mixed martial arts (Also MMA- from English. Mixed Martial Arts) - martial arts (often incorrectly called "fights without rules"), which are a combination of many techniques, schools and styles of martial arts. MMA is a full-contact fight using striking techniques and wrestling both in the standing position (clinch) and on the floor (ground floor). The term "Mixed Martial Arts" was coined in 1995 by Rick Blume, president of Battlecade, one of the early MMA organizations, and subsequently found steady use in non-English speaking countries.

Origins of MMA

Origins of MMA go back to BC: even the ancient Greeks at the first Olympic Games competed in pankration, however, until the 1990s, MMA could not boast of significant popularity in the world. Only with the formation and development of such organizations as " Ultimate Fighting Championship "(eng. "Absolute fighting championship"), "Pride Fighting Championships" (eng. Fighting championship "Pride"), etc. The popularity of MMA has increased dramatically, which was also facilitated by the fall in the entertainment of professional boxing.

Although early competitions had minimal rules, due to the criticism of the sport as a "carnage", promoters introduced additional restrictions to increase the safety of athletes and attract new spectators. Thanks to these efforts, modern MMA is one of the fastest growing sports, as evidenced by the sales of pay-per-view fights, media coverage, growth in the number of participants and an increase in sales of related products. MMA.

Modern MMA

Modern mixed martial arts has its roots in two events: vale tudo competitions in Brazil and Japanese shoot wrestling. Vale Tudo has its origins in the third decade of the 20th century, when Brazilian jiu-jitsu representatives Carlos Gracie and Helio Gracie invited anyone to compete with them in wrestling. This was the so-called "Gracie Challenge", which was later supported by Gracie's descendants.

In Japan in the 1970s professional wrestler Kanji "Antonio" Inoki, organized a series of mixed-rules bouts. In particular, on June 26, 1976, Inoki met with the famous boxer Mohammed Ali. Initially, the fight was planned according to mixed rules in the full sense, however, two days later, a restriction was introduced that significantly affected the outcome of the meeting: Inoki was allowed to kick only if he stood with one knee on the floor. As a result, Ali landed six punches, and Inoki spent almost the entire fight on the floor, keeping Ali away from him with low kicks. The fight ended in a draw, although the damage to Ali's legs nearly jeopardized his boxing career. As a result of an unspectacular fight, the opinion spread that fights according to mixed rules are impossible due to the lack of adaptation of the rules, and for a long time they were not held. However, Inoki continued to organize mixed martial arts from time to time, which did not receive wide recognition, however, it was they who in 1986 led to the formation of the first mixed martial arts organization, known as "Shuto" (English Shooto). Inoki himself had nothing to do with Shuto: the organization was founded by his former “colleague in the wrestling ring” - Satoru Sayama.

Later, fate MMA developed differently in different countries. Popularity in the US MMA began to rise in 1993, when Californian businessman Art Davey and Brazilian jiu-jitsu school principal Rorion Gracie organized the first Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) held in Denver, Colorado. Tournament of eight participants, which had prize fund for the $50,000 winner, included representatives from boxing, savate, sumo, karate, and wrestling. To the surprise of the 2,800 spectators present in the hall, and another 86,000 who bought paid broadcast on cable television, the Brazilian athlete Royce Gracie became the winner of the tournament, significantly inferior to all his opponents in height and weight and won thanks to suffocating and painful techniques, little known at that time. Subsequently, Gracie won two more UFC tournaments, which widely popularized Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu - one of the key components in the training of many fighters. MMA Nowadays.

In Japan in 1997, interest in mixed martial arts led to the creation of a large organization MMA- Pride Fighting Championships. As the sport developed, other organizations began to appear: Strikeforce, EliteXC, Bellator Fighting Championships, Bodog, Affliction, WEC, Dream, M-1 Global, however, in the face of fierce competition, some of them collapsed, while others were forced be content with little popularity and a relatively low level of fighters.

