MMA isn't exactly civilised. I mean, it's basically organised chaos, which is great from an entertainment perspective.
For us, there's something really compelling about two people stepping inside a ring or octagon and spending a given amount of time trying to inflict as much damage as possible. However, when you throw two muscly geezers in there and give them a free ticket to swing their arms and legs as hard as possible, you should really anticipate that it might get out of hand from time to time.
Now and again illegal moves come into play, which usually mean a point deduction as well as the fighter running the risk of disqualification. There are obvious moves that'll land you in the ref's bad books, such as eye gouging, hair pulling, biting and shots to the groin. But there are others like grabbing the cage, downward elbows, stomps, kicking while the opponent is down and punches to the back of the head which mean the referee has to really keep an eye on things.
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In the fight between Michael Bisping and Anderson Silva at UFC Fight Night 84 there was controversy as Silva threw what would be an illegal knee, but he wasn't to know because the referee was yet to call a stoppage. The Brit had lost his mouthpiece and so made an attempt to point that out, which allowed the Brazilian to land a knee to his unprotected face, leading him to think he'd won. The fight continued, with Bisping having arm raised.
Credit: UFC - Ultimate Fighting Championship
Luckily, though, that ended fine, with no animosity between the two men. This MMA fight didn't, though.
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Vaso Bakocevic and Stefan Zvijera were going at it in Serbia, but it ended in a brawl after a controversial kick ended the bout. Bakocevic took his chance after Zvijera slipped on the mat.
His opponent had been brought down to about waste height, and so, he swung his knee and connected sweetly. The referee stepped in instantly, putting a stop to the oncoming onslaught and the fight.
The aftermath was slightly confusing, but ended with Zvijera as the winner due to Bakocevic being DQ'd.
Bakocevic's corner weren't entirely pleased with the decision, and, well, they all started scrapping...
Credit: U Klinču
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His nickname is apparently 'Psychopath', which kind of figures.
He and his trainer were convinced the kick was legal, which remains to be seen.
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