Today many US Navy SEALs train like UFC fighters. However, a debate rages over whether or not this is the best (and most ethical) way for elite soldiers to train.
For twenty years the United States Navy’s Sea Air and Land Teams, commonly known as Navy SEALs, had used a combatives system known as Close Quarter Defense (CQD) to train and prepare themselves for hand-to-hand combat with the enemy. This all changed in 2011, when CQD was dropped by the Navy Special Warfare Command (NSW) in favor of allowing Navy SEALs to train in mixed-martial-arts, both in-house and at MMA gyms across the country.