Rules are what make the match fair and balanced for both players who are sharing the fighting stage. Just like every other sport in the world, MMA has its share of rules that can be a bit too confusing to some people.
The first-time viewers may find the rules to be annoying and somewhat unfair. Sometimes you are watching a fight and the match will end with a No-Contest decision.
The Rules of the game only make sense if you know the game well. If you cover the basic aspect of the sport, you will have no trouble getting in touch with the complicated stuff of the game.
The concept of No contest has been around for a long time. No contest has been used plenty of times in a Boxing match.
As most of the time police will have to step into the ring to stop the fight. But now No contest holds a different meaning, now a referee can stop the bout if both fighters show a lack of aggression in the ring.
Now more professional sports are using no-contest rules for their matches. Most combat sports nowadays use No contest technical terms in the match.
The term No-contest holds a different meaning in combat sports. In the world of MMA, the terms such as submission, knockouts, forfeit, decision, disqualification are very frequent in matches most of the average viewers of UFC or any MMA event are unaware of No contest.
This article will take a deep route into the MMA world and its rules & regulations. Once you are familiar with the basic principles of MMA FIGHTS, you will have no trouble understanding the more complicated and rare instances that can occur in a fight.
What is a no-contest in MMA?
A no-contest match in MMA is when both fighters aren’t declared as winners. That’s it. This rule might sound unfair to a lot of people who don’t have prior experience of UFC matches. Traditionally most matches in the UFC end via knockout, technical knockout, forfeit, decision, disqualification, and in rarer cases No contest can occur.The chances of neither fighter winning the match might sound like one a million chances, but it happens frequently in the ring. If a fighter unable to win due to an illegal strike or an eye poke will result in no contest immediately. If any of the illegal injuries are done intentionally then the match would go to the opponent. If the injuries are a mistake then the match would not go to any of the fighters.
Reason for a No-contest match
Here are the reasons that can make a match turn into a no-contest match. Below you will see all the common scenarios where the match will be called a No-contest.
- Illegal strikes by fighter will unable the opponent to continue the match
- Any interference is done by referee or non-participating members of a fight
- If the injuries are done accidentally to another fighter
- Issues with the ring that makes the fight unfair
- Both fighter showing dishonesty towards each other
- If the fighter tested positive for a drug test.
These are the situations where the match will end with a No Contest. There are several other scenarios where the moment can lead to No contest. Each organization that holds the MMA fight might make changes to their rulings of a No-contest match. But in general, the above-mentioned reason will create a match to be No-contest.
Most of the time the decision of a no contest to the doctor, referee, fighter, or their corners. Only they will get to decide whether the match had an accidental foul. If injuries are the case, then the severity of the injuries will be counted to see if the match will get the sign of no-contest or not.
Other Cases of No-contest
In rarer cases, a match could end with double knockouts, ring issues, or intervention of a third party. These are the cases that will imminently push the fight to get counted as No-contest.
Only in a fight that doesn’t end in win or loss, No-contest rule will be applied. Intentional illegal kicks will not end the match with a No-contest decision.
It will get counted as a win or loss by disqualification for the respective fighters. If the match ends due to reasons that happened unintentionally, something that both fighters couldn’t control. Only then the match would get considered as No-contest.
Drug testing of Fighters
Another reason where a fight will turn into a no-contest when the winner of the fight gets tested positive for drugs. Which will happen days after the fight. As most of the drug test takes a long time before coming up with any results of the test. If this becomes the case of any match, then the winning or losing fight will get counted as No-contest. Many fighters take the game very seriously, if the fighter they fought in the area tested positive for any kind of drugs, they will have the right to take the loss off their record.
Drug test reports have taken down plenty of fighters of their winning record.
A positive drug test is one of the many reasons where a match would turn into a No-contest match. This happens way too frequently amongst amateur and veteran players in the game. Any fighter involved in a match where the other fighter tested positive for roids or as simple as marijuana, the entire match whether win or lose or draw will be considered a No-contest.
This will be on their record. If a fighter loses the fight due to another fight doing drugs, then the entire match will count as No-contest. That is why when you see an opening of a UFC match, the record of the future will out all the things they have done in the ring.
If you look closely, you will see the number of wins they had in their career, the number of losses, and lastly, no contest. A fighter with no contest match will get counted as a fight in MMA, but not as a win or lose.
No contest will take a separate section in the record book. The fight will get counted as matches. There have been plenty of times No-contest took place in the UFC ring, and almost all of it shocks the audience. Whenever a no-contest happens, it catches people off guard, as they are expecting one fighter to take the belt or the match. But the match will end with a no-contest end.
Related : Ways of Winning in an MMA bout
Do the fighters get paid in a No Contest match?
In UFC, the fighters will get paid for a no-contest match. But they will be excluded from bonus money and any sort of rewards. Since the match ended in no contest, there are no winners to take heavy bags of cash with them. In the UFC, every fighter acts as an independent contractor, every one of them is entitled to show money.
Show money refers to the money fighters make by showing up to the arena and weigh-ins. Before the fight, both fighters will have to participate in the weigh-in, and then comes the match. If they did both of them, then they would get money for it. After the Show money, comes Win money, which is where the father has to win the match to get the right to hold the win money.
Since no contest match ends up with a no-declared winner. Both fighters will lose the right to win money, but they will take show money to their bank. In rare instances, a no-contest fight will get the fight of the night bonus, this will result in both fighters getting $50,000 of the fight. If the drug test comes after the fight, then it is unclear that UFC will take back the performance of the night bonus.
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Famous No contest fight in the UFC
UFC has been around the business for a long time to see fights end in no-contest and various other forms. When you are around for such a long time, the sports will see plenty of rare instances of a fight. The fights that ended with No-contest had plenty of big mainliners’ names attached to them. One of the most memorable no-contests in UFC history is the fight between Anderson Silva vs Nick Diaz fight in 2015.
Silva won the fight but later the drug report came out showing Silva testing positive for Drostanolone and Androsterone, Diaz on the other side tested positive for Marijuana. Other highlight fights include Daniel Cormier and Jon Jones in the 2017 rematch. Here jobs tested positive for Turinabol. Jon’s title was stripped after the news broke out.
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Conclusion
While No-contest is one of the things that is a rare sight in a UFC match, it does happen in times. No-contest is not bound to the players who are stepping into the ring for the first time, big-name fighters will also get rounded up on the list of the no-contest matches.