5 possible rule changes that the UFC should consider implementing

#2. The UFC should legalize 12-6 elbow strikes

Jon Jones was famously disqualified for using 12-6 elbows in his fight with Matt Hamill

One major oddity of the UFC’s current rules is that while elbows to the head of an opponent are welcomed, they have to be thrown at an arc of sorts, or come from a horizontal angle. Any elbow strike that comes from a vertical angle – the so-called “12-6” elbow – is illegal.

Apparently, the reason for this rule is somewhat bizarre. Reportedly, when the Unified Rules of MMA were put together, a member of New Jersey’s Athletic Commission wanted to ban 12-6 elbows because he’d seen them used in brick-breaking demonstrations from traditional martial arts.

It’s now rare to see fighters fall foul of this rule inside the octagon, but there have been a couple of high-profile examples – namely Jon Jones, who suffered his only career defeat when he was disqualified for using 12-6 elbows in his bout with Matt Hamill.

But are these strikes really that deadly? The common consensus is no, not unless they’re used to smash the tip of the elbow into the spine, a strike that would be illegal regardless.

With that considered, the UFC should look to modify this rule and legalise the 12-6 elbow, primarily because it wouldn’t really make that much of a difference and certainly wouldn’t harm the safety of fighters.

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#1. The UFC’s gloves should be modified to prevent so many eye pokes

Inadvertent eye pokes might be the most frustrating thing to happen in the modern-day UFC

Perhaps the most frustrating thing to see in the UFC right now is fighters suffering inadvertent eye pokes at the hands of their opponents. It’s very rare to see a genuinely intentional eye gouge in the octagon, but almost every fight features at least one accidental eye poke.

These incidents tend to occur when fighters either use an outstretched hand to palm their opponent away, or reach out with an open hand in order to gauge the distance between them and an opponent.

Of course, certain fighters, most notably former light heavyweight champions Jon Jones and Chuck Liddell, have also been accused of using the distance-gaging to deliver intentional eye pokes, although this has never been substantiated.

Either way, eye pokes can, at their worst, end a fighter’s career entirely or leave lasting damage, with Alan Belcher and Michael Bisping both standing as prime examples of stars who suffered serious eye injuries in the octagon.

So how can this problem be fixed? Referees are encouraged to crack down on open-handed reaching, but in reality, it’s almost a natural move for any human being to make, particularly when they’re thinking about so much more in a high-profile fight.

The best way to tackle this, then, would be to modify the gloves used in the UFC and make them force the fingers into a more curved position to begin with. The gloves used in Japan’s PRIDE promotion were more like this and helped to cut down eye pokes while not lessening a fighter’s ability to grapple