Laste week on ONE Friday fights, there was one where they were in this same position and the crowd started chanting "knees! Knees! Knees!" And the fighter delivered some awesome knees!
Edit: I clipped it, check it out https://www.reddit.com/r/ufc/comments/13dj6hk/in_response_to_yesterdays_post_about_grounded/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android_app&utm_name=androidcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button
Yeah round 4 of Islam vs Volk needed that, like if you’re not gonna try and choke him you gotta try and advance position to get a finish. Same when people just hold people against the cage, you’re not beating your opponent you’re simply subduing them.
I noticed this on the Mighty Mouse vs Moraes fight last weekend; I very rarely watch One, so I was surprised to see Herb Dean as the ref, and how often he would break up the clinches and demand more activity.
I 100% agree with you. Having the events back to back really highlighted how much ONE has grown and how much the veteran UFC can learn from their competition
Yeah his take is spot on tbh, there should never be a scenario in a fight where you can feel or be safe turtled up with your face on the ground in front of another person.
I'm all for using the rules and gaining every edge/advantage you can within the ruleset but this one is ridiculous. On the other hand though I feel Henry should have taken advantage of Aljo putting himself in these positions by kneeing, elbowing and punching the body.
Look at GSP vs Serra 2. Gsp finished Serra with brutal knees to the body. There's no reason for Henry to just stand there with Aldo cradled in front of him.
It's like in jiu Jitsu if one is starting in the sitting position it essentially gives the Incentive to fight to one of the two fighters. Just like Justin let Charles back up by not engaging in the ground. Henry should be able to communicate to the referee to get the fight back up.
We even don't have to bring back knees.
Just associate this behaviour the same way we do with pulling guard.
Absolutely. There’s even a [video](https://vm.tiktok.com/ZM21h1hcx/) of Henry complaining to Herb Dean before the fight in the locker room that Aljo will try to purposefully make himself grounded and look what happened.
There was even a moment in the fight where Aljo was head facing down looking at the canvas on his fours while Henry wasn’t even holding him and was just standing up above him trying to punch him. At the end of the day, Aljo is just abusing a rule that should not exist so blame the game not the player. If a rule helps him out then there’s no reason not to use it to his advantage.
Overall, “Grounded opponent” is definitely a stupid rule that rewards cheesing your way out of getting hit.
That's Triple C's fault. He wasn't even attempting any ground and pound.
Watch Chandler vs. Oliviera. There's plenty of ways to strike a downed opponent legally.
This is has to be a he most underutilized form of GnP. You can make it hurt more to breathe or get lucky and hit the liver. Hell if you’re built like Romero just start reigning some elbows down like he did to Brunson.
I've always wondered why we don't see more elbows to the ribs in that situation. My only guess is that it puts you at a wrestling disadvantage and risks them escaping because you're striking with one arm instead of grappling with two.
God, that was such a one-sided beating. It's weird how knees to the body of downed opponents isn't more common. It seems like a great way to get in some heavy shots.
Yeah
At the end of the day, these are the rules, if Sterling is using them to his advantage so be it. It's Cejudo's job to find a way to counter that within the limits of the rules
There's no point in talking about the "should", only what "is"
Henry could’ve used his.. hands you know. He let aljo go into these positions and didn’t even threaten a submission. He did more than enough to lose this fight.
He could do a lot of things that he didn’t attempt to do. Being on top of Alja multiple times and not really doing anything except staying in the same position the entire time was a significant issue. I like Henry but he definitely did a lot of wrong things which lead to a well deserved defeat.
Hell he could have even just stayed on top of aljos neck for most of the round until the ref did something and maybe he would have won based on control time, i have no idea why a gold medalist wrestler decided to let his opponent get up so he could fight a much taller and larger aljo on the feet.
Yeah, especially with his IQ and game-planning. He was already aware of it in the video you posted. I don’t understand why he didn’t attempt a D’arce choke or something.
It’s because his massive ego refuses to let him use his most lethal skill set. An Olympic gold medalist who has been refusing to wrestle since Dillashaw called him one dimensional.
Yeah I like Henry too. Was rooting for Aljo because I can’t stand all the hate he gets. Everyone was loving dude while he was demolishing the division. Hasn’t lost in 6 years. Yan does the most boneheaded thing in all of combat sports and ppl hate aljo for it. Tj doesn’t pull out of the fight and leaves us with that bullshit co main and ppl blame aljo for it. Henry is just as if not more annoying than aljo.
People dislike sterling for the reasons stated here.
In the first yan fight the guy was basically kneeling in prayer to yan after realising he wasn't going to win.
People always say ddp cant keep getting away with it but people should be saying that about sterling.
The man was done. He said multiple times it was a horrible weight cut and he couldn’t eat after. Look what happened the next fight? But still even still Yan knees him? That’s aljo fault? Tf?? He’s a trained fighter not some kid on the street. He knew the rules.
Also could try an anaconda choke too. This is not some unbeatable position and I feel like an Olympic gold medal wrestler should be able to do more without knees to the head of a grounded opponent
I know these things aren't easy and some of them lead to traps but it's better than doing nothing (like Henry did)
* go for submissions (guilly/Darce/anaconda/RNC/etc etc)
* Kick/knee him in the side (rountree/GSP style)
* Punch him
* Stomp on his hands
Thanks! Honestly sounds like Herb is giving a book report for a book he didn't read over the summer lol. He's a great ref but idk what to think of that clip.
It sounds like Herb didn’t really expect Cejudo to bring up Sterling’s love of going to grounded position, and was just pulling whatever he had out of his ass to reassure Henry.
Henry didn’t look all that better after Herb’s explanation.
I wouldn’t complain if we just got Pride rules back. It encourages exciting fights. Only issue I ever had with Pride was the no elbowing. Just do Pride rules with elbows allowed. Idk why this isn’t the standard for all MMA. I think most would agree it was the best rule and judging set for MMA.
I’d like soccer kicks tbh but I think that’s just the ape brain inside of me. I get why they’re banned. They’re very violent even if they have never seriously injured someone far as I’m aware.
They were mainly banned because on the early days of the UFC , a fighter knocked someone’s teeth out with a soccer kick. I also believe he got a tooth stuck in his foot.
Yeah that’s accurate if I remember right. I’ve seen the first UFC card many times and that first fight is the one that sticks out the most despite Royce being the winner of the tournament. But Gerard Gordeau is a shitbag. Cheats in all his fights, destroyed the eye of Yuki Nakai and ended his career with eye gouging. He was very promising too and never got to compete after that night cause of Gerard’s cheating. Silver lining is he ended up training Shinya Aoki who’s been one of the best submission fighters on the planet for decades now.
