UFC vs. Pride – Part 3: Rules

UFC Rules

There are five weight categories in the UFC.

1. Lightweight: 146 to 155 pounds
2. Welterweight: 156 to 170 pounds
3. Middleweight: 171 to 185 pounds
4. Light Heavyweight: 186 to 205 pounds
5. Heavyweight: 206 to 265 pounds

Championship fights last up to 5 rounds and non-title fights last up to 3 rounds, all 5 minutes each. The fight is in a trademarked octagonal shaped cage as opposed to the traditional square boxing ring. If you watch the earlier UFC events, fighters often wore upper body clothing and had shoes. Today, the only allowed pieces of attire are approved shorts, gloves and mouth guard. The approved gloves allow the fingers to grab.

There are a number of ways to win a fight.

1. Submission by physical or verbal tap out.
2. Technical knockout and thus a referee stoppage.
3. Judges decision (unanimous, split, majority, draw)
4. Technical decision
5. Technical draw
6. Disqualification
7. Forfeit
8. No contest

Three judges score the fight if it comes down to a decision. In each round, the winning fighter receives 10 points and the loser receives 9 or less. If it’s a tie, both fighters get 10 points.

Fouls are instituted by the Nevada State Athletic Commission. They include the following.

1. Butting with the head.
2. Eye gouging of any kind.
3. Biting.
4. Hair pulling.
5. Fish hooking.
6. Groin attacks of any kind.
7. Putting a finger into any orifice or into any cut or laceration on an opponent.
8. Small joint manipulation.
9. Striking to the spine or the back of the head.
10. Striking downward using the point of the elbow.
11. Throat strikes of any kind, including, without limitation, grabbing the trachea.
12. Clawing, pinching or twisting the flesh.
13. Grabbing the clavicle.
14. Kicking the head of a grounded opponent.
15. Kneeing the head of a grounded opponent.
16. Stomping a grounded opponent.
17. Kicking to the kidney with the heel.
18. Spiking an opponent to the canvas on his head or neck.
19. Throwing an opponent out of the ring or fenced area.
20. Holding the shorts or gloves of an opponent.
21. Spitting at an opponent.
22. Engaging in an unsportsmanlike conduct that causes an injury to an opponent.
23. Holding the ropes or the fence.
24. Using abusive language in the ring or fenced area.
25. Attacking an opponent on or during the break.
26. Attacking an opponent who is under the care of the referee.
27. Attacking an opponent after the bell has sounded the end of the period of unarmed combat.
28. Flagrantly disregarding the instructions of the referee.
29. Timidity, including, without limitation, avoiding contact with an opponent, intentionally or consistently dropping the mouthpiece or faking an injury.
30. Interference by the corner.
31. Throwing in the towel during competition.

If a foul is committed, the fighter gets a point deducted. With all the rules, you can see the UFC is not the NHB style of competition it once was. That being said, the rules are designed in a way to maximize the fight quality without sacrificing the safety of the fighters.

Pride Rules

There are four weight categories in Pride.

1. Lightweight: less than 160 pounds
2. Welterweight: less than 183 pounds
3. Middleweight: less than 205 pounds
4. Heavyweight: more or equal to 205 pounds

In Pride fights, the first round is 10 minutes and then rounds 2 and 3 are 5 minutes each. There are 2 minutes of break time between rounds.

There are several ways to win a fight.

1. Ippon – A fighter taps the opponent or the mat three times.
2. Technical knockout – Referee stoppage, doctor stoppage or forfeited match.
3. Decision based on three judges. Unlike the UFC, the decision is based on the entire match as a whole, not round by round.
4. Disqualification
5. No Contest

Fighters are disqualified if they receive three warnings for not abiding in any of the following rules.

1. No head butting, eye gouging, hair pulling, biting or fish hooking.
2. No attacking the groin.
3. No strikes to the back of the head. This does not include the side of the head.
4. No small joint manipulation.
5. No elbow strikes to the head and face.
6. No intentionally throwing your opponent out of the ring.
7. No running out of the ring.
8. No purposely holding the ropes. Fighters cannot purposely hang an arm or leg on the ropes. Hanging on the ropes will result in an immediate warning.
9. No kicks or knees to the head or the face of an opponent who falls face down.
10. No application of oil, ointment, spray, Vaseline, massaging cream, hair cream, or any other substances is permitted to any part of the fighter’s body before and during the fights.

Notice that kicking and kneeing the head of an opponent on the ground is allowed in Pride but not in the UFC. However, elbows to the head and face are allowed in the UFC but not in Pride. So apparently, UFC views using the feet as a weapon against the head as more serious than using elbows. It’s really hard to say what is worse. But if you take out the use of elbows, the fight definitely is not as exciting, as any Muay Thai fighter would attest to.

UFC vs. Pride Blogging Series