UFC was founded 29 years ago. When it was founded, it was practically unheard of which is why it was a huge challenge to get majority of jurisdictions to take MMA seriously.
Back in 1993, there were the bare minimum of rules, no weight divisions and no attire requirement which is why Royce Gracie ended up competing in a gi, some wrestlers competed in shoes and there was a big size discrepancy between the smaller and the biggest participant in the 8 men tournament.
Very early on, it became apparent that some rules were required. UFC weight classes were introduced at UFC 12 along with the banning of fish-hooking. Interestingly this is before the gloves became mandatory.
Recently a video went viral showcasing why weight divisions are a necessary thing in combat sports, more of a feature than a bug.
A video opens with a gym dispute that’s happening beyween one older gentleman of sizeable stature and several younger men.
The bigger man shows his disdain for the perceived disrespect while the younger man who instigated dispute is seen holding a large plate, presumably the topic of the conflict.
Younger man isn’t really interested in backing down which is why a conflict appears imminent.
The crowd clears when it becomes apparent that the two are not backing down and a brawl ensues.
The younger man has some sort of a wrestling background. He is seen clearly going for double underhooks, which is a powerful position but it’s questionable if he can even close his hands behind his sizeable opponent.
Despite the fact that his stance seems correct and he in theory has a dominant hold, He quickly realizes he’s unable to pivot and take the man down as the man crowds him and basically falls on top of him.
This is not a great development regardless of the level of skill.
The big burly guy ends up in mount despite the fact that wrestler tries to dodge that before they even land. He even tries throwing shots from below. The burly guy is clearly very confident in his strength so you could argue he’s taking it easy on the guy.
He seems content controlling the smaller man on the ground as he flops like a fish on dry land. But he doesn’t seem to be willing to reconcile with his biological reality so he actually lands a loaded punch to the gut of his mounted opponent.
The burly man let’s the smaller one slowly get out from under him, in disbelief about the level of cockiness he’s still displaying. Props to him for being measured in his approach and preventing the situation from escalating further.
Since 2014, Benny A. King has been fully immersed in the world of combat sports. Starting with a blog about Greco Roman wrestling, Benny’s passion for combat sports has led him to explore various disciplines.