Ways of Winning in an MMA bout


MMA is one of the most viewed and the fastest growing combat sports, the fighter of the different fighting disciplines can be seen in MMA. Like, Kickboxers, Boxers, Wrestlers, Jiu-Jitsu, Judo, Muay Thai, Karate, etc. so MMA has its own rules, where punching, kicking, standup fighting, grappling, clinching, and ground-and-pound is allowed.

It has a different and unique ring as compared to the other combat sports. Like it is different from other combat sports, what are the ways of winning in an MMA Bout, or what are the possible results of an MMA fight?

A winner can be declared in the following ways:

  • Stoppage: Technical Knockout, Knockout
  • A Decision: Majority Decision, Split Decision, and Unanimous Decision
  • Quitting: Technical Submission, Submission
  • No Showing: Forfeit

Let us see the details of these:

1.   STOPPAGE:

Stoppage victory is when a fighter is not able to continue during the fight. After getting a severe beating, a fighter is either unconscious or does not respond to a flurry of strikes. Let us see types of stoppage.

What is the difference between ko and tko?

TKO (Technical Knockout)

TKO or Technical knockout is a call by the referee, doctor, or the team of a fighter. When the referee sees, a fighter did not respond to a flurry of strikes or started shaking or seen hurt after a devastating shot, the referee jumps in and stops the fight.

For example, in Justine Gaethje vs. Tony Ferguson, when the referee saw the condition of Tony, he rushed there to stop the action to avoid further damages to El Cucay.

The next form of TKO is when the doctor stops the action after examining the condition of a fighter. There are ringside doctors present in every fight. They usually check the physical conditions, like cuts, or eye-swelling, or other wounds like these. Once found severe injuries, they call it a night by declaring that the fighter is not in the right condition to go ahead.

For example Jorge Masvidal vs. Nate Diaz. At UFC 244, Doctor stopped the fight when he checked the right eye of Diaz after the third round.

KO ( Knockout)

KO or Knockout occurs when a fighter goes into an unconscious condition after a punch or strike.

For example Khamzat Chimaev vs. Gerald Meerschaert, Khamzat KOed Gerald within 17 seconds of the first round, with a single punch.

2.   SUBMISSION

Submission is when a fighter gives up the fight after getting locked into a joint lock or choke by the opponent. In this situation, a fighter taps the opponent at any easy to access body part to give up the fight.

For example Khabib vs. Conor McGregor, McGregor tapped at the arm of Khabib in the fourth round when the Eagle locked him with a Neck Crank.

Khabib vs. Conor McGregor

3.   A DECISION

Decision victory occurs when the fight goes to the final bell, and no knockout or submission happens between the rounds. In this situation, the judges declare who won the fight based on the points they noted on the cards. Each round has a weightage of 10 points that belongs to the winner of that round. While the other fighter gets 9 points if there is no knockdown. But if a fighter is knocked down, the winner still gets the 10, and the one who tasted canvas gets 8 points.

This way, a winner is declared by the judges. There are some types of decision-based victory.

Unanimous Decision

A unanimous Decision is when all three judges select the same winner. It means all three cards favor the same fighter.

For example Khabib vs. Al Iaquinta, in this fight, Khabib won the UD with 50-45, which means Khabib won each of the five rounds.

Split Decision

A split Decision is when two judges award the fight to a fighter while the third judge declares the other as a winner. So, the one with two cards is declared a winner.

For example, Conor McGregor vs. Nate Diaz II, where two judges picked the Irishman while one thought Diaz did well. So Conor won a Split Decision.

Majority Decision

The majority Decision is announced when two cards are in the favor of a fighter, while the third judge gives equal points to both the fighters.

For example Stephan Bonnar vs. Rashad Evans, Rashad won the fight by majority decision, which means two judges declared him the winner while one card had the bout tied.

Technical Decision

This is the situation when a fight is a halt due to an “Unintentional Illegal Strike” but half or more rounds have been conducted. In this situation, the points are counted till the last conducted round. And then the decision is announced based on those rounds.

For Example Ovince Preux vs. Gain Villante, after an unintentional eye poke, Villante was unable to continue, so the fight was halted, and points were counted for all the conducted rounds, Ovince won it by a technical decision.

4.   FORFEIT:

It is a situation when a fighter does not appear on the fight night. So the one who is present is awarded the victory.

5.   DISQUALIFICATION:

Disqualification is when a fighter does illegal actions, like throwing continuous low blows, rabbit punch, hitting downward with elbows, or hitting after the bell. In situations like this, the referee gives a warning or waves the fight off, and awards the victory to the victim or the illegal actions.

For Example Jon Jones vs. Matt Hamill, Jon was DQed after hitting Matt with Illegal downward elbows.

Furthermore, there can be a fight without having a winner.

It can be a Draw or No Contest.

1.   A DRAW:

A fight is considered as Draw when none of the fighters is declared as a clear winner. There are types of draw, let’s have a look.

Split Draw:

A fight result is called Split Draw when one judge awards the fight to a fighter and the second judge gives it to the other fighter, while the third one gives equal points to both the fighters.

For Example Felipe Arantes vs. Milton Vieira, the fight happened at UFC 147, in the three rounder, one judge gave it to Arantes while the other gave it to Vieira, and the third judge scored it 28-28.

Majority Draw:

Majority Draw is when two Judges think the fight is drawn by giving equal points to both the fighters while the third can be in the favor of any fighter.

For example, Tyron Woodley vs. Stephen Thompson ended in MD when 2judges scored the fight as a draw, while the third gave it to Tyron Woodley.

Unanimous Draw:

As its name shows, when all three judges give equal points to both the fighters, this result is called Unanimous Draw. It is the rarest thing in combat sports.

For Example Rashad Evans vs. Tito Ortiz, at UFC 73, Rashad and Tito’s fight ended in a Unanimous Draw. All three judges tied the match by giving equal points to both.

2.   NO CONTEST:

No Contest means no fight happened, opposite to draw, this fight is not considered as a contest. There are two situations when No Contest occurs.

The first one is when a fight is stopped due to an “Unintentional illegal strike”, and it is too early to check the cards. Like an unintentional head clash occurred in the very first or the second round, in this situation, the fight is declared as a No Contest.

The other situation is when a fighter wins the bout, but later on, he is tested positive for using illegal drugs, in this situation, the fight is declared as No Contest.

For example Silva vs. Diaz, Silva won it originally, but the results were overturned to “No Contest” after Silva tested positive for using drugs.

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