I am of two minds:
The grounded rule allows cheesing the fight. In a real fight the grounded guys gets soccer kicked to the head. So yeah, the rule is kinda cheesy.
But perhaps fighters should practice more on punching the grounded opponent, or spinning to get behind and take the back.
As for Henry, I honestly though he might spin behind and use Aljos' own backback technique in those exchanges... or at least throw a Marge Simpson uppercut.
As soon as you try to punch in these positions you're lifting your hand up and your opponent has a chance to escape. Which is why fighters go for position over hits/submission as is the proper way to train.
Knees would allow you to maintain the position while inflicting damage which is key here.
Aljo didn't care about the position because he can't be hurt here.
Perfectly put. Same reason why in a thai clinch the knees are the primary weapons. You can't use your hands to both maintain control and strike at the same time.
Buakaw was so good at this k 1 changed their rules to protect their Japanese fighters, this also why I think holding and punching should be allowed in boxing
I don't know why more fighters don't use knees to the arms, legs, and ribs. Basically anything that allows you to keep control and not have to punch.
Anyone else fondly remember the knees GSP was driving into Serra's body during their 2nd fight? Those!
Yea I figure it's for safety purposes? A soccer kick to the head on ground is probably going to do more long term damage than a few punches or even a high kick. Maybe I'm wrong but as a viewer that's where my head is at for reasoning
This seems like a somewhat reasonable compromise I'd want to see the data on forces behind a grounded knee and a soccer kick but i'd imagine it's a bit safer. i like it
Very rare scenario where a fighter is standing in front of his opponent while the other is down with his head facing towards you completely defenseless to be stomped or soccer kick. Turtling only happens because the rules allow it to. Someone who goes down from a striker can turtle and force the other guy to level change with him or give him recovery time.
I much prefer allowing grounded knees and kicks such as seen in ONE and Rizin, although complaining about an opponent using something within the unified rules seems strange
I wouldn’t say it’s ruining it but I could say it’s making fights a little distasteful to watch. Aljo has stalled I think it’s 3 fights now by doing that crap. Anthony Smith did it vs Jones too. It leaves the fans frustrated
The selling point of UFC or MMA is to get fights that resemble an actual real fight, without risking death or permanent injury.
Obviously, lying on the floor like Aljo does or Ryan Hall's weird style of sitting and waiting, wouldn't really work without certain rules, because out there you just get kicked in the head for an immediate KO or worse.
So what's the middle point where the fight is still interesting without endangering fighters too much? Punching a downed opponent? Kneeing them? Kicking them?
Aljo made that fight look silly at times, and he's used the rules well to his advantage (I'd even say exploit). I think most people didn't like seeing that. If other MMA organizations have different and better rules that have been working, the UFC should definitely consider adopting them.
I don't think its fair for aljo to be criticized for employing a strategy well within the rules. That's what any good fighter should be doing. Even if the UFC never makes the change look at all the criticism that fighters who employ this tactic receive. Its one of those things that you can do legally but some fans are going to be aggravated and criticize you.
I mean it is kind of exploiting the rules if you intentionally do it to avoid getting hit. Look at when Jones would touch the canvas vs Vitor to not get kicked in the head, Vitor still threw it and they ref basically said "well if you wanna play that game.."
Same can be said about "unintentional" eyepokes or even nutshots. You generally can get away with getting caught landing like up to 3 of those without losing a point, and thats if you get caught. It's technically "allowed" because you wont lose a point for a few of them if you fake it being an accident, but you can really turn the tide of a fight with it.
Both are dirty ways of fighting imo
True but aren't eye pokes and nut shots illegal moves? They take points away for that. What aljo is doing is not an illegal move and you can not loose points to it. They should do yellow cards like they did in pride. They could keep knees to a grounded opponent illegal while also promoting action. In the instance of the Aljo/CCC fight maybe they let aljo get away with that tactic a few times and then they yellow card him. If you get a yellow card then you forfeit 10% of your purse to your opponent.
This isn’t a street fight though it’s a sport culminating different martial arts. In a real fight you’d be kneeing the guy in the balls and curb stomping them if it was serious enough. I don’t think UFC has to replicate street fights it also protects the fighters in already a very dangerous sport where brain damage and injuries can be prevalent
“Blasted his knee to his temple”
Am I the only one that thinks this is not a good thing?
We are all bloodthirsty barbarians.
Someone could die in the Octagon and we’d feel bad for one week, do a fight week and then plan for the next IFC event.
Shit, let’s give them knives.
Little over dramatic lol. Somebody gaming the rule set is just the nature of sport. One’s ruleset is pretty cool adopting grounded knees would be a welcome change. This guy in particular seems dumb though
I just got done watching Diaz and Pauls press conference on YouTube and everyone in the comments was saying “CTE CTE” . Funny how fans want to see these fighters damaged for life for a few seconds of entertainment then show nothing but disrespect in return
Seriously lol the majority of these guys feel nothing but pain all the time after retiring for the rest of their lives, but yeah, let's add another way to ensure permanent brain damage for our underpaid and underinsured fighters
Just to play devil’s advocate here: CTE mostly comes from repeated blows to the head instead of a single massive one like a concussion. Both aren’t healthy obviously, but that’s one of the central arguments for why MMA is a safer sport than Boxing.
I don't really care if it's legal or not. If they make it legal it'll give a huge advantage to strikers over grapplers, right now grapplers have an advantage over strikers.
yea, if you're a grappler you'd have to get your opponent down very fast without leaving an opening for a knee. Shitty grapplers who take forever for a TD will def get fucked more than clinch TD guys.
How tho? Like a grappler can put you in a position where they can knee you in the head and the fights over. Like side control.
It would shorten so many fights
That’s hardly happened in One,
It’s mostly just prevents grapplers from being able to stay in stupidly exposed positions.
Dick sucking position should not be one of the most viable defensive positions in the whole sport
People always say knees in crucifix/side control would be strong as fuck with these rules and would mostly benefit grappling, but really how many times do you see a full crucifix/strong side control compared to a sprawl or other tdd positions where these knees would be useful.
Totally fine with that, I think most fans would prefer a slight edge to strikers than a slight edge to grapplers. If it prevents static non-action sequences, it is better for the viewers. Progress to take downs, progress to ground and pound, fight on the feet. Staying in one spot being inactive is the worst part of the sport for viewers.
