunities. Often the less aware fan can mistakenly see this as hesitation but watch the fighter’s movement to distinguish bad pace from bad intentions. Ex. Chuck Liddell Vs Guy Metzger and Wanderlei Silva Vs Mirko Filipovic.
Striker Vs Wrestler: This can be a very entertaining fight, or utterly lackluster. Part of the allure in this clash is that the objective of each fighter is plain to see. The difference will be in how good the “wrestler” (see above section on MMA wrestling) is at getting the fight to the ground, keeping it there, and weathering the damage needed to do so. In that respect, if a downed striker cannot get up, they will hold on to cause a restart due to a lull in action. The wrestler can overcome this defense by effectively striking on the ground. Ex. The Chuck Liddell Vs Randy Couture trilogy.
Striker Vs Grappler: Another hit or miss match-up that hails back to the origins of the sport. With the right mix these can be back and forth wars that can last the length of the match but at any time can end in mere seconds. Get excited if you know both the fighters are aggressive, the striker has good submission defense and wrestling, and the grappler has a good chin. Ex. Kimo Leopoldo Vs Royce Gracie, and the lesser seen fight, Patrick Cote Vs Joe Doerksen.
Wrestler Vs Wrestler: These fights can be scrambling and slamming matches with little other action unless the two have rounded out their other skills. However, if they are indeed diversified and can cancel out each other’s pinning ability, look for a mean, mean fight. Ex. Diego Sanchez Vs Karo Parisyan (Note how judo is MMA “wrestling” as defined in the Elements section).
Wrestler Vs Grappler: To the fans of the intricacies of groundwork, these fights are potentially as exciting as any other match-up. To some others these contests can be non-spectacular. A good variation of this contest is when a great ground and pounder meets a great grappler. Ex. Both Matt Hughes Vs BJ Penn fights and Fedor Emelianenko Vs Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira I, II, and III.
Grappler Vs Grappler: Some would designate this as the most technical match-up in the sport but this can also translate to the most boring. When there is pure grappling, it can be very slow, methodical, and hard to follow. However, once you can appreciate the nuances, transitions, and dynamic explosiveness, it can be highly entertaining. Just like other situations, the quality of the fight to improve if the competitors excel in other areas. Ex. Georges St Pierre Vs BJ Penn.
Note: If you are interested in pure grappling, look for footage from the Abu Dhabi Combat Club, Grappler’s Quest, Professional Submission League, North American Grappling Association, and various grappling tournaments domestic and abroad.
Other Match-ups: The truth is that strategies factor in quite a lot regardless of what “mold” the MMAists fall into. We can write up any match-up on paper, but in the end, that is not where they fight it. Not to mention that once you want to hurt someone and they want to do the same to you, things can get distracting to say the least. As Quinton Jackson said before he fought Chuck Liddell, “I’m gonna bring da streets.” And that worked.
“Wait! But I read all this ‘cause I want to fight!”
OK. OK. Some parting words for those curious about what they should “do”. Really, everyone is different: size, body types, flexibility, strength, power, athleticism, mental aptitude, chin, toughness, experience, durability, personal taste, etc, etc… are all variables that factor into how you should train and in what areas. There are many lessons in other topics such as conditioning, diet, weight-cutting, pre-fight regimen, even marketability as a fighter, the business of fighting, matchmaking, marketing, running a camp, etc. If you would really like to train, look to the internet to find good schools near you, talk to your fellow fans, familiarize yourself with the sport, watch the events, and get the proper gear here at MMAUniverse.com.
Parting Words:
This is competition in its purest form. Mixed Martial Arts is a sport natural to our primitive instincts, highlighted by our physical prowess, and emphasized by our intellectual aptitude. It was ages ago that one person thought to prove superiority over another through personal challenge, saying in their own language, perhaps with a shove, “I am better than you and I can prove it.” Over time, all competition derived from this, for if one could not dominate another in a fight, one would prove that they could run faster, jump higher, or be stronger. Yet, for all that mainstream sports have evolved, we have finally returned to our roots. As such, the world of MMA is glad to have you abroad.
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