3 MMA rules that need to change, 1 we hope never does
By Anwesha Nag
One MMA rule that shouldn't change - No strikes to the spine or back of the head
Striking the spinal cord or the back of the head is strictly banned in MMA, as it could pose permanent, irreparable damage to not only the skeletal structure of the body but also the nervous system. In worst-case scenarios, such injuries can even send a person into a coma or paralyze them for life.
As per the current rules, any strike landed in these extremely sensitive areas calls for a point deduction for the offender. Depending on the severity of the blow or if the action is repeated even after a warning, it may lead to disqualification. This applies even if the blows landed were accidental and unintentional.
Given the seriousness of the consequences of such striking, this is one rule that should never ever be changed in MMA. Fighters are anyway exposed to the risks of CTE by taking years of hits to the head and neck region. This rule ensures there is no fast-tracking of the effects of severe brain damage in the fighters.
Back-of-the-head strikes infamously affected the then-30-year-old boxer Prichard Colon, whose story is one of the saddest in the world of boxing. In the only match he ever lost in his career, Colon suffered multiple blows to the back of his head that went unnoticed by the referee. It caused heavy hemorrhage and Colon eventually collapsed in the dressing room and spent more than 200 days in a coma.
Despite surgery and rehab, Colon is in a state of post-coma unresponsiveness but is improving gradually.
In the UFC, referee Mario Yamasaki infamously awarded Carlo Prater a DQ win after determining Erick Silva had landed illegal strikes to knock out his opponent. More recently, Junior Dos Santos accused Ciryl Gane of landing back-of-the-head blows in their UFC 256.
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