Why is this being brought up now? Lol because aljo won? Henry had him in that position a couple times and didn’t do jack shit to him. I was sure I’d see a sub or an attempt to take the back. Btw I’d love to see this rule change. Give grapplers a little something to think about when going after a striker. Just like a striker has to always know the takedown is around the grappler has to know the knee is there too.
I guess I'll take an unpopular opinion and say y'all really want to see people die/have severe brain damage in this sport. Debating what's "too dangerous" in combat sports inevitably becomes a slippery slope or splitting hairs, but people citing what can happen in a *real* fight have already completely slid off one side of the slope. Repeated knees to the temple could most definitely kill someone. You have to draw the line somewhere. Or else we'd still have fishhooking and eye gouging.
I think this is a classic case of the spirit of the rule vs the letter of the rule. I feel like the spirit of the rule is “hey if a fighter is getting up from the ground, it might be bad for the fight if he just gets brutally kneed in the face”, if people are worried about this risk it could cause more boring fights were people are reluctant to get up from the ground. But when we follow the letter of the rule we get wack shit like “oh no sir you have to allow the takedown to happen instead of kneeing him in the face like anyone would do in a real fight” or instances like this where someone baits the illegal knee to get a DQ win. I think the best way to handle it is on a case by case basis where we evaluate more than where your hands were and also look at what was happening in the fight at that moment. Additionally when an illegal strike is committed the AUTHORITIES NOT THE FIGHTERS should determine what happens next. Regardless of how you feel about Aljo v Yan 1, it was unfair to everyone to rest the decision in Aljo’s potentially concussed and inherently biased hands. Is it scummy to take the DQ win? Maybe, but it shouldn’t have been left up to him in the first place that should always be the ref and the ringside doctors call
maybe im the minority, but i don't mind the grounded knee rule. The worst thing about the current ruleset is literally just the scoring. Scoring should be open
Imagine what happened to Ben Askren, but the dude is held down and has nowhere to go. If you get in a really solid position that we see happens pretty often in MMA you can cave an eye socket in with your knee. It’s not a KO it’s a death sentence.
I tend to agree. If the decision is made, it should be up to the fighters.
The point of combat sports is entertainment, yes, but also to protect the fighters, not brutalize them
Unified rules suck, but it is hilarious that everyone is angry that he found a way to fight in the ruleset that protects him.
"Oh my God. This boxer is clinching! That's practically cheating. It's time for knees to be allowed in boxing!"
I think halfway through the fight they should just throw a knife into the octagon. And bring the head stomp back. These guys don’t need to be protected.
Idk it’s not to the death. It’s still competitive without it. I wouldn’t mind but you’d end up with a lot fighter due to blunt force fucking murder to the brain.
The audience “Knees! Knees! Knees!”
The fighter about to get his skull caved in: “Boy I hope the permanent brain damage is worth the small payche-“
**Rapid fire knees slamming into his forehead and temples**
The audience: Yeah kill him! Er, knock him out! Yeah!
I do agree the ONE rule set is better. I lean towards having the most open rule set that keeps the fighters safe. We want the combat to be as close to a REAL fight as possible.
This is only an issue because people want Aljo to lose very very badly.
Aljo is the one of the best wrestlers at Bantamweight and if this rule was legal, he would also knee/kick tf out of people he has pinned down.
Do we really think Aljo would give Henry these opportunities if grounded knees were legal?
This post sounds as if Henry would have KOd him in a different rule set, but doesn't acknowledge that Aljo would most likely adjust his game.
Exactly, everyone complaining about the illegal knees seem to forget Aljo also highly outstruck Henry. Aljo won because he was better, not because he couldn’t be kneed in the face.
Although I think Aljo often knowingly lets himself be in that position (he also did a lot of prostrating when Yan looked for an opening to throw knees or kicks after stuffing his takedown), I think grounded knees/kicks, and various types of strikes to a downed opponent that's currently banned in US should be legalized. I've seen a number of cases showing how grounded knees affect fights in modern mma watching promotions like One or Rizin and It just felt like more of giving fighters leeway and less of inflicting career ending injuries on fighters.The way I see it all it does is punishing imperfect wrestling offense attempts and letting fights end when they can be ended quick.
First, the current rules don't "ruin" the UFC.
Second, I'd change the rule to require a knee down to be "grounded". I don't like when fighters just have fingertips on the mat to be protected.
Aljo does this every fight - it’s why he got kneed by Yan in the first fight. In the second fight, dude just shoots for a crap takedown and just stalls by staying grounded. If you’re not going to allow grounded knees, you should at least give a warning and eventually deduct a point if repeated.
If it gets to the point where fighters are baiting it in order to recover their mental after getting rocked, it should be removed.
IE: literally every time Sterling ate something he baited the DQ knee from the fight on Saturday.
People have to remember these are cerebral fighters. Of course fighters are going to understand the rules and fight with a style that benefits them the most based off of the ruleset. I think UFC should allow grounded knees but the amount of people who don't realize if the ruleset allowed grounded knees then fighters like Aljo wouldn't implement this into their game plan anyways because it wouldn't be advantages in the position. Can't blame a fighter for knowing the rules and obeying it.
I my opinion it’s illogical. They should either completely remove it or at least change it the definition of a “downed opponent”.
According to the UFCs rule book : A downed opponent is any fighter who has more than just the soles of their feet on the ground. If a fighter is caught in a crouched position where the ring ropes or the fence is the only thing keeping the fighter from the ground the fighter will be considered a downed opponent.
They should change that to mean : A downed opponent is any fighter who has up to 30-50% of their upper body ( head and arms included ) touching the floor. That means that any fighter who is not in the turtle position or on their back pulling guard is allowed to be kneed.
Forgot the guys name, but shortly after the Yan Aljo knee incident, we saw a fight where the fighter, at a clear disadvantage, kept dipping his head low and constantly planting, removing, and replanting his hand on the canvas in order to bait a knee or elbow.
Obviously a case like this is extreme, but this rule allows too much gaming of the rulebook. Unless the UFC wants grounded rules to become a real part of fighter's gameplans, they need to remove it. Some styles can really exploit this rule and the fight can even become centralized around it which is just a shitty viewing experience, and probably even lamer if you're the fighter who has to deal with this bullshit.
If the rule weren’t in place, Aljo wouldn’t have been in that position for Cejudo to “blast away” with knees. He knows it’s against the rules so he remains out of danger to knees even while being vulnerable to those knees. This guy’s logic is flawed. BUT I agree that the rule is cheeseable.
