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 Mixed martial arts (MMA) is a combat sport in which a wide variety of fighting techniques are used, including striking and grappling.
Modern mixed martial arts tournaments as a popular phenomenon emerged in 1993 with the Ultimate Fighting Championship, based on the concept of pitting different fighting styles against each other in competition with minimal rules in place, in an attempt to determine which system would be more effective in a real, unregulated combat situation. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, mixed martial arts events implemented additional rules for the safety of the athletes and to promote acceptance of the sport, while maintaining as much of the original no-holds-barred concept as possible. Since these changes, the sport has grown rapidly, to the point of setting pay-per-view records.
The history of the modern MMA event can be traced to the Gracie family's vale tudo martial arts tournaments in Brazil starting in the 1920s, and early mixed martial arts matches hosted by Antonio Inoki in Japan in the 1970s. The fighting concept of combining various combat disciplines gained popularity in the late 1960s and early 1970s with the emergence of Bruce Lee and his theories of mixing various martial art styles. The sport gained international exposure and widespread publicity in the United States in 1993, when Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu fighter Royce Gracie dominated the Ultimate Fighting Championship, sparking a revolution in the martial arts, while in Japan the continued interest in the sport resulted in the creation of the PRIDE Fighting Championships in 1997.
Though rules have been adopted, there is no general sanctioning body for the sport, and the sets of rules vary according to the laws of individual organizations and localities. It was thought that Olympic recognition would be forthcoming for the 2004 Summer Olympics, held in Athens, under the banner of pankration. However, the International Olympic Committee was unconvinced that Greece could handle the total number of sports proposed. To placate the IOC, the organizers removed all new medal sports and pankration missed out.
The techniques utilized in mixed martial arts competition generally fall into two categories: striking techniques (such as kicks, knees and punches) and grappling techniques (such as clinch holds, pinning holds, submission holds, sweeps, takedowns and throws). Some unarmed hand to hand combat techniques are considered illegal in most or all modern competition, such as biting, eye-gouging, fish-hooking and small joint manipulation. Over the last ten years, strikes to the groin have become illegal in all sanctioned organizations. The legality of other techniques such as elbows, headbutts and spinal locks vary according to competition or organization.
A victory in a bout is normally gained by the judges' decision after an allotted amount of time has elapsed, a stoppage by the referee or the fight doctor (in the event that the competitor is injured or can no longer defend himself intelligently),a submission, by a competitor's cornerman throwing in the towel, or by knockout.
While competition in the sport is occasionally depicted as brutal by the media, there was no death or crippling injury in a sanctioned event in North America] until the death of Houston, Texas fighter Sam Vasquez on November 30, 2007. Vasquez collapsed shortly after being knocked out in the third round of an October 20 fight at the Toyota Center in Houston by Vince Libardi. Vasquez had two separate surgeries to remove blood clots from his brain, and shortly after the second operation suffered a major stroke and never regained consciousness. The only other verified fatality in competition is the 1998 death of Douglas Dedge in an unsanctioned fight in Ukraine. There are unconfirmed reports that Dedge had a pre-existing medical condition. Questions also have been asked about the health of Vasquez before his final bout, although no firm information has yet surfaced. Since he was age 35, he would have had to undergo extensive pre-fight medical screening in order to obtain a license to compete in Texas...
to be continued...
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