What Are the Differences Between Professional and Amateur MMA Rules?

The difference between professional and amateur boxers is often clear but with MMA being a new kid on the block, and one with far more ingredients to play with, the rules are often blurred. So what are these rules that separate professional MMA from its amateur counterpart?

Safety in Amateur MMA

The underlying fundamentals behind most of these rules involve fighter safety. Amateur MMA works on the grassroots levels and often involves kids or newbies learning the ropes and honing their craft. And as such far more importance is laid on protecting them against serious injuries, that won’t just hamper their careers but might also cause irreparable physical and mental damage.

For instance, some amateur competitions do not allow elbow or forearm strikes and have a strict no-use policy for neck cranks, twisters crucifixes, and anything else that applies pressure to the neck or spine. Knees are also only restricted to the body. Any attack on the head is considered a big NO.

Now, Professional mixed martial arts are held to a higher standard and are allowed these exceptions. But this doesn’t mean they engage in lawless street fights.

Safety in PRO MMA

Pro MMA promotions like the UFC also have certain restrictions. Eye gouging, fish hooking, and head butting can get points deducted from a fighter. There’s a strict no-pile driver policy in effect as well.

Athletes are not allowed to use their knee or any of their leg offenses against an opponent on their back, or even halfway on the ground.

However, there are certain loopholes that fighters tend to exploit. Under the current rules, an opponent is considered grounded when the sole of their feet is bearing their weight. However, opponents sometimes use their hand or their fingers on the canvas during a clinch to avoid getting kicked in the head.

Any hit or offense to the throat is also considered illegal, as are low blows, strikes to the groin, or the back of someone’s head.

While these are fairly simple rules, others are far more complicated, like the ban against small joint manipulation. Fighters cannot twist, pull, or attempt to break any of the small joints like toes or fingers.

Some of these rules are absolute and have no chance of ever being changed. However, there are many under consideration. 6-12 vertical elbows were reconsidered illegal for ages. As a matter of fact, UFC heavyweight champion Jon Jones‘ only career loss has come from using these elbows against Matt Hamill in 2009.

Other significant differences

Amateur MMA competitions make it mandatory for participants to cover themselves with protective gear like shin guards and heavily padded gloves. The presence of headgear is also mandatory. The IMMAF, which governs amateur MMA all over the world, also disallows ground and pound for athletes under 16 years of age. Until the athletes are 18, they simply cannot strike their opponent’s head under any circumstances.

The goal of amateur MMA is to allow children and young adults to hone their skills in a relatively safe environment so that they can grow up and participate in the sport as adults.