The Unified Rules of Mixed Martial Arts will change in a couple key areas this November.
On Tuesday, the Association of Boxing Commissions and Combative Sports voted unanimously to eliminate a ban on 12-to-6 elbows and update the definition of what constitutes a grounded fighter. The committee included the likes of California State Athletic Commission executive director Andy Foster, Nevada Athletic Commission executive director Jeff Mullen, veteran officials Herb Dean, John McCarthy and Marc Goddard and judges Derek Cleary and Sal D’Amato, among others. Ariel Helwani was first to report the changes on social media.
The downward elbows were often a point of confusion for fighters because it could be difficult to determine that exact angle from which those strikes were being thrown.