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RIZE Rules

(A simplified version of the Unified Rules of Mixed Martial Arts)

 

** Overview of Rules**

Weight Classes of MMA Competitors

MMA Competitors shall be divided into the following weight classes:

  • Flyweight, under 57kg;

  • Bantamweight, 57kg – 60kg;

  • Featherweight, 60kg – 65kg;

  • Lightweight, 65kg – 70kg;

  • Welterweight, 70kg – 77kg;

  • Middleweight, 77kg – 84kg;

  • Light Heavyweight, 84kg – 93kg;

  • Heavyweight, 93kg – 120kg; and

  • Super Heavyweight, over 120kg.

MMA Bout – Round Durations

Male Competitors:

  • 3 x 5min rounds for non-title fights

  • 5 x 5min rounds for title fights

Female Competitors:

  • 3 x 3min round

Legal Strikes ‘Standing’ & ‘Grounded’

By definition a competitor ‘standing’ has only their feet in contact with the mat at any given moment in time. A competitor becomes ‘grounded’ when any part of their body other than their feet comes in contact with the mat.

Both Competitors Standing

When both competitors are standing, the full range of allowable strikes (punches/kicks/knees/elbows) are permitted to all legal areas.

Both Competitors Grounded

When both competitors are grounded, the full range of allowable strikes (punches/leg kicks/knees to the body/elbows) are permitted to all legal areas. Kicks and knees to the head are illegal.

One Competitor Standing, One Grounded

In the case of one competitor being grounded and the other standing, punches and knees are permitted by either competitor to all legal targets (given the class of rules the bout is being conducted under). However in this situation kicks are only permitted to the body and legs of the opponent. Head kicks are illegal.

 

** Before Contest Rules**

Medical Clearance

All competitors must receive appropriate medical clearance before a bout is sanctioned.

Specifically a competitor must:

  • present to officials at the event weigh-in

  • have clearance by their doctor for the upcoming bout

  • provide results of a recent blood test (‘recent’ meaning one conducted within the previous 6 months)

  • submit to and pass a medical examination by an official event doctor in the hours before the bout is due to commence.

Making Weight

All competitors must make weight inside the bounds of their nominated weigh class before a bout is sanctioned.

An official event weigh-in will be conducted at least 24hrs before a competitors bout is scheduled to occur. At this weigh-in the nominated weight must be met (and a 200g allowance can be given in doing so).

A competitor that fails to make the required weight will be given up to an hour to try again.

If the nominated weight is not made within the maximum allowable time, the opponent will be given the following options:

  • to accept the bout regardless (and receive 10% of their opponent’s appearance fee) or

  • to decline the bout

N.B. When a competitor fails to make their required weight, the match, if accepted by the opponent, shall still not continue to have any official sanctioning in matters of championships or weight class rankings.

Equipment

Hand Wrapping

  • Only strapping tape, gauze or cloth bandages may be placed around the hands prior to gloves being worn.

  • A maximum of 5 layers may be evenly wrapped around the hands.

  • Under no circumstances are gloves to be placed on the hands of a competitor until the approval of an official has been received.

Gloves

  • All competitors shall wear four, five or six ounce gloves, supplied by the promoter.

  • No competitor shall supply their own gloves for participation.

Mouth pieces

  • All competitors are required to wear a mouth guard. The mouth guard shall be subject to examination and approval by an official.

  • The round cannot begin without the mouth guard in place.

  • If the mouth guard is involuntarily dislodged during competition, the referee shall call time, clean the mouth guard and reinsert the mouth guard at the first opportune moment, without interfering with the immediate action.

Protective equipment

  • Male competitors must wear a groin protector.

  • Female competitors are prohibited from wearing groin protectors.

  • Female competitors can wear a chest protector during competition.

Apparel

  • Competitors shall wear MMA shorts, biking shorts, or kick-boxing shorts.

  • Gi’s or shirts are prohibited during competition.

  • Shoes are prohibited during competition.

Appearance

  • Hair shall be trimmed or tied back in such a manner as not to interfere with the vision of either competitor or cover any part of a competitor’s face.

  • Jewellery or piercing accessories are prohibited during competition.

