Big news is the new unified rules on judging and fouls. A few states voted against accepting some or all of the new rules. (New Jersey, Ohio, Missouri, Colorado, Virginia, Maryland, and South Dakota all voted not to adopt the new ABC rules in full.)
New Scoring System
New Scoring System
- 10-10 round to be scored for a completely even fight
- 10-9 to be scored for marginal round win for one fighter
- 10-8 to be scored when there is a large margin between fighters at the end of a round
- 10-7 to be scored when there is overwhelming damage and domination in a round
Fouls
- Success in grappling and striking exchanges to determine winner of rounds
Quality of strikes rather than volume to be given more emphasis
Control of grappling exchanges given emphasis in grappling-dominated fights
HEEL KICKS TO KIDNEYS
- Heel kicks from the guard to the kidneys are no longer a foul
- Referees to pay special attention that heel kicks are not hitting the spine
- Heel kicks from guard to opponent’s legs, buttocks and back and remain legal
GRABBING CLAVICLE
Grabbing the clavicle is no longer deemed a foul by the new unified rules of MMA
EXTENDING FINGERS TOWARD OPPONENT
- Fighters extending fingers out and towards opponents’ faces will be warned by referees
- Action can be stopped for referees to warn fouling fighter. Fighters can also be warned without stoppage
- After being warned several times, if fighter continues to foul referees can stop action and take points
- Fighters can also be disqualified for repeated fouling with extended fingers towards opponents’ faces
GROUNDED FIGHTER
- Fighters are only determined to be grounded when they have both hands, as well as feet on the ground
- Fighters with a single hand on the ground can now be kicked or kneed in the face
- A single hand placed on the canvas can be stomped as fighter is not grounded
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