In Russia and the CIS countries, in connection with the collapse of the USSR, the development MMA was more chaotic in nature and mainly manifested itself in the form of individual tournaments or simply fights without tournament bracket which started in the mid-1990s. Due to the lack of structures governing the rules, medical support and conditions for the fights, the level of competition depended solely on the willingness of sponsors to invest in fights, which often led to fights being held in inadequate conditions. A significant improvement was noted with the appearance in Russia of the Japanese organization RINGS, where such fighters as Wolf Khan, Andrei Kopylov, Mikhail Ilyukhin and Nikolai Zuev have proven themselves well. RINGS also gave a start to Fedor Emelianenko, later a multiple world champion in MMA according to various organizations.

To date, development MMA in Russia is still not moving as fast as, for example, in the United States, where interest in UFC fights increased significantly with the purchase of the promotion by Station Casinos owners, the Fertitta brothers, in 2001, and the appointment of former boxing promoter Dana White as president of the company, which led to a massive craze for the sport, even in those states where MMA at that time was officially banned (for example, New York). This is due, first of all, to changes in the rules that made the fights more spectacular, White's aggressive policy aimed at popularizing the sport (more precisely, the UFC organization itself), and the evolution of fighting equipment. In December 2006, the UFC's popularity peaked when Chuck Liddell's fight against Tito Ortiz garnered pay-TV box office equals to the highest-grossing fights in boxing history. In 2007, the Fertitta brothers bought out main rival Japanese Pride, making the UFC the biggest organization in the world of MMA and, thanks to the arrival of the best Pride fighters, was able to increase the popularity of the sport in the US even higher, as evidenced by the increase in pay-per-stream sales.

In Russia, however, the situation is radically different, mainly due to the lack of adequate coverage of sports by the media and the still prevailing opinion among a large part of the population that MMA It's a blood sport. Sports are also not funded by the state and have no development program, as a result of which the evolution takes place at the expense of a few enthusiasts.

On September 26, 2012, the commission of the Ministry of Sports of the Russian Federation officially recognized MMA independent sport.

In other countries (for example, England, Australia and Germany) MMA is also an emerging sport, while in France - MMA prohibited.

Many have heard of this type of martial arts as MMA. What is MMA? What are the rules there, or is it, on the contrary, a fight without rules? All this we will try to describe in detail in our article.

Equipment

In order to get an answer to the question about MMA - what is this sport - let's first consider the equipment of athletes. Lightweight gloves weighing four ounces (in comparison, professional boxing gloves weigh 10 ounces) with open fingers for grips and athletic shorts. Yes, according to MMA rules, athletes perform barefoot and bare-chested. In women's competitions, participants wear a bra, tank top and shorts. That's all, no shields, helmets and other accessories.

Fight, ring and forbidden rules

MMA fights take place either in the boxing ring or in the octagon - an octagonal area with a metal fence in the form of a grid. The duration of the battle depends on the rules of the tournament and can last from 3 to 5 rounds. One round lasts 5 minutes, with a 1-minute break between rounds.

Now consider the prohibited techniques in MMA. “What is it,” some of the readers will think, “because MMA is fighting without rules?” But it's not. In this sport, a lot of things are impossible:

1. You can not beat the head, blows to the eyes, to the throat are prohibited.
2. It is forbidden to hit in the groin, on the back of the head, on the spine.
3. It is forbidden to hit the heel on the kidneys.
4. You can not stomp a lying person, strike him with his feet or knees in the head.
5. Do not grab shorts or gloves.
6. You can not hit from top to bottom with your elbow.
7. You can not pull the opponent's hair, pinch, bite.
8. You can not carry out pain techniques on the fingers and toes.

As you can see, there are more than enough bans in this sport.

Now let's look at punches in MMA. What this sport is, you can understand, focusing on them. Hands are allowed to work here, as in boxing, and not only:

• Direct hits are allowed - crosses and jabs.
• Lateral - swings and hooks.
• Uppercuts.
• Elbow strikes from the rack.
• Undercuts, direct kicks, side kicks, roundhouse kicks, jump kicks are allowed.
• From the arsenal of sambo, judo, and other similar martial arts, various grabs and throws are allowed.

