How a Winner is Determined in MMA

Mixed martial arts have a long history, but the modern incarnation dates back to the 1990s, when organizations in Brazil and Japan started their own competitions for the sport. In 2002, a document was made in New Jersey, essentially standardizing the rules. The rules determined in New Jersey have been adopted by other states. Here are the ways a fighter can win a match.

If one of the fighters forfeits by physically tapping the mat or announcing they are tapping out, the other fighter wins the match. This is called Submission. The corner man for either fighter can also forfeit the match for their fighter. If this happens, a TKO is declared (Technical Knock Out).

If one competitor is knocked unconscious, the other is declared the winner. This is a KO (Knock Out). A match that ends with both parties still standing is scored by the judges to determine the victor. The panel is made up of three judges and the criteria by which they rule are determined by the particular organization the fighters belong to. The match may also be stopped by the referee or the ring doctor. A TKO can also result if the referee calls the match for one of the fighters. To learn more about MMA, visit mmacombat.com. A serious injury can result in the referee calling the match, as can the determination that one of the fighter's is no longer able to defend him or herself.

The match can also be called on account of an illegal action. A fighter gets a warning for committing an illegal act the first two times, and is disqualified after the third. If a fighter is injured by an inadvertent illegal move, the referee may determine a No Contest verdict. The referee may also determine a No Contest verdict if both parties perform illegal moves.

So, which moves are illegal? Fighters cannot engage in biting, hair pulling, or eye gouging. Attacks to the throat, fingers, toes, and groin are also prohibited. Competitors may not attack each other between rounds, or if one of them is being attended to by the referee. Competitors may not grab the cage or the bars or throw their opponent outside of the ring.

The referee is the only one allowed to determine if an action is a foul or not. A foul will result in a one point deduction from the score of the competitor who has committed the foul. For more info about mmacombat, follow the link. If a fighter gets fouled, he or she gets five minutes (or less) to recover. If the person committing the foul is in a bad position (being pinned, for example), and it does not result in injury, the referee may choose to not call a time out and just notify the parties that a foul has been committed.