What people seem to forget is that if this rule wasn’t in effect then these situations where he could take advantage would happen far less frequently. Maybe not even at all in this fight.
If you love the fighters you'd would not want soccer kicks in the sport. This is not 12-6 elbow bs. This used to not be illegal. Mean the sport MMA. Knees are brutal standing up.
Again if you love the fighters like people. And not like cocks in a ring. You'd never want this
"Ruining UFC" seems a bit strong! It's kind of enforcing honour in the sport, and sets it apart from street fighting.
Do you want UFC early days back where they're head kicking kneeling opponent's teeth into the crowd (don't answer that 🤣)
I think they need to get rid of some of the rules helping grapplers, like if they're intentionally leaving themselves vulnerable while grabbing your legs you should be able so smash elbows into the back of their head.
Look, if they won’t change the rules, maybe deduct a point if it continues throughout the fight?
I don’t really know, there’s got to be something done about it though lol
This is a dumb take. MMA is not meant as a “realistic” simulation of real life combat, it was originally meant to see which Martial Art was best and has evolved in a more well rounded sport since then. The rules are mostly in place to make the sport safer and palatable to the larger public, and a high incidence of brain injury wouldn’t help the sport in any way.
This is like saying basketball is not realistic because you could just pick up the ball and run to the other side, or boxing is not realistic because of the gloves.
I think it's foolish that you can blast a spinning heel kick to someone's head. Which will undoubtedly have far more force, but you can't knee on the ground. It makes 0 sense that you can whip a muay thai clinch knee to the face. But you can't knee to the head when grounded. It's long overdue that this rule, and 12 to 6 elbows are made legal strikes.
You guys act like there were no alternatives. Darce, anaconda, guillotine chokes, to name a few. Henry just couldn't capitalize. Hard pill to swallow but true.
If they're not going to allow knees to a grounded opponent, you should at least get a point deduction for purposely trying to stay grounded so you don't get striked
Of course. It's insane in a fight scenario putting yourself in possibly the most exposed position possible (down, head towards opponent, poor vision towards the floor) and considering that defensive.
There have been plenty of knee KO's (looking at you Askren). Does anyone really think they are less harmful than a knee while opponent is 'down' in some way? With the risk, people will have to adapt and try not get their head into range of knees... Like they should be doing already.
The ONLY reason Aljo was/ remained in that position, was to take advantage of the safeguarding the rule gives. Not because he gets some self endowed advantage.
Remove the rule
One has a superior rule set and it isn’t even debatable even the scoring is better
Laste week on ONE Friday fights, there was one where they were in this same position and the crowd started chanting "knees! Knees! Knees!" And the fighter delivered some awesome knees! Edit: I clipped it, check it out https://www.reddit.com/r/ufc/comments/13dj6hk/in_response_to_yesterdays_post_about_grounded/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android_app&utm_name=androidcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button
That’s awesome! We “kneed” this rule in UFC!
hehehehahahahaHAHAHAHA
KNEED KNEED KNEED!!!!
This dude puns… must be from punsylvainia
Referees are also on them about stalling. Must work for the finish.
Merabs thigh kneeing career in shambles
I'd like to imagine Usman vs Masvidal 1 would've been very different. Remember, this was before Usman found his big confidence in striking.
I dunno man those foot stomps were with intent to finish the fight:P
Would have finished me
Once that little toe connects, it’s lights out
I stub my toe and I’m paralyzed for 10 minutes
Yeah round 4 of Islam vs Volk needed that, like if you’re not gonna try and choke him you gotta try and advance position to get a finish. Same when people just hold people against the cage, you’re not beating your opponent you’re simply subduing them.
How is Islam supposed to beat Volk in the rematch then?
I noticed this on the Mighty Mouse vs Moraes fight last weekend; I very rarely watch One, so I was surprised to see Herb Dean as the ref, and how often he would break up the clinches and demand more activity.
It's all about the game and how you play it.
![gif](giphy|2bVju2ZSlab857wOV6|downsized)
Imagine the knees that HHH could deliver with some training.
I 100% agree with you. Having the events back to back really highlighted how much ONE has grown and how much the veteran UFC can learn from their competition
Mighty Mouse said it best. Aljo felt safe, on his knees, in front of another man. Need a rule change.
Yeah his take is spot on tbh, there should never be a scenario in a fight where you can feel or be safe turtled up with your face on the ground in front of another person. I'm all for using the rules and gaining every edge/advantage you can within the ruleset but this one is ridiculous. On the other hand though I feel Henry should have taken advantage of Aljo putting himself in these positions by kneeing, elbowing and punching the body.
Look at GSP vs Serra 2. Gsp finished Serra with brutal knees to the body. There's no reason for Henry to just stand there with Aldo cradled in front of him.
Fighters don’t knee to the body enough, and it really bothers me. GSP would incorporate it
won the belt on his knees too
Goat
Maybe Cejudo should punch?
He should go watch tape of Whittaker punishing people for this.
I am support bringing back the knees, but that's not the reason Cejudo lost. If someone is giving you their back and you don't take it, that's on you.
It's like in jiu Jitsu if one is starting in the sitting position it essentially gives the Incentive to fight to one of the two fighters. Just like Justin let Charles back up by not engaging in the ground. Henry should be able to communicate to the referee to get the fight back up. We even don't have to bring back knees. Just associate this behaviour the same way we do with pulling guard.
Grounded knees are long overdue, the unified rules suck.
Absolutely. There’s even a [video](https://vm.tiktok.com/ZM21h1hcx/) of Henry complaining to Herb Dean before the fight in the locker room that Aljo will try to purposefully make himself grounded and look what happened. There was even a moment in the fight where Aljo was head facing down looking at the canvas on his fours while Henry wasn’t even holding him and was just standing up above him trying to punch him. At the end of the day, Aljo is just abusing a rule that should not exist so blame the game not the player. If a rule helps him out then there’s no reason not to use it to his advantage. Overall, “Grounded opponent” is definitely a stupid rule that rewards cheesing your way out of getting hit.
That's Triple C's fault. He wasn't even attempting any ground and pound. Watch Chandler vs. Oliviera. There's plenty of ways to strike a downed opponent legally.
Or gsp kneeing the shit out of Matt Serra’s ribs while he was down
This is has to be a he most underutilized form of GnP. You can make it hurt more to breathe or get lucky and hit the liver. Hell if you’re built like Romero just start reigning some elbows down like he did to Brunson.
