Current through Register Vol. 49, No. 18, September 16, 2024
(1)
Fouls. The following actions in a mixed martial arts bout or contest are
defined as fouls:
(A) Holding or grabbing the
fence-a fighter may put their hands on the fence and push off of it at anytime.
A fighter may place their feet onto the cage and have their toes go through the
fencing material at any time. When a fighter's fingers or toes go through the
cage and grab hold of the fence and start to control either their body position
or their opponent's body position it is an illegal action. A fighter may not
grab the ropes or wrap their arms over the ring ropes at any time. If a fighter
is caught holding the fence, cage, or ring rope material the referee may issue
a one- (1-) point deduction from the offending fighters scorecard if the foul
caused a substantial change in position such as the avoidance of a takedown. If
a point deduction for holding the fence occurs, and because of the infraction,
the fouling fighter ends up in a superior position due to the foul, the
fighters should be re-started by the referee, standing in a neutral
position;
(B) Holding opponent's
shorts or gloves- a fighter may not control their opponent's movement by
holding onto their opponent's shorts or gloves. A fighter may hold onto or grab
their opponent's hand as long as they are not controlling the hand only by
using the material of the glove. It is legal to hold onto your own gloves or
shorts;
(C) Butting with the
head-any use of the head as a striking instrument whether head to head, head to
body, or otherwise is illegal;
(D)
Eye gouging of any kind-eye gouging by means of fingers, chin, or elbow is
illegal. Legal strikes or punches that contact the fighter's eye socket are not
eye gouging and are legal attacks;
(E) Biting or spitting at an opponent-biting
in any form is illegal. A fighter should recognize that a referee may not be
able to physically observe some actions, and make the referee aware if they are
being bitten during an exhibition of unarmed combat;
(F) Hair pulling-pulling of the hair or
holding the hair to control an opponent in any fashion is an illegal
action;
(G) Fish hooking-any
attempt by a fighter to use their fingers in a manner that attacks their
opponent's mouth, nose, or ears, stretching the skin to that area, placing of
fingers into the mouth of your opponent and pulling your hands in opposing
directions while holding onto the skin of your opponent will be considered
"fish hooking";
(H) Groin attacks
of any kind-any attack to the groin area including, striking, grabbing,
pinching, or twisting is illegal;
(I) Intentionally placing a finger into any
orifice, or into any cut or laceration of your opponent-a fighter may not place
their fingers into an open laceration in an attempt to enlarge the cut or into
an opponent's, nose, ears, mouth, or any body cavity;
(J) Downward pointing of elbow strikes-a
ceiling to floor or twelve to six (12-6) elbow strikes is prohibited.
(K) Small joint manipulation-fingers and toes
are small joints. Wrists, ankles, knees, shoulders, and elbows are all large
joints. In order to hold small joints, at least two (2) or more digits must be
held;
(L) Strikes to the spine or
the back of the head-strikes behind the crown of the head and above the ears
within the Mohawk area and below the top of the ear are not permissible and
within the nape of the neck area are not permissible;
(M) No intentional direct strikes to the
kidney including heel kicks to the kidney;
(N) Throat strikes of any kind, including,
without limitation, grabbing the trachea-no directed throat strikes, including,
but not limited to, a fighter pulling his opponents head in a way to open the
neck area for a striking attack or gouging their fingers or thumb into their
opponent's neck or trachea in an attempt to submit their opponent are not
allowed;
(O) Clawing, pinching,
twisting the flesh, or grabbing the clavicle-any attack that targets the
fighter's skin by clawing at the skin or attempting to pull or twist the skin
to apply pain is illegal. Any manipulation of the clavicle is a foul;
(P) Kneeing and/or kicking the head of a
grounded opponent-a grounded fighter is defined as: any part of the body, other
than the soles of the feet, touching the fighting area floor. Also to be
grounded the palm of one (1) hand must be down or posting of the fingers to the
fighting area floor. A single knee or arm makes a fighter grounded without
having to have any other body part in touch with the fighting area floor. At
this time, kicks or knees to the head will not be allowed;
(Q) Stomping of a grounded fighter- stomping
is considered any type of striking action with the feet where the fighter lifts
their leg up bending their leg at the knee and initiating a striking action