That is, as they say, in addition to what is impossible, everything is possible, but within the limits of the rules.

Notable MMA fighters

A lot is known famous athletes made famous in MMA. So, the “most-most” fighters include the Brazilian heavyweight Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and Chuck Liddell, known as the “Iceman”. And Randy Couture is the champion in two weight categories. Canadian George St-Pierre has become almost an MMA legend. Anders Silva (aka The Spider), is known for defending his title ten times. Well, the best fighter of mixed styles is the legendary athlete representing Russian Federation, Fedor Emelianenko or "The Last Emperor". IN track record this athlete forty-one fights, thirty-six of which he won. He knocked out eleven opponents and sixteen surrendered on their own.

In conclusion, we can add that MMA is a sport open to everyone. It is not at all necessary to do boxing, kickboxing or any other type of martial arts before MMA in order, as they say, to lay the foundation. good coach teach everything from scratch. As for age, they undertake to train even the smallest, from 6-7 years old. The coach himself will decide after examining the child whether he is ready for training.

Schools, styles, trends

In principle, MMA athletes do not shine with novelty in choosing a combat strategy: there are also fans of strikes and wrestling here, but they know that it is the confrontation on the ground that often decides the outcome of the fight, and here one should not be shy: who is what much.

Due to the ban on the use of certain techniques and strikes, MMA athletes, as well as other styles, had to adapt to new conditions. A certain way out of the situation was hybrid styles, in which there was no dominant stance or parterre, the fighter used a limited number of techniques, which allowed him to show himself with better side and win. These areas of expertise include dirty boxing in the clinch, knock-and-stab, grappling (wrestling coupled with chokeholds), stretch and fight and others. The names themselves speak of battle tactics.

Inventory, weapons used

Mixed martial arts is somewhat different from boxing in terms of the use of equipment and the venue for the fight. First, the arena must be round, or have at least six equal sides, with a width not less than 20 feet and not more than 32 feet.

The floor of the arena must be covered with special foam, and the fence posts must be made of metal with a diameter of no more than 6 inches.

Competing men are dressed only in shorts, women enter the arena in shorts and sports bras. In the arena, opponents must be barefoot.

Technique

The superiority of the opponent in technique has always been considered the trump card in any sport. If we talk about mixed martial arts, the corresponding types help to achieve success in percussion techniques - boxing, kickboxing, muay thai, karate. Different kinds wrestling (freestyle, Greco-Roman, judo and sambo) are indispensable in the stalls. The effective use of painful and suffocating techniques can also play a decisive role.

When it comes to MMA, they often remember the famous champion, the magnificent fighter Fedor Emelianenko, who owned several both shock and wrestling styles, which ultimately helped him emerge victorious even in the most hopeless situations.

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For beginners: what does MMA mean?

What does MMA mean? This abbreviation is called mixed martial arts, which became popular at the end of the 20th century in the United States. In Mixed Martial Arts, it is allowed to use a huge number of wrestling techniques and techniques, which is unacceptable for other styles. At one time in tournaments mixed martial arts masters of karate, muay thai, jiu-jitsu, famous boxers and kickboxers.

A little about the terms and concepts adopted in MMA

A cage is like a ring, which is fenced with a net and a high fence. Although newcomers who have just learned about MMA, such a tournament venue is perplexing, the cage has several advantages. You can push off from it, showing your best tricks, and it also serves as protection against injuries - the fighter will never fall out of the ring.

The base for a fighter is the sport from which he came to mixed martial arts. Majority successful athletes MMA is closely related to freestyle wrestling (7 out of 10). Russian fighters often leave for MMA, leaving combat sambo.

A round in MMA lasts 5 minutes, not 3 like in boxing. Championship fights last for five 5-minute rounds. Once the fighters had to fight for half an hour or even before the victory of one of them!