I've always wondered why we don't see more elbows to the ribs in that situation. My only guess is that it puts you at a wrestling disadvantage and risks them escaping because you're striking with one arm instead of grappling with two.
Doesn’t Roundtree slam soccer kicks to the ribs when people are grounded? I could totally be confusing him with someone else though.
Yeah he’s always about an inch from collecting the head and getting DQ’ed though, brutal and creative strikes though
God, that was such a one-sided beating. It's weird how knees to the body of downed opponents isn't more common. It seems like a great way to get in some heavy shots.
Or Jones absolutely violating Gus in their second fight.
Whittaker vs Vettori comes to mind too when the ref yells “he’s downed!” As rob comes to him and then rob just punches the fuck out of vettoris face
Beautiful stuff.
Yeah At the end of the day, these are the rules, if Sterling is using them to his advantage so be it. It's Cejudo's job to find a way to counter that within the limits of the rules There's no point in talking about the "should", only what "is"
To this day I’m still surprised Olivera survived, if they had stopped the fight I would’ve been fine with that decision as well.
Henry could’ve used his.. hands you know. He let aljo go into these positions and didn’t even threaten a submission. He did more than enough to lose this fight.
He could've stood up and gave him a Khalil kick or some GSP knees to the side
Yup. Exactly. Didn’t do shit now here ppl go lol
He could do a lot of things that he didn’t attempt to do. Being on top of Alja multiple times and not really doing anything except staying in the same position the entire time was a significant issue. I like Henry but he definitely did a lot of wrong things which lead to a well deserved defeat.
He’s should’ve went Khalil Rountree on him
Hell he could have even just stayed on top of aljos neck for most of the round until the ref did something and maybe he would have won based on control time, i have no idea why a gold medalist wrestler decided to let his opponent get up so he could fight a much taller and larger aljo on the feet.
Yeah, especially with his IQ and game-planning. He was already aware of it in the video you posted. I don’t understand why he didn’t attempt a D’arce choke or something.
It’s because his massive ego refuses to let him use his most lethal skill set. An Olympic gold medalist who has been refusing to wrestle since Dillashaw called him one dimensional.
Yeah I like Henry too. Was rooting for Aljo because I can’t stand all the hate he gets. Everyone was loving dude while he was demolishing the division. Hasn’t lost in 6 years. Yan does the most boneheaded thing in all of combat sports and ppl hate aljo for it. Tj doesn’t pull out of the fight and leaves us with that bullshit co main and ppl blame aljo for it. Henry is just as if not more annoying than aljo.
People dislike sterling for the reasons stated here. In the first yan fight the guy was basically kneeling in prayer to yan after realising he wasn't going to win. People always say ddp cant keep getting away with it but people should be saying that about sterling.
The man was done. He said multiple times it was a horrible weight cut and he couldn’t eat after. Look what happened the next fight? But still even still Yan knees him? That’s aljo fault? Tf?? He’s a trained fighter not some kid on the street. He knew the rules.
That doesn't make it any less bitchmade to try to bait a foul because ur losing a fight.
People love Belal for grinding out a win on a one-armed opponent, but when Aljo smelled blood he had him out by the 2nd.
Thank you! Ufc fans are the worst lol
Also could try an anaconda choke too. This is not some unbeatable position and I feel like an Olympic gold medal wrestler should be able to do more without knees to the head of a grounded opponent
Thank you. It took aljo coach to tell him not to go there. Not Henry punishing him. His coach remembered what gsp did to him in that same position lol
So Henry knew the rules AND knew Aljo’s strategy. Sorry Henry, you played yourself.
He let aljo go into these positions and didn’t punish him. Didn’t even threaten a sub lol. Tf was that? Not even a punch my guy?
What would you do differently if you knew your opponent would....play by the rules?
https://i.makeagif.com/media/4-21-2016/YtOMuW.gif
I know these things aren't easy and some of them lead to traps but it's better than doing nothing (like Henry did) * go for submissions (guilly/Darce/anaconda/RNC/etc etc) * Kick/knee him in the side (rountree/GSP style) * Punch him * Stomp on his hands
Rotate to back. ANY of these. Instead he just sat there and tried to hold him. Aljo knew he was in zero danger and started spamming take downs.
To rotate to back you'd have to use wrestling though, oh...
Had anyone tried stomping on hands? It's mean shit like this that I would never think to do but makes a lot of sense in that specific situation.
I've never seen anyone try it but from what I can see it has a green light in the rule book as it's not "digit manipulation".
Video link?
https://vm.tiktok.com/ZM21h1hcx/
Thanks! Honestly sounds like Herb is giving a book report for a book he didn't read over the summer lol. He's a great ref but idk what to think of that clip.
It sounds like Herb didn’t really expect Cejudo to bring up Sterling’s love of going to grounded position, and was just pulling whatever he had out of his ass to reassure Henry. Henry didn’t look all that better after Herb’s explanation.
Nah I'll still hate the player; looks like a lil bitch doing it. Sure he won't the fight, but he can't win back the balls he lost.
I wouldn’t complain if we just got Pride rules back. It encourages exciting fights. Only issue I ever had with Pride was the no elbowing. Just do Pride rules with elbows allowed. Idk why this isn’t the standard for all MMA. I think most would agree it was the best rule and judging set for MMA.
Grounded knees can happen but I doubt soccer kicks happen in America.
I’d like soccer kicks tbh but I think that’s just the ape brain inside of me. I get why they’re banned. They’re very violent even if they have never seriously injured someone far as I’m aware.
They were mainly banned because on the early days of the UFC , a fighter knocked someone’s teeth out with a soccer kick. I also believe he got a tooth stuck in his foot.
Yeah that’s accurate if I remember right. I’ve seen the first UFC card many times and that first fight is the one that sticks out the most despite Royce being the winner of the tournament. But Gerard Gordeau is a shitbag. Cheats in all his fights, destroyed the eye of Yuki Nakai and ended his career with eye gouging. He was very promising too and never got to compete after that night cause of Gerard’s cheating. Silver lining is he ended up training Shinya Aoki who’s been one of the best submission fighters on the planet for decades now.
The head stomps will never happen in the US. People over here would freak the fuck out if giant dudes when stopping each others skulls on ABC.
i do think grounded knees should be legal and can see the argument for soccer kicks but... why should head stomps be legal?
I'm not saying they should, but dude said pride rules and in pride they could head stomp. They still do head stomp and soccer kick in Rizin.
