What is Mixed Martial Arts?

Mixed Martial Arts is known as MMA for short and it is based on combat sports like Boxing, Kick Boxing and like all other combat sports that exists. The difference between MMA and the other combat sports is that all of those combat sports are in MMA as it is mixed so it is combined by other combat sports like; Boxing, Kick Boxing, Muya Thai, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Wrestling. These are the main type of sports that in MMA, are combined with each other and they would make the fight/the sport more interesting.



  

MMA (Ground Floor)

 



MMA (Stand-up)



The largest MMA organisation is without any doubt the UFC, which operates as a professional mixed martial arts organization. We can say that MMA is UFC because all the professional fighters, fights in it.

   




UFC Logo





 MMA is divided in weight classes, and I'm going to talk about this with reference to the UFC organisation.
    The first weight class is for who weighs 57Kg-61Kg and it is called the Bantamweight division.

Dominick Cruz (61Kg)
UFC Bantamweight Champion



     The second weight class is for who weighs 62Kg-65Kg and it is called the Featherweight division.



Jose Aldo (65Kg)
UFC Featherweight Champion



 The third weight class is for who weighs 66Kg-70Kg and it is called the Lightweight division.

Frankie Edgar (70Kg)

UFC Lightweight Champion



     The fourth weight class is for who weighs 71Kg-77Kg and it is called the Welterweight division.

George St-Pierre (77Kg)

UFC Welterweight Champion



     The fifth weight class is for who weighs 78Kg-84Kg and it is called the Middleweight division.

Anderson Silva (84Kg)

UFC Middleweight Champion



     The sixth weight class is for who weighs 85Kg-93Kg and it is called the Light Heavyweight division.

Jon Jones (93Kg)
UFC Light Heavyweight Champion



     The seventh weight class is for who weighs 94Kg-120Kg and it is called the Heavyweight division.

Junior Dos Santos (108Kg)
UFC Heavyweight Champion



After some information about the weight classes I'm going to talk about; where the fights are fought, what a fighter should wear and how a fighter can win.

Like boxing, MMA fights can be fought in a ring, but most of the fights, are fought in a cage known as 'The Octagon' because its shape is like an octagon. This cage have eight 'walls' that are made of metal chain-link fence and are coated with black vinyl. Between each 'wall' there if foam padding for safety and even there are two entry/exit doors. The fence is a bit bouncy and the mat is made of rubber, but it doesn't bounce.



MMA Cage
'The Octagon'



Fighters should wear a specific gear to be able to fight, this includes; mouth guard, gloves, groin guard and shorts. The mouth guard and the groin guard are used for safety and for protection to the fighter. Unlike the boxing gloves, MMA gloves are small and they only have some padding on the knuckles because the fingers of the fighter won't be covered so he could be able to fight even from the ground.



Mouth Guard





Groin Guard





MMA Gloves



MMA Shorts

  The final thing that I'm going to talk about is how a fighter can win a fight. There are three simply methods to understand how a fighter can win the fight. The first common method is by knockout(KO), this happens when a fighter finishes the other one with several punches or kicks. The second method is by a submission, this happens when a fighter make a technique on the other one; like a choke or a type of lock and many other techniques, and he would tap for that submission or the referee would stop the fight if he see that the fighter in unconscious and can't continue the fight. The last method is by judges decision, this happens when the fighters survive all rounds and then the judges decide who's the winner by points or if the fighters would have the same points they will give the fight a draw.




 Knockout

Knockout (KO)

  



 Submission

Submission

  



 Referee Stops The Fight

Referee Stops The Fight

 




 Judges Decisoin

Judges Decision