The day before the fight, fighters are weighed to make sure they are in the same weight class. Many champions have mastered the method of institutionalized cheating the rules - "running excess weight". They manage to a short time lose up to 15 kg! After weighing, the fighters try to gain as much weight as possible in a day, drinking and eating.

Cloth

As a general rule, competitors must wear only MMA shorts, and the use of gis or kimonos is prohibited to avoid "jacket choke" techniques and minimize the benefits of "stripped" fighters. And women perform in shorts and sports bras.

Famous people in the MMA world

Fighters John Joyce, Alexander Shlemenko, Joe Rogan, Mirko Cro Cop, Fedor Emelianenko, Khabib Nurmagomedov deserve special attention, as well as Dana White, president of an organization that promotes MMA in the world. Many consider him an evil troll. Despite the difficult nature and complex of God, this person does a lot for mixed martial arts as a sport.

Alexander Shlemenko - middleweight fighter, was the champion of the second largest MMA organization on the planet. Trains on his own, talks little, adherent healthy lifestyle life. Fans love Alexander for his integrity and obstinacy, so they consider him the hope of Russia.

Joe Rogan is a very interesting person. He hosts his radio show in the USA, and also connects his life with a career as a comedian and TV presenter. He loves hunting, moreover, he kills animals with arrows. Despite his hypocrisy, Rogan is loved for his charisma.
Fedor Emelianenko - Russian heavyweight fighter, eight-time winner of world MMA championships in different versions, multiple champion of Russia and the world in combat sambo.

He was elected to the Belgorod Regional Duma from United Russia. He worked as an adviser to the Minister of Sports of the Russian Federation. In July 2015, Fedor left political activity and continued his sports career.

Fedor is a practicing Orthodox Christian and does not hide his religiosity. He is convinced that faith must be proved by deeds, not just words.

Russia is expanding its influence in world sports. Everyone knows that we can rightly be proud of our traditions in hockey, gymnastics, wrestling, figure skating. And now the Russians have succeeded in very young sports - mixed martial arts or MMA.

So far, society knows little about this sport and often perceives it with a negative connotation. We will try to dot the "i".

Term

MMA - from (eng. Mixed Martial Arts) - Mixed martial arts. This is a combination of many techniques, schools and areas of martial arts. MMA is a full contact fight. Striking and wrestling techniques are used both in the standing position (clinch) and on the floor (parterre).

The term "Mixed Martial Arts" was coined in 1995 by Rick Blume, president of Battlecade, one of the early MMA organizations. Further, the abbreviation successfully took root in many, including non-English speaking countries.

Delusion

Quite often, MMA is mistakenly called "fights without rules", this is a key misconception. The competition has very strict rules and regulations. The rules mainly concern the division into weight categories, the use of special gloves, additional restrictions on allowed techniques and time frames for fights.

Story

In fact, the origins of MMA go back to a very, very distant past, to the time before our era. The ancient Greeks competed in pankration at the first Olympic Games. You can also remember the fights of gladiators. In modern times, until the 1990s, MMA had neither popularity nor special development in the world. The turning point was the formation and development of large promotional organizations, such as the "Ultimate Fighting Championship" (Absolute Fighting Championship), "Pride Fighting Championships" (Pride Fighting Championship).

The formation of MMA took place in recent history, before our eyes. Early competitions were governed by a very abbreviated set of rules, and received much criticism. Promoters systematically introduced additional restrictions to improve the safety of athletes, "cultivated" fights, which attracted new viewers. Thanks to these efforts, modern MMA on this moment are one of the fastest growing sports. Popularity with the public in different countries is growing, sales of paid broadcasts of fights, media coverage, an increase in the number of potential fighters, and an increase in sales of MMA-related goods are growing.

In Russia, the popularity of mixed martial arts has grown along with huge sports achievements Fedor Emelianenko, world-renowned top heavyweight MMA fighter. For almost ten years, Fedor Emelianenko remained undefeated, which is unprecedented in the history of MMA. The authority of the great athlete helped the development of MMA in our country: gyms, coaches, and promotional organizations began to appear.

