One of MMApunk’s top commenter Geoff “loco” Motive left a comment asking a great question.
A couple of my MMA pool buddies and I are wondering….. We’ve seen fights that end with a guy tapping out due to Strikes and they call the end of the fight ( SUBMISSION DUE TO STRIKES) now if you can earn a SUB via the way of striking… WHY….can’t a fight which ended in the manner that the Thiago Swick fight ended which was a choke that Swick NEVER TAPPED from be ( KO due to a ……. choke ) . We have been wondering and making our own cases for both sides of this arguement and most of us feel that Paulo’s victory could have easily been ruled a KO. …….. Do you get what I”m saying here? We would love your input or for that matter anyone else to give us some feed back.
Geoff I have wondered the same thing many times but never took the time to find a answer. This will be a learning experience for me and maybe sheds some light on your question.
According to the unified rules of MMA , there are only three ways a fight can be stopped KO,TKO and Submission.
KO:as soon as a fighter becomes unconscious due to strikes.
Submission: a fighter may admit defeat during a match by:A tap on the body, mat or verbal announcement.
TKO:a fighter becomes dominant to the point where the opponent is unable to intelligently defend himself, goes unconscious from a grappling hold or has significant injury. Also doctor stoppage or corner stoppage.
To answer your question, Thiago choked Swick until he went unconscious by the unified rules of MMA that would be ruled a TKO. I went to Sherdog.com and looked up fighter stats for Paulo Thiago. Sherdog has Paulo Thiago winning the fight by Technical Submission. That’s a new one for me. What other kind of submission is there. I’m just as gulity as the next guy for not doing my homework and knowing the rules of MMA. UFC .com has Paulo winning the fight by submission which is wrong. The rule clearly states a submission is a fighter admitting defeat. How could Swick admit defeat when he was dreaming about going to Disney World? If the UFC is reporting the fights wrong, that just opened up the door for more questions. Who right and who’s wrong?
I believe people that are reporting the fights have forgotten the basic rules and are trying to spice things up with different terminology. Now we know the rules we can start calling people out on there mistakes.
Geoff thanks for asking such a great question. I hope this helps in your debate.
I have included the entire list of ways to victory for everyone to read.
Ways to victory
*Knockout (KO): as soon as a fighter becomes unconscious due to strikes, his opponent is declared the winner. As MMA rules allow ground fighting, the fight is stopped to prevent further injury to an unconscious fighter.
*Submission: a fighter may admit defeat during a match by:
a tap on the opponent’s body;
a tap on the mat or floor;
verbal announcement.
*Technical Knockout (TKO)
*Referee Stoppage: the referee may stop a match in progress if:
a fighter becomes dominant to the point where the opponent is unable to intelligently defend himself from attacks, which may occur as quickly as a few seconds;
a fighter appears to be unconscious from a grappling hold;
a fighter appears to have developed significant injuries in the referee’s view, such as a broken bone.
Doctor Stoppage: the referee will call for a time out if a fighter’s ability to continue is in question as a result of apparent injuries, such as a large cut. The ring doctor will inspect the fighter and stop the match if the fighter is deemed unable to continue safely, rendering the opponent the winner. However, if the match is stopped as a result of an injury from illegal actions by the opponent, either a disqualification or no contest will be issued instead.
Corner stoppage: a fighter’s corner men may announce defeat on the fighter’s behalf by throwing in the towel during the match in progress or between rounds.
Decision: if the match goes the distance, then the outcome of the bout is determined by three judges. The judging criteria are organization-specific.
Forfeit: a fighter or his representative may forfeit a match prior to the beginning of the match, thereby losing the match.
Disqualification: a “warning” will be given when a fighter commits a foul or illegal action or does not follow the referee’s instruction. Three warnings will result in a disqualification. Moreover, if a fighter is injured and unable to continue due to a deliberate illegal technique from his opponent, the opponent will be disqualified.
No Contest: in the event that both fighters commit a violation of the rules, or a fighter is unable to continue due to an injury from an accidental illegal technique, the match will be declared a “No Contest”.
Fouls
The following acts are universally considered fouls in the mixed martial arts world:
Headbutting.
Eye gouging.
Hair pulling.
Biting.
Downward Elbow Strikes.
Fish-hooking.
Attacking the groin.
Strikes to the back of the head and spinal area. (see Rabbit punch)
Strikes to, or grabs of the trachea
.
Small joint manipulation (control of three or more fingers/toes is necessary).
Intentionally throwing your opponent out of the ring/cage.
Running out of the ring/cage.
Purposely holding the ring ropes or cage fence.
Grabbing or putting a hand inside the trunks or gloves of the opponent.
Kneeing an opponent in the head while he is on the ground (knee or body on the ground)(UFC)
Related posts:
{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }
This is certainly an interesting way to look at things.
Jack´s last blog ..l_ff8861148e394b6d9a0c7f882be2eccd
[Reply]
Thanks James. We knew we could count on ya. While I’m now certainly clear on the rules and my good buddy E SHAAKZ who originally started the converasation amongst me and my other buds is satisfied he was correct in his observations of the stoppages, we are still a little troubled that UFC isn’t getting this thing right. We all agreed that no matter what verrying results may be on the end of fights that we will score our pool based on the official beakdown on UFC.com following every pool. We would really like to see the UFC get this one right. I wish we could send UfC an email and get someone’s take on this, some how it just seems impossible to obtain such an answer. I cant help it but I’m a little frusterated with this whole thing. Once again thank you very much MMA PUNK!!!!!
[Reply]
T Vitiello Reply:
February 15th, 2010 at 12:38 pm
Great article, thanks you so much!
T Vitiello´s last blog ..Hypertraining Your Core
[Reply]
sangalicious1 Reply:
February 15th, 2010 at 9:49 pm
Very intresting questions, Geoff, you and pals definately are true Fans, like James, John, and I.
. Good Luck on your picks this time bud.
[Reply]
Geoff "loco"motive Byers Reply:
February 15th, 2010 at 11:05 pm
U2 Sang. thx
[Reply]
Geoff
I just got a email from a MMA fans. He thinks that there are slowly going to change a submission to Technical Submission. Even if they go unconscious.More food for thought. I answered a lot of question but now I have more question I would like answered.
[Reply]
Geoff "loco"motive Byers Reply:
February 14th, 2010 at 7:44 pm
What would that be?
[Reply]
Jack
Thanks for taking the time to read the post.
[Reply]
Very interesting post with a great question, I think it’s pretty funny that the UFC doesn’t even record the fight properly. Might not seem like a big deal now but in 30 years when they are looking back on fights they will be saying things like, “Before that was made official” a lot.
Extreme John´s last blog ..My Week in Business Marketing
[Reply]
Nice article, thanks for the usefull info
[Reply]
Hmm that was weird, my comment got eaten. Anyway I desired to say that it is good to realize that someone else also mentioned this as I experienced trouble finding the exact same info elsewhere. This was the first place that told me the answer. Thanks.
[Reply]
Phillip Earl Stanhope~ Whatever is worth doing at all is worth doing well.
[Reply]