 

** Contest Rules**

BOUTS

Stopping a contest

The referee and ringside physician are the sole arbiters of a bout and are the only individuals authorised to enter the fighting area at any time during competition and authorised to stop a contest.

Judging

  • All bouts will be evaluated and scored by three judges

  • The “10-Point Must System” will be the standard system of scoring a bout. Under the “10-Point Must Scoring System”, 10 points must be awarded to the winner of the round and nine points or less must be awarded to the loser, except for a rare even round, which is scored (10-10).

  • Judges shall evaluate MMA techniques, such as effective striking, effective grappling, control of the fighting area, effective aggressiveness and defence.

  • Effective striking is judged by determining the total number of legal heavy strikes landed by a competitor.

  • Effective grappling is judged by considering the amount of successful executions of a legal takedown and reversals. Examples of factors to consider are takedowns from standing position to mount position, passing the guard to mount position, and bottom position fighters using an active, threatening guard.

  • Fighting area control is judged by determining who is dictating the pace, location and position of the bout. Examples of factors to consider are countering a grappler’s attempt at takedown by remaining standing and legally striking; taking down an opponent to force a ground fight; creating threatening submission attempts; passing the guard to achieve mount; and creating striking opportunities.

  • Effective aggressiveness means moving forward and landing a legal strike.

  • Effective defence means avoiding being struck, taken down or reversed while countering with offensive attacks.

  • The following objective scoring criteria shall be utilised by the judges when scoring a round:

  • A round is to be scored as a 10-10 Round when both competitors appear to be fighting evenly and neither competitor shows clear dominance in a round;

  • A round is to be scored as a 10-9 Round when a competitor wins by a close margin, landing the greater number of effective legal strikes, grappling and other manoeuvres;

  • A round is to be scored as a 10-8 Round when a competitor overwhelmingly dominates by striking or grappling in a round;

  • A round is to be scored as a 10-7 Round when a competitor totally dominates by striking or grappling in a round.

  • Judges shall use a sliding scale and recognise the length of time the competitors are either standing or on the ground, as follows:
    • If the competitors spent a majority of a round on the canvas, then:
      • effective grappling is weighed first; and
      • effective striking is weighed second.
    • If the competitors spent a majority of a round standing, then:
      • effective striking is weighed first; and
      • effective grappling is weighed second.
    • If a round ends with a relatively even amount of standing and canvas fighting, striking and grappling are weighed equally.

Warnings

The referee shall issue a single warning for the following infractions:

  • Holding or grabbing the cage.

  • Holding opponent’s shorts or gloves.

  • The presence of more than two cornermen around the fighting area perimeter.

After the initial warning, if the prohibited conduct persists, a penalty will be issued. The penalty may result in a deduction of points or disqualification.

Fouls

The following are fouls and will result in penalties if committed:

01. Butting with the head
02. Eye gouging of any kind
03. Biting or spitting at an opponent
04. Hair pulling
05. Fish hooking
06. Groin attacks of any kind
07. Inentionally placing a finger into any orifice, or into any cut or laceration of your opponent
08. Downward pointing of elbow strikes
09. Small joint manipulation
10. Strikes to the spine or back of the head
11. Heel kicks to the kidney
12. Throat strikes of any kind
13. Clawing, pinching, twisting the flesh or grabbing the clavicle
14. Kicking the head of a grounded fighter
15. Kneeing the head of a grounded fighter
16. Stomping of a grounded fighter
17. The use of abusive language in fighting area
18. Any unsportsmanlike conduct that causes an injury to opponent
19. Attacking an opponent on or during the break
20. Attacking an opponent who is under the referee’s care at the time
21. Timidity (avoiding contact, or consistent dropping of mouthpiece, or faking an injury)
22. Interference from a competitor’s cornermen
23. Throwing an opponent out of the fighting area
24. Flagrant disregard of the referee’s instructions
25. Spiking an opponent to the canvas on his or her head or neck

  • Disqualification occurs after any combination of three of the fouls listed above or after a referee determines that a foul was intentional and flagrant.

  • Fouls will result in a point being deducted by the official scorekeeper from the offending competitors score.