Weight categories

from 120.2 Heavyweight(Super heavyweight)

93 - 120.2 Heavy weight (Heavyweight)

83.9 - 93 Light heavyweight

77,1 — 83,9 Average weight(Middleweight)

70.3 - 77.1 Welterweight

65.8 - 70.3 Lightweight

61.2 - 65.8 Featherweight

56.7 - 61.2 Bantamweight

up to 56.7 Flyweight

Possible outcome of the fight

Knockout (only as a result of a legal kick)

Voluntary surrender (verbally or by tapping the opponent or the surface with the palm of the hand)

Technical knockout (one of the fighters cannot continue the fight, this is signaled by the referee or the doctor, or the “corner” second)

By decision of the judges (unanimous, separate, draw)

Fighting styles

Each fighter in MMA has his own tactics, his own strengths. It largely depends on what sport the athlete moved from to MMA. However, one can roughly divide the tactics on the "first floor" and on the "second floor".

Basic combat strategies

Wrestling technique - a fighter uses throws, grabs and painful / suffocating techniques. To improve wrestling in the clinch, popular disciplines are freestyle wrestling, Greco-Roman wrestling, judo and sambo

Striking technique - when a fighter seeks to win through punches, elbows, knees and legs. To improve the technique in the rack, boxing, kickboxing, muay thai, karate are most popular.

Wrestling in the "parterre" (on the floor) is practiced through jiu-jitsu, grappling, judo, and sambo.

Naturally, special attention is paid to the development of painful and suffocating techniques. It is the successful application of these tactics that often brings victory to the fighter.

How to become an MMA fighter

Being a fighter is not as easy as it might seem. “MMA is not just competition or the desire to fight. For many fighters, it's their job. And bread,” says a young fighter from Dagestan, Abdul Magomedov.

His path to mixed martial arts was very rich, we list only some of his regalia: Bronze medalist European championship in combat sambo, Champion of the Rostov region in MMA, Champion of Dagestan in MMA, Silver medalist of Dagestan in K1, Champion of the Southern Federal District in judo, Master of sports international class in combat sambo, CCM in judo, CCM in K1.

That is, we see what a solid baggage of sports skills and achievements a fighter should have.

In Russia, most often people come to MMA after wrestling: sambo, freestyle wrestling, Greco-Roman wrestling, judo, grappling.

Training and camps

In MMA training, the same skills are not practiced every day. Again, each athlete has his own system, but basically the routine is as follows: Monday - kentus work + sparring, Tuesday - grappling day, Wednesday - Muay Thai + sparring with gloves, Thursday - wrestling day + work at the net, Friday - kentus sparring or crossfit pitching. Saturday - morning cross.

Collections are for everyone differently, depends on the level and capabilities of the athletes.

For example, Dagestan fighters usually train under the guidance of the honored coach of Russia (and father of UFC No. 1 70kg fighter Khabib Nurmagomedov) Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov in the highland region of Dagestan, in the Tsumadinsky district.

Also, many guys are training at one of the best coaches Russia, coach of the Dagestan fighter club Mansur Uchakaev. Under his leadership are gathering best fighters Russia. The training camp takes place in the club itself, also in the Khunzakh region and on the shores of the Caspian Sea.

Many athletes in last years started flying overseas. Most often fly to Thailand. In Thailand, two halls are in demand. These are AKA Thailand and Tiger Muay Thai.

Those who are lucky with a visa are flying to the United States for training. In the United States, the topic has long been developed, there are a huge number of halls with strong fighters, and where Russians are warmly welcomed.

Russian fighters train in such well-known halls as Jakson Wink MMA (Rustam Khabilov UFC fighter, Timur Valiev), AKA hall (Khabib Nurmagomedov, Islam Makhachev, Zubaira Tukhugov train there). The American Top Tim hall is also popular with Russians. However, we would like to note once again that not all the guys succeed in training camps in such halls. Just not everyone has sponsors. Fly to the US for fees to come out in a round sum. To pass a two-month training camp in one of the listed halls (including flights, meals, accommodation, payment for coaches) will cost approximately 300 - 400 thousand rubles.