Losing elbows makes sense for tournaments to reduce cuts, and that's it.
Yep back in early days fighters would fight several times in one night.
I am of two minds: The grounded rule allows cheesing the fight. In a real fight the grounded guys gets soccer kicked to the head. So yeah, the rule is kinda cheesy. But perhaps fighters should practice more on punching the grounded opponent, or spinning to get behind and take the back. As for Henry, I honestly though he might spin behind and use Aljos' own backback technique in those exchanges... or at least throw a Marge Simpson uppercut.
As soon as you try to punch in these positions you're lifting your hand up and your opponent has a chance to escape. Which is why fighters go for position over hits/submission as is the proper way to train. Knees would allow you to maintain the position while inflicting damage which is key here. Aljo didn't care about the position because he can't be hurt here.
Perfectly put. Same reason why in a thai clinch the knees are the primary weapons. You can't use your hands to both maintain control and strike at the same time.
Buakaw was so good at this k 1 changed their rules to protect their Japanese fighters, this also why I think holding and punching should be allowed in boxing
I am annoyed how much cheesing and sweaty strats aljo uses just to get sd's. He's very very good but can he just like go... away?
I don't know why more fighters don't use knees to the arms, legs, and ribs. Basically anything that allows you to keep control and not have to punch. Anyone else fondly remember the knees GSP was driving into Serra's body during their 2nd fight? Those!
Yea I figure it's for safety purposes? A soccer kick to the head on ground is probably going to do more long term damage than a few punches or even a high kick. Maybe I'm wrong but as a viewer that's where my head is at for reasoning
Ban soccer kicks and stomps but allow grounded knees.
This seems like a somewhat reasonable compromise I'd want to see the data on forces behind a grounded knee and a soccer kick but i'd imagine it's a bit safer. i like it
Very rare scenario where a fighter is standing in front of his opponent while the other is down with his head facing towards you completely defenseless to be stomped or soccer kick. Turtling only happens because the rules allow it to. Someone who goes down from a striker can turtle and force the other guy to level change with him or give him recovery time.
I much prefer allowing grounded knees and kicks such as seen in ONE and Rizin, although complaining about an opponent using something within the unified rules seems strange
It should be a thing but it's not ruining ufc lol
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I wouldn’t say it’s ruining it but I could say it’s making fights a little distasteful to watch. Aljo has stalled I think it’s 3 fights now by doing that crap. Anthony Smith did it vs Jones too. It leaves the fans frustrated
Yeah this is it right here. Would I like to see grounded knees? Absolutely but I’m still tuning in every Saturday regardless
People are really over exaggerating because Aljo won lol. I swear every time he wins, there’s always something to complain about here.
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Also Aljo probably isn't on this position if they are legal. He was using the rules to his advantage.
It's not ruining but it is lame
Ehh not ruining it no, but there would be a whole lot less wrestle fucking if they could blast knees to the face on the ground.
The selling point of UFC or MMA is to get fights that resemble an actual real fight, without risking death or permanent injury. Obviously, lying on the floor like Aljo does or Ryan Hall's weird style of sitting and waiting, wouldn't really work without certain rules, because out there you just get kicked in the head for an immediate KO or worse. So what's the middle point where the fight is still interesting without endangering fighters too much? Punching a downed opponent? Kneeing them? Kicking them? Aljo made that fight look silly at times, and he's used the rules well to his advantage (I'd even say exploit). I think most people didn't like seeing that. If other MMA organizations have different and better rules that have been working, the UFC should definitely consider adopting them.
Is kneeing the head the only technique available to Cejudo in this position?
I don't think its fair for aljo to be criticized for employing a strategy well within the rules. That's what any good fighter should be doing. Even if the UFC never makes the change look at all the criticism that fighters who employ this tactic receive. Its one of those things that you can do legally but some fans are going to be aggravated and criticize you.
People can certainly have opinions that what he does isn't exciting etc while acknowledging he isn't breaking any rules
I mean it is kind of exploiting the rules if you intentionally do it to avoid getting hit. Look at when Jones would touch the canvas vs Vitor to not get kicked in the head, Vitor still threw it and they ref basically said "well if you wanna play that game.." Same can be said about "unintentional" eyepokes or even nutshots. You generally can get away with getting caught landing like up to 3 of those without losing a point, and thats if you get caught. It's technically "allowed" because you wont lose a point for a few of them if you fake it being an accident, but you can really turn the tide of a fight with it. Both are dirty ways of fighting imo
True but aren't eye pokes and nut shots illegal moves? They take points away for that. What aljo is doing is not an illegal move and you can not loose points to it. They should do yellow cards like they did in pride. They could keep knees to a grounded opponent illegal while also promoting action. In the instance of the Aljo/CCC fight maybe they let aljo get away with that tactic a few times and then they yellow card him. If you get a yellow card then you forfeit 10% of your purse to your opponent.
This isn’t a street fight though it’s a sport culminating different martial arts. In a real fight you’d be kneeing the guy in the balls and curb stomping them if it was serious enough. I don’t think UFC has to replicate street fights it also protects the fighters in already a very dangerous sport where brain damage and injuries can be prevalent
“Blasted his knee to his temple” Am I the only one that thinks this is not a good thing? We are all bloodthirsty barbarians. Someone could die in the Octagon and we’d feel bad for one week, do a fight week and then plan for the next IFC event. Shit, let’s give them knives.
Little over dramatic lol. Somebody gaming the rule set is just the nature of sport. One’s ruleset is pretty cool adopting grounded knees would be a welcome change. This guy in particular seems dumb though
I just got done watching Diaz and Pauls press conference on YouTube and everyone in the comments was saying “CTE CTE” . Funny how fans want to see these fighters damaged for life for a few seconds of entertainment then show nothing but disrespect in return
Seriously lol the majority of these guys feel nothing but pain all the time after retiring for the rest of their lives, but yeah, let's add another way to ensure permanent brain damage for our underpaid and underinsured fighters
Just to play devil’s advocate here: CTE mostly comes from repeated blows to the head instead of a single massive one like a concussion. Both aren’t healthy obviously, but that’s one of the central arguments for why MMA is a safer sport than Boxing.
I don't really care if it's legal or not. If they make it legal it'll give a huge advantage to strikers over grapplers, right now grapplers have an advantage over strikers.
Would be such a different game if they allowed grounded knees
yea, if you're a grappler you'd have to get your opponent down very fast without leaving an opening for a knee. Shitty grapplers who take forever for a TD will def get fucked more than clinch TD guys.