with the bottom of their foot or heel. Note: Axe kicks are not stomps. Standing
foot stops are legal. As such, this foul does not include stomping the feet of
a standing fighter;
(R) The use of
abusive language in the fighting area;
(S) Any unsportsmanlike conduct that causes
an injury to opponent;
(T)
Attacking an opponent on or during the break-a fighter shall not engage their
opponent in any fashion during a time-out or break of action in
competition;
(U) Attacking an
opponent who is under the care of the referee;
(V) Timidity (avoiding contact, or
consistently dropping the mouthpiece, or faking an injury)-timidity is any
fighter who purposely avoids contact with his opponent, or runs away from the
action of the fight. Timidity can also be called by the referee for any attempt
by a fighter to receive time by falsely claiming a foul, injury, or purposely
dropping or spitting out their mouthpiece or other action designed to stall the
fight;
(W) Interference from a
mixed martial artists seconds-interference is any action or activity aimed at
disrupting the fight or causing an unfair advantage to be given to one (1)
combatant. Corners are not allowed to distract the referee or influence the
actions of the referee in any fashion;
(X) Throwing an opponent out of the ring or
caged area;
(Y) Flagrant disregard
of the referee's instructions-a fighter must follow the instructions of the
referee at all times. Any deviation or non-compliance may result in the
fighter's disqualification;
(Z)
Spiking the opponent to the canvas onto the head or neck (pile-driving)-a pile
driver is any throw where you control your opponent's body placing his feet
straight up in the air with his head straight down and then forcibly drive your
opponents head into the canvas or flooring material. It should be noted, when a
fighter is placed into a submission hold by their opponent, if that fighter is
capable of elevating their opponent they may bring that opponent down in any
fashion they desire because they are not in control of their opponents body.
The fighter who is attempting the submission can either adjust their position
or let go of their hold before being slammed to the canvas;
(AA) Attacking an opponent after the bell has
sounded the end of the round;
(BB)
The end of the round shall occur when the bell or horn sounds ending the round;
and
(CC) A fighter may not be saved
by the bell or horn in any round, including the last round.
(2) Any contestant competing in an
amateur bout may not currently or ever have been a professional fighter in any
contact sport including, but not limited to, boxing, kick-boxing, full-contact
karate, martial arts, or mixed martial arts.
(11) Injuries Sustained by
Fouls.
(A) Intentional Fouls.
1. If an intentional foul causes an injury,
and the injury is severe enough to terminate a bout immediately, the contestant
causing the injury shall lose by disqualification.
2. If an intentional foul causes an injury
and the bout is allowed to continue, the referee may notify the authorities and
deduct two (2) points from the contestant who caused the foul. Point deductions
for intentional fouls are mandatory.
3. If an intentional foul causes an injury
and the injury results in the bout being stopped in a later round, the injured
contestant shall win by technical decision if he/she is ahead on the scorecards
or the bout shall result in a technical draw if the injured contestant is
behind or even on the scorecards.
4. If a contestant injures himself/herself
while attempting to intentionally foul his/her opponent, the referee shall not
take any action in his/her favor, and this injury shall be the same as one
produced by a fair blow.
5. If the
referee feels that a contestant has conducted himself/herself in an
unsportsmanlike manner he/she may stop the bout and disqualify the
contestant.
(B)
Accidental Fouls.
1. If an accidental foul
causes an injury severe enough for the referee to stop the bout immediately,
the bout is a no contest if stopped before half of the scheduled rounds have
been completed.
2. If an accidental
foul causes an injury severe enough for the referee to stop the bout
immediately after half of the scheduled rounds have been completed, the bout
may result in a technical decision awarded to the contestant who is ahead on
the scorecards at the time the bout is stopped. A partial or incomplete round
is scored. If no action has occurred, the round is scored as an even round.
This is at the discretion of the judges.
3. A contestant who is hit with an accidental
low blow must continue after a reasonable amount of time, but no more than five
(5) minutes, or he/she may lose the bout by technical knockout.
*Original authority: 317.001, RSMo 1983, amended 1996,
2007, 2018 and 317.006, RSMo 1983, amended 1996, 2007
.
