One of the most popular sports in America, mixed martial arts or MMA is rapidly taking off the fighting scene at the moment. It was promoted by the Ultimate Fighting Championship or UFC that is why some people also refer to it as ultimate fighting. For those of you who do not know, MMA is a combat sport that combines the techniques used in grappling and striking as both fighters stand on the ground. The main goal of MMA is to determine which is the best overall fighter, which means that contenders that use various fighting styles like boxing, jiu-jitsu, wrestling, Muay Thai, and kickboxing techniques are very welcome to join.
The origin of the mixed martial arts can be tracked back from the earlier seasons of Olympics when a form of martial arts called Pankration was used. At the start of early 1900’s, contests that used various forms of martial arts were held on Japan, Europe, and Pacific Rim. During 1920’s, Brazil developed the combat sport Vale Tudo, which was carried in the United States on 1993 by the prominent sporting family Gracie who founded the Ultimate Fighting Championship or UFC.
Primarily, Vale Tudo allowed the utilization of dangerous fighting techniques. However, this was later made safe by the UFC, as they implemented new rules, which are still carried on the form of mixed martial arts at present. In 1995, Battlecade CEO and president coined the term mixed martial arts, which is now becoming as popular as professional wrestling and boxing.
2 Main Rules
Since the earlier era of Pankration, the rules of mixed martial arts have significantly changed. Some of these rules include the following:
- Aside from getting into mixed martial arts training, fighters will have to undergo weight classes as the promoters believe that weight is a very important factor in this sport. Currently, there are a total of nine weight classes, which include the flyweight, bantamweight, featherweight, lightweight, welterweight, middleweight, light heavyweight, heavyweight and super heavyweight.
- In addition, proper wearing of mixed martial arts gear is implemented. This gear comes in the form of open-fingered mixed martial arts gloves, which protect the fighter’s hands from cuts and injuries. The current most trusted manufacturer of this fightwear is Hayabusa MMA, which offers not only gloves, but a fine selection of shirts, shorts, and hoodies as well.
There you have the comprehensive definition of mixed martial arts. Because of the strength and flexibility of the fighters, it becomes a very amazing and a must-watch sport.