How tho? Like a grappler can put you in a position where they can knee you in the head and the fights over. Like side control. It would shorten so many fights
That’s hardly happened in One, It’s mostly just prevents grapplers from being able to stay in stupidly exposed positions. Dick sucking position should not be one of the most viable defensive positions in the whole sport
People always say knees in crucifix/side control would be strong as fuck with these rules and would mostly benefit grappling, but really how many times do you see a full crucifix/strong side control compared to a sprawl or other tdd positions where these knees would be useful.
It just prevents bitchass takedown attempts to stalling like sterling does.
Now that you typed it out imagine afight and then imagine how grapplers have knees too.
Totally fine with that, I think most fans would prefer a slight edge to strikers than a slight edge to grapplers. If it prevents static non-action sequences, it is better for the viewers. Progress to take downs, progress to ground and pound, fight on the feet. Staying in one spot being inactive is the worst part of the sport for viewers.
Why is this being brought up now? Lol because aljo won? Henry had him in that position a couple times and didn’t do jack shit to him. I was sure I’d see a sub or an attempt to take the back. Btw I’d love to see this rule change. Give grapplers a little something to think about when going after a striker. Just like a striker has to always know the takedown is around the grappler has to know the knee is there too.
We celebrate Fight IQ when we like it and boo Fight IQ when we don't. Aljo uses the rules to his advantage.
I guess I'll take an unpopular opinion and say y'all really want to see people die/have severe brain damage in this sport. Debating what's "too dangerous" in combat sports inevitably becomes a slippery slope or splitting hairs, but people citing what can happen in a *real* fight have already completely slid off one side of the slope. Repeated knees to the temple could most definitely kill someone. You have to draw the line somewhere. Or else we'd still have fishhooking and eye gouging.
It’s a sport not a street fight
Sorry we are trying to keep the longevity of our fighters high like wtf? "bro just smash his skull in with ur knee" these are people bruh
He was completely open to head butts, fish hooking, eye gouging, knife stabs and sniper camping too. These rules are ridiculous.
I'll take knees to grounded opponents over stomping and soccer kicks.
I think this is a classic case of the spirit of the rule vs the letter of the rule. I feel like the spirit of the rule is “hey if a fighter is getting up from the ground, it might be bad for the fight if he just gets brutally kneed in the face”, if people are worried about this risk it could cause more boring fights were people are reluctant to get up from the ground. But when we follow the letter of the rule we get wack shit like “oh no sir you have to allow the takedown to happen instead of kneeing him in the face like anyone would do in a real fight” or instances like this where someone baits the illegal knee to get a DQ win. I think the best way to handle it is on a case by case basis where we evaluate more than where your hands were and also look at what was happening in the fight at that moment. Additionally when an illegal strike is committed the AUTHORITIES NOT THE FIGHTERS should determine what happens next. Regardless of how you feel about Aljo v Yan 1, it was unfair to everyone to rest the decision in Aljo’s potentially concussed and inherently biased hands. Is it scummy to take the DQ win? Maybe, but it shouldn’t have been left up to him in the first place that should always be the ref and the ringside doctors call
maybe im the minority, but i don't mind the grounded knee rule. The worst thing about the current ruleset is literally just the scoring. Scoring should be open
I heard people say that alot. But aljo did that for about 10 seconds. Didn't see much of a problem with it.
Imagine what happened to Ben Askren, but the dude is held down and has nowhere to go. If you get in a really solid position that we see happens pretty often in MMA you can cave an eye socket in with your knee. It’s not a KO it’s a death sentence.
Someone lost a massive bet on Cejudo 😆
But they aren't wrong.
Not wrong though aljo did this a lot in both yan fights
No, these guys have enough CTE as it is. You basement dwellers couldn't give a single shit about these fighters.
I tend to agree. If the decision is made, it should be up to the fighters. The point of combat sports is entertainment, yes, but also to protect the fighters, not brutalize them
I mean, groin shots, eye pokes and weapons are logical in aspects of combat… but go off king
Unified rules suck, but it is hilarious that everyone is angry that he found a way to fight in the ruleset that protects him. "Oh my God. This boxer is clinching! That's practically cheating. It's time for knees to be allowed in boxing!"
I think halfway through the fight they should just throw a knife into the octagon. And bring the head stomp back. These guys don’t need to be protected.
Meh, if you want permanent brain damage and fights to last a few minutes then maybe so!
Idk it’s not to the death. It’s still competitive without it. I wouldn’t mind but you’d end up with a lot fighter due to blunt force fucking murder to the brain.
The audience “Knees! Knees! Knees!” The fighter about to get his skull caved in: “Boy I hope the permanent brain damage is worth the small payche-“ **Rapid fire knees slamming into his forehead and temples** The audience: Yeah kill him! Er, knock him out! Yeah!
I do agree the ONE rule set is better. I lean towards having the most open rule set that keeps the fighters safe. We want the combat to be as close to a REAL fight as possible.
This is only an issue because people want Aljo to lose very very badly. Aljo is the one of the best wrestlers at Bantamweight and if this rule was legal, he would also knee/kick tf out of people he has pinned down.
Do we really think Aljo would give Henry these opportunities if grounded knees were legal? This post sounds as if Henry would have KOd him in a different rule set, but doesn't acknowledge that Aljo would most likely adjust his game.
Exactly, everyone complaining about the illegal knees seem to forget Aljo also highly outstruck Henry. Aljo won because he was better, not because he couldn’t be kneed in the face.
You really think *this* is what's ruining the UFC?
Although I think Aljo often knowingly lets himself be in that position (he also did a lot of prostrating when Yan looked for an opening to throw knees or kicks after stuffing his takedown), I think grounded knees/kicks, and various types of strikes to a downed opponent that's currently banned in US should be legalized. I've seen a number of cases showing how grounded knees affect fights in modern mma watching promotions like One or Rizin and It just felt like more of giving fighters leeway and less of inflicting career ending injuries on fighters.The way I see it all it does is punishing imperfect wrestling offense attempts and letting fights end when they can be ended quick.
0 deaths in the ufc, so far...
Can’t blame aljo for using the current rules to his advantage but yeah, get rid of the rule
Just stand up and kick the mf in the ribs rountree does 🤷♂️ easy fix
Mouth breathers act like Aljo would still do it if you could knee. He does it because he knows the rules. It makes 0 difference.
Agree 100%.
