MMA rules: The most important guidelines at a glance

The rules of mixed martial arts vary from organization to organization and country to country. However, the Unified Rules of MMA have been accepted worldwide and thus form a common ground for weight classes, winning conditions, and prohibited actions during a fight.

• A fight consists of 3 rounds of 5 minutes each. Title fights consist of 5 rounds of 5 minutes each. Main fights may also go beyond 5 rounds if they are not title fights. To win the fight, strikes with the elbow, knee, kicks, and spinning backfists are permitted. Since a rule change in November 2024, 12-6 elbow strikes are also legal, i.e., strikes with the elbow in a straight downward motion.
• Men and women fight barefoot. Men fight bare-chested, women in tight-fitting tops. Men’s shorts must be without buttons or zippers. Mouth guards, groin guards, and 110-gram fist guards are mandatory protective equipment. Women also fight in shorts without pockets or appliqués. Depending on the rules, chest protection may be required.
• Effective striking and effective grappling are given the highest priority when judging a round. Effective striking refers to the evaluation of the impact of a fighter’s legal strikes. Strikes that cause visible injuries or pain reactions in the opponent are weighted more heavily than the mere number of strikes landed.& nbsp;Effective grappling includes successful actions such as takedowns, reversals, and submission attempts.
• One way to win is by knockout (K.O.) or technical knockout, which is determined by a referee or ring doctor. The second way to win is by tapping out or verbal submission. This occurs during joint locks and chokeholds or when the opponent is too strong. A fight can be declared a draw due to mutual disqualification or KO resulting from an unintentional illegal action.
• If the fight does not end by knockout or submission, the points decide the winner. For each round, the referees award 10 points to the winner of the round and 9 points to the loser. A 10-8 round is now awarded if one fighter clearly dominates their opponent in a round. To do so, the winner must dominate the fight for a significant period of time. In addition, their actions must have a visible effect, such as a near knockout.

Additional rules of the Unified Rules of MMA

There are a total of 31 fouls, such as illegal attacks and unsportsmanlike conduct, which result in various penalties such as warnings, point deductions, or disqualification.

• No attacks below the belt, to the spine, the back of the head, or the kidneys are allowed.
• Knee strikes and kicks to the head of an opponent on the ground are illegal. This applies when any part of the body other than the hands or feet touches the ground, for example, a knee or elbow.
• Headbutts, biting, hair pulling, eye gouging, and fishhooking are not allowed.
• Strikes and holds to the throat and grabbing the collarbone are also prohibited.
• Manipulating the fingers and toes by twisting or spreading them apart is against the rules.
• Intentionally grabbing the ring or cage and intentionally throwing the opponent outside the ring or cage constitutes a violation of the rules.
• Poking body orifices or wounds with the fingers is not permitted.
• Insults, spitting, scratching, pinching, grabbing the opponent’s pants, and attacks during breaks and interruptions are considered fouls.
• Disregarding the referee’s decision, interference from outside the ring, and avoiding the fight are also penalized.

MMA weight classes

As in boxing, there are different weight classes in the Unified Rules. The nine classes in MMA are divided as follows:

• Flyweight up to 56.7 kilograms
• Bantamweight up to 61.2 kilograms
• Featherweight up to 65.8 kilograms
• Lightweight up to 70.3 kilograms
• Welterweight up to 77.1 kilograms
• Middleweight up to 83.9 kilograms
• Light heavyweight up to 93.0 kilograms
• Heavyweight up to 120.2 kilograms
• Super heavyweight from 120.2 kilograms
• For women, there is also the atomweight category up to 48 kilograms.