Promotion

Since MMA is a commercial sport, a business scheme is needed there - promotion. These are organizations that represent fighters, organize competitions, engage in advertising, promotion, and so on.

The best promotion company in the world (and the richest) is, of course, the UFC. The best fighters of their weight categories are gathered there. Actually, this is the highest stage of a career, and all the fighters of the world dream of getting there. Bellator can be put on the second step in the world. Another thing to note is the organization of the WSOF.

In Russia, ACB (Berkut) stands out (and is considered the best). The company has Chechen roots, but is very influential in Russia and known abroad. There is excellent refereeing and a very good attitude towards athletes. Each competition is held as a big colorful show. Industry professionals also highlight the promotion of Akhmat and Fight Nights.

Fighters' fees

The fees for the fight are different everywhere, it depends on the promotion and on the contract, and, of course, the reputation and entertainment of the fighter. The highest paid promotion is of course the UFC. There, even debutants receive $10,000 for a fight and the same amount for a victory. Plus from the sponsor about $ 2500. And if there is a fight of the evening or even a knockout of the evening, then another $50,000.

At reigning champions and fighters from the top 5 in weight categories, the amount for entering the fight starts from $400,000. This is only entry to the battle, not counting sponsorship payments, payments for the victory, payments from sold paid broadcasts (pvp).

In Russia, the payouts for the fight are different for all fighters, and the contract and the name of the fighter also affect.

Famous Russians in the UFC

Let's tell you about two popular Russian fighters on both sides of the Atlantic.

Mayrbek Taysumov - Russian fighter Chechen origin. Spent 30 fights, won 25 victories, 23 of them ahead of schedule. Now he performs within the UFC, he has dual citizenship of Russia and Austria, where he has been living since 2002.

Mayrbek himself says that he was born and raised in Staraya Sunzha, where fighting is a matter of honor for guys. He fought almost every day.

Taysumov has a very interesting sports life. From childhood he was fond of football. He was even a professional football player, he played for the backup team of Terek Grozny, and later - at the heart of one of the Austrian clubs.

In 2007, Mayrbeck retrained in jiu-jitsu and began competing in mixed martial arts.

Mayrbeck was invited to the UFC after successful performances in the M-1 Challenge, where he was in the status of a rising star in European MMA with a reputation for tough and spectacular fighter.

In short, among professionals, Mayrbeck is considered a fighter with an excellent strike, excellent fighting technique, phenomenal sports uniform and "fantastic performance".

In life, Mayrbek Taysumov is a very modest and reasonable person and a seriously religious person.

Zubaira Tukhugov is also a Russian fighter of Chechen origin. In the UFC, he is called "Warrior", which means "Warrior".

Zubaira is a popular guy with nearly 300,000 followers on his Instagram pages. Himself and his sports success serve as a great motivator for young people.

In life, Zubair is very shy, does not notice his popularity at all. Over a cup of tea, he said that he had come very young (16 years old) to Moscow to improve in MMA: “I really like Moscow. I like everything here, except for the attitude of people. At the age of sixteen, I moved from Chechnya to Moscow to develop in MMA.When I arrived in Moscow in 2007, I encountered a very hostile attitude towards Caucasians.I was young and hot, there were fights when I was very hurt.I never divide people by nation, there are bad and good people. I have close friends from different nations. With age, I have become calmer about any conflicts. Previously, a lot of things hurt, but now I just can’t understand why there is such an attitude towards Caucasians in the rest of Russia? Maybe from TV, from newspapers, from the Internet, they said a lot that Caucasians are bad. And many watched, listened and fell for it. "Zubaira says that sport is very disciplined, and you need to stand out in the ring, and not by external signs in life. - "I don’t like show-offs, I don’t like it. Any success passes, and then there will be a normal life. Now my main dream is to win the belt, main UFC title. I also want sons to be in sports too. I advise young fighters to choose Olympic sports martial arts".