The Doggy Bag: The Cheaters Sorta Prosper Edition

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For a long while now, I felt like I was the only one up in arms when it came to fighters exploiting the rules around knees to the head of grounded opponents. I love to see fighters work a smart game plan in a fight, but watching guys bend over and put their fingertips on the mat to avoid being kneed just pisses me off. With the UFC trying to fix this rule, though, I wonder how far away from actually having knees to the head on the ground we are, instead of just a band-aid solution to fighters exploiting the rules. What do you think? -- Morrie from New York

Mike Whitman, news editor: You are not alone. Right now, I’m imagining the two of us flipping over our coffee tables in stereo after watching a finger delicately graze the mat to prevent its owner from eating a knee to the face.

This problem is likely the lamest thing about MMA under the Unified Rules. Sure, you could argue for the fact that grabbing the fence is apparently worthy of absolutely zero disciplinary repercussions, but I would side with the lack of knees to the head, simply because it rewards fighters for doing dumb things. More precisely, there is no punishment rendered when a fighter makes a poor judgment call.

Mixed martial arts began as a no-holds-barred fight. Like it or not, that is the spirit embedded within this whole thing. The reason we follow this stuff is because we all want to know who is the baddest man or woman when you cut through all the shadowboxing and katas and the varying rule sets of traditional martial arts. Knees to the head of a grounded opponent unquestionably place us closer to that ideal. I would also add that allowing a fighter on his or her back to upkick a kneeling foe from his or her guard would improve the flow of a fight by leaps and bounds.

Will these changes happen sooner rather than later? Probably not. I know Marc Ratner is supposed to pitch rule changes to the Association of Boxing Commissions this summer, but, if any change is made at all, I have a feeling we will end up with some kind of “four points of contact” rule that might make it marginally harder to abuse the system but will ultimately still hinder the organic progression of a fight.

Honestly, I would rather just see all knees and elbows to the head banned if that is where we are going with this. For me, an MMA rule set is an all-or-nothing proposition. The unfortunate truth is that the Unified Rules currently protect and encourage a top-heavy, wrestling based attack, and there is little reason for a fatigued fighter not to shoot a sloppy, desperation double-leg takedown and then mash with elbows to win rounds. Now, if you allow the defending fighter to use knees off a sprawl or shoot a heel into his opponent’s jaw from the open guard, we are talking about a whole different ballgame.

Like you, I would love to see that imbalance remedied as soon as possible. Until then, I guess we will just have to watch One FC and feel sad.

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