  • Only a referee can assess a foul. If the referee does not call the foul, judges shall not make that assessment on their own and cannot factor such into their scoring calculations.

  • A fouled fighter has up to five minutes to recuperate.

  • If a foul is committed, the referee shall:
    • call time;
    • check the fouled competitor’s condition and safety; and
    • explain the foul to the offending competitor, deduct points, and notify each competitor’s cornermen, judges and the official scorekeeper.

  • The referee may terminate a bout based on the severity of a foul. For a flagrant foul, a competitor shall lose by disqualification.

  • If a bottom competitor commits a foul, unless the top competitor is injured, the fight shall continue, so as not to jeopardize the top competitor’s superior positioning at the time. 
    • The referee shall verbally notify the bottom competitor of the foul.
    • When the round is over, the referee shall explain the foul and notify both competitors’ cornermen, the judges and the official scorekeeper.

Injuries sustained during competition

  • If an injury sustained during competition as a result of a legal manoeuvre is severe enough to terminate a bout, the injured competitor loses by technical knockout.

  • If an injury sustained during competition as a result of an intentional foul is severe enough to terminate a bout, the competitor causing the injury loses by disqualification.

  • If an injury is sustained during competition as a result of an intentional foul and the bout is allowed to continue, the referee shall notify the scorekeeper to automatically deduct two points from the competitor who committed the foul.

  • If an injury sustained during competition as a result of an intentional foul causes the injured competitor to be unable to continue at a subsequent point in the contest, the injured competitor shall win by technical decision, if he or she is ahead on the score cards. If the injured competitor is even or behind on the score cards at the time of stoppage, the outcome of the bout shall be declared a technical draw.

  • If a competitor injures himself or herself while attempting to foul his or her opponent, the referee shall not take any action in his or her favour, and the injury shall be treated in the same manner as an injury produced by a fair blow.

  • If an injury sustained during competition as a result of an accidental foul is severe enough for the referee to stop the bout immediately, the bout shall result in a no contest if stopped before two rounds have been completed in a three round bout or if stopped before three rounds have been completed in a five round bout.

  • If an injury sustained during competition as a result of an accidental foul is severe enough for the referee to stop the bout immediately, the bout shall result in a technical decision awarded to the competitor who is ahead on the score cards at the time the bout is stopped, only when the bout is stopped after two rounds of a three round bout, or three rounds of a five round bout have been completed.

  • There will be no scoring of an incomplete round. However, if the referee penalizes either competitor, then the appropriate points shall be deducted when the scorekeeper calculates the final score.

Types of Bout Results

The following are the types of bout results:

1. Submission by:

  1. Tap Out: When a competitor physically uses his hand to indicate that he or she no longer wishes to continue; or

  2. Verbal tap out: When a competitor verbally announces to the referee that he or she does not wish to continue.

2. Technical knockout by:

  1. Referee stops bout;

  2. Ringside physician stops bout; or

  3. When an injury as a result of a legal manoeuvre is severe enough to terminate a bout.

3. Knockout by failure to rise from the canvas.

4. Decision via score cards:

  1. Unanimous: When all three judges score the bout for the same competitor;

  2. Split Decision: When two judges score the bout for one competitor and one judge scores for the opponent; or

  3. Majority Decision: When two judges score the bout for the same competitor and one judge scores a draw.

5. Draws:

  1. Unanimous - When all three judges score the bout a draw;

  2. Majority - When two judges score the bout a draw; or

  3. Split - When all three judges score differently and the score total results in a draw.

6. Disqualification: When an injury sustained during competition as a result of an intentional foul is severe enough to terminate the contest.

7. Forfeit: When a competitor fails to begin competition or prematurely ends the contest for reasons other than injury or by indicating a tap out.

8. Technical Draw: When an injury sustained during competition as a result of an intentional foul causes the injured competitor to be unable to continue and the injured competitor is even or behind on the score cards at the time of stoppage.

9. Technical Decision: When the bout is prematurely stopped due to injury and a competitor is leading on the score cards.

10. No Contest: When a contest is prematurely stopped due to accidental injury and a sufficient number of rounds have not been completed to render a decision via the score cards.
 

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