Point-counterpoint: Timidity and soccer kicks

Sportsnet Staff June 27, 2012, 10:30 PM

Two incidents related to the rules of MMA occurred over the weekend that had fans talking.

First was the main event of Friday’s UFC on FX show, where Clay Guida was warned by the referee for “timidity” in the fourth round of his bout against Gray Maynard. Then there was a knockout from a soccer kick to a grounded opponent, when Roger Huerta was KO’d by Zorobabel Moreira at a One FC show in Asia.

Two guest bloggers, Carlin Bardsley and Brad Taschuk, debate the two rules, which are both fouls in the Unified Rules of MMA that the UFC uses, while soccer kicks are permitted in One FC.

Cast your votes as to which arguments you like better…

SHOULD FIGHTERS BE PENALIZED MORE FOR TIMIDITY?

Bardsley: Yes, fighters have to fight

“Timidity” is listed as a foul under the Unified Rules of MMA and described as “any fighter who purposely avoids contact with his opponent, or runs away from the action of the fight.” Clay Guida consistently backpedalled throughout Friday’s fight, looking for all the world like he was trying to win a track meet. While referee Dan Miragliotta finally issued a warning in the fourth round, an earlier intervention may have actually saved what was the UFC’s worst main event in recent memory.

While not every fight has to be a rock ’em, sock ’em slugfest, the audience, the judges, and the promoter all expect the athletes involved to at least put an effort forward to press the action or “impose their will” as we’ve heard on dozens of UFC broadcasts. Fights like Carlos Condit-Nick Diaz and Frankie Edgar-Gray Maynard were examples of fighters who used movement and effective counter-striking to frustrate their opponents and dictate the fight. Guida managed to frustrate his opponent, but instead of counter-punching, looked more like he was content to run for his life.

The referees have the tools to keep fight avoidance from happening. Perhaps they need to be reminded they have them in their arsenal; or perhaps a return to the Pride “yellow card” system is in order, where fighters could be fined 10 per cent of their purse for refusing to engage. Because non-fights like Maynard-Guida or something like Anderson Silva-Thales Leites before it serves no one’s interests, especially those who felt ripped off for buying tickets to watch it.

Taschuk: No, it’s too subjective

Warning or penalizing fighters for timidity in the midst of an MMA bout is a slippery slope, and one that should not be approached. Between fight stoppages, referee stand-ups and judging decisions, MMA is already rife with subjectivity, and those areas are some of the most contentious to fans of the sport.

Adding timidity to this list would be a step in the wrong direction, as it places too much power in the hands of the referee in deciding the fight. Plus, with all the different referees in MMA, there would be no consistency in the application of these warnings, similar to the current climate of referee stoppages and stand-ups.

For instance, Miragliotta seems to be one of the referees who is most impacted by the crowd in his decision-making inside the cage. Look back at his awful job in the Vitor Belfort/Anthony Johnson fight for an example, and even his warning to Clay Guida on Friday was motivated by the crowd reaction to how that fight was playing out.

When referees are able to affect fight decisions through subjective warnings and point deductions, we move dangerously close to the old yellow card system in Pride (which is incorrectly remembered as a great rule application), where not only did rash referee decisions affect the outcome of bouts, but also fighter pay.

We didn’t need a referee to step in and tell us Guida was being timid (just as there was never a point deducted in Kalib Starnes’ infamous UFC 83 showing). His performance in the final three rounds of his fight on Friday night told us all on its own. There’s enough subjectivity in MMA as it is, let’s not have more.

POLL:

Whose case do you like better (should timidity be penalized?)

Bardsley (Yes)
Taschuk (No)

SUBMIT
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SHOULD SOCCER KICKS BE ALLOWED?

Bardsley: No, they portray the sport as barbaric

Soccer kicks like the one sustained by Roger Huerta this weekend should be prohibited from MMA because they both skyrocket the potential for injury and portray the sport as needlessly barbaric.

One of the major factors in MMA’s resurgence in the last decade was the demonstrated commitment to the safety of its fighters. The implementation of the Unified rules of MMA and the work of the UFC with state athletic commissions shed the label of “human cockfighting” that followed the sport around like a plague. Studies were done by institutions as reputable as Johns Hopkins that showed the sport under the Unified rules, which prohibits such kicks to a grounded opponent, to be safe.

But allowing something as brutal as soccer kicks to the head of a downed opponent puts the threat of serious injury directly on MMA’s doorstep. Noted combat sports specialist “The Fight Doctor” Dr. Johnny Benjamin recently wrote an article detailing the potential risks of soccer kicks that included but were not limited to cervical spine fracture and severe trauma to the trachea and carotid artery. That sort of major injury and trauma is exactly what the sport has been trying (successfully for the most part) to avoid.

Apart from the medical consequences, the court of public opinion would have a field day with any sort of serious injury sustained in this manner. The “human cockfighting” label would return, possibly permanently, and the anti-MMA movement would forever have a tangible case to hang its hat on.

Fans of the sport appreciate the skill that it demands from its athletes. Real fans aren’t going to be turned away by not being able to watch someone punt an opponent’s head into the fifteenth row.

Taschuk: Yes, fighters should have that explosive tool

Soccer kicks to the head of a grounded opponent is something I would like to see integrated back in the sport and permitted under the Unified Rules of MMA.

The current uproar about such kicks is completely misguided, and really shouldn’t be about the move itself. In the Roger Huerta instance, a soccer kick should have never been landed, because the fight should have already been stopped as Huerta was already done. The gripe that people really have in this scenario is about referee Yuji Shimada, who was totally out of position, not being a good MMA official, which is nothing new.

That shouldn’t take away from the fact that MMA fighters should be equipped with as many weapons as possible when they step into the ring or cage. Soccer kicks are an explosive tool, particularly to use in finishing fights, but have not proven any more dangerous than any other tactic in MMA, regardless of what Dr. Johnny Benjamin says.

I don’t remember who it was, but someone in the MMA world once quipped, “I think there’s an art to dropping a man with a clean punch and then kicking his head through the goalposts of life.” Looking past the obvious hyperbole in this statement, it sums up the glee I have when watching old fights from the likes of Wanderlei Silva, Mauricio Rua and Jose Aldo, who all used soccer kicks to great effect earlier in their careers.

If people are willing to forego those highlights because they saw one notoriously incompetent official live up to his reputation, I feel sorry for them. Hey, maybe while we’re depriving fighters of the means to stop fights, we should go back to the old Shooto rules with standing 8-counts, just so someone doesn’t get hit too hard with some ground and pound after they get rocked. (In case, you couldn’t tell that was sarcasm.)