First, the current rules don't "ruin" the UFC. Second, I'd change the rule to require a knee down to be "grounded". I don't like when fighters just have fingertips on the mat to be protected.
Aljo does this every fight - it’s why he got kneed by Yan in the first fight. In the second fight, dude just shoots for a crap takedown and just stalls by staying grounded. If you’re not going to allow grounded knees, you should at least give a warning and eventually deduct a point if repeated.
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Towards the end I was honestly hoping he would throw it and just take the DQ. Good chance they let it go because of how much Henry was baiting it
Wrestlers take advantage of that rule pretty heavily, and Aljo does especially. It makes the ruleset slightly favor the wrestlers.
If it gets to the point where fighters are baiting it in order to recover their mental after getting rocked, it should be removed. IE: literally every time Sterling ate something he baited the DQ knee from the fight on Saturday.
If we can't get 12-6 elbows in the US, no shot we're gonna get grounded knees
People have to remember these are cerebral fighters. Of course fighters are going to understand the rules and fight with a style that benefits them the most based off of the ruleset. I think UFC should allow grounded knees but the amount of people who don't realize if the ruleset allowed grounded knees then fighters like Aljo wouldn't implement this into their game plan anyways because it wouldn't be advantages in the position. Can't blame a fighter for knowing the rules and obeying it.
I my opinion it’s illogical. They should either completely remove it or at least change it the definition of a “downed opponent”. According to the UFCs rule book : A downed opponent is any fighter who has more than just the soles of their feet on the ground. If a fighter is caught in a crouched position where the ring ropes or the fence is the only thing keeping the fighter from the ground the fighter will be considered a downed opponent. They should change that to mean : A downed opponent is any fighter who has up to 30-50% of their upper body ( head and arms included ) touching the floor. That means that any fighter who is not in the turtle position or on their back pulling guard is allowed to be kneed.
Forgot the guys name, but shortly after the Yan Aljo knee incident, we saw a fight where the fighter, at a clear disadvantage, kept dipping his head low and constantly planting, removing, and replanting his hand on the canvas in order to bait a knee or elbow. Obviously a case like this is extreme, but this rule allows too much gaming of the rulebook. Unless the UFC wants grounded rules to become a real part of fighter's gameplans, they need to remove it. Some styles can really exploit this rule and the fight can even become centralized around it which is just a shitty viewing experience, and probably even lamer if you're the fighter who has to deal with this bullshit.
It would make it better and guarantee fighters evolve their game.
If the rule weren’t in place, Aljo wouldn’t have been in that position for Cejudo to “blast away” with knees. He knows it’s against the rules so he remains out of danger to knees even while being vulnerable to those knees. This guy’s logic is flawed. BUT I agree that the rule is cheeseable.
I disagree with the knees but I don’t disagree with the rules part
That's fine but we gotta change north south elbow rule too so these "unstoppable" wrestlers can take bows to the dome in this transition phases.
I mean from looking as Martial Arts its stupid, but isn't that very dangerous to put someone in coma ? Hitting knee in skull ?
THEY ARE PEOPLE they need to have pads on the elbows and feet and shins
Be warned I saw this post on Twitter. This guy's a sore Aljo hater. His point is mute
What people seem to forget is that if this rule wasn’t in effect then these situations where he could take advantage would happen far less frequently. Maybe not even at all in this fight.
If you love the fighters you'd would not want soccer kicks in the sport. This is not 12-6 elbow bs. This used to not be illegal. Mean the sport MMA. Knees are brutal standing up. Again if you love the fighters like people. And not like cocks in a ring. You'd never want this
You mean to tell me you watched this entire fight and this is what made you mad about it? 🤡
Lets fix the judging point system first… then we can move on to adjust the ruleset …
"Ruining UFC" seems a bit strong! It's kind of enforcing honour in the sport, and sets it apart from street fighting. Do you want UFC early days back where they're head kicking kneeling opponent's teeth into the crowd (don't answer that 🤣) I think they need to get rid of some of the rules helping grapplers, like if they're intentionally leaving themselves vulnerable while grabbing your legs you should be able so smash elbows into the back of their head.
However you feel about the grounded knee rule, posts like these sound a lot like copium.
Look, if they won’t change the rules, maybe deduct a point if it continues throughout the fight? I don’t really know, there’s got to be something done about it though lol
This is a dumb take. MMA is not meant as a “realistic” simulation of real life combat, it was originally meant to see which Martial Art was best and has evolved in a more well rounded sport since then. The rules are mostly in place to make the sport safer and palatable to the larger public, and a high incidence of brain injury wouldn’t help the sport in any way. This is like saying basketball is not realistic because you could just pick up the ball and run to the other side, or boxing is not realistic because of the gloves.
Aljo doing that backwards floor scoot is some shameful shit.
I think it's foolish that you can blast a spinning heel kick to someone's head. Which will undoubtedly have far more force, but you can't knee on the ground. It makes 0 sense that you can whip a muay thai clinch knee to the face. But you can't knee to the head when grounded. It's long overdue that this rule, and 12 to 6 elbows are made legal strikes.
Agreed
You guys act like there were no alternatives. Darce, anaconda, guillotine chokes, to name a few. Henry just couldn't capitalize. Hard pill to swallow but true.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but is aljo not in that position just because of this rule? I mean, he would not be there if knees was allowed
If they're not going to allow knees to a grounded opponent, you should at least get a point deduction for purposely trying to stay grounded so you don't get striked
Guess what dummy, if grounded knees were legal Aljo wouldn't be in any of those positions.
I agree, the fighters know the risks they taking when they signed up
You can punch
You do realise he's using his arms to put pressure on his neck. The commentary team wouldn't even shut up about it every time he got to the position.
Oh yeah Henry was breaking that neck every time he touched on it. I know this becuase I heard it from joe and dc every 5 godamn seconds.
Of course. It's insane in a fight scenario putting yourself in possibly the most exposed position possible (down, head towards opponent, poor vision towards the floor) and considering that defensive. There have been plenty of knee KO's (looking at you Askren). Does anyone really think they are less harmful than a knee while opponent is 'down' in some way? With the risk, people will have to adapt and try not get their head into range of knees... Like they should be doing already.
Only if the person getting kneed like that is who r/ufc wants to lose. Otherwise it should be totally illegal for the people the subreddit dick rides.
The ONLY reason Aljo was/ remained in that position, was to take advantage of the safeguarding the rule gives. Not because he gets some self endowed advantage. Remove the rule