Mixed martial arts- the ultimate challenging sport

The Ultimate Fighting Championship had introduced a form of fighting which was branded as “NHB fighting” or “no-hold-barred”. There were few rules in the first six Ultimate Fighting Championships. There were no time limits, no mandatory safety equipments and no weight classes. The only rules were that fighters could not bite, eye gouge or fish hook. Fights ended only with a referee stopping, knock out, or submission that could be signalled verbally or by a “tap out,” where the fighter had to tap the mat or his opponent three times using his foot or hand to signal that he wants to submit. The event used to take place in an octagonal cage known popularly as “The Octagon”.

One night tournament was the format of the event where the competitors used to fight for several bouts in a night until the winner was declared. When a Hawaiian 415 pound sumo wrestler was allowed to fight against Gerard Gordeau, a 216 pound Dutch kick boxer, the lack of weight classes started becoming a big problem. Similar scene was again repeated later in the third UFC event when 6 feet 8 inches tall, 600 pound sumo wrestler from New Jersey was allowed to fight against 5-foot-11inch tall, 200 pound Illinois karate fighter.

Lack of time limit started becoming another problem. Due to lack of time limits, sometimes the fights were continuing beyond the fixed pay-per-view time slot and the UFC was losing fans as they viewed the long fights as boring. This later resulted in introduction of time limits and other restrictions.

 

Sunday, December 02, 2007
By Sherdog.com Staff
Regulated mixed martial arts has experienced its first casualty. Sam asquez, who was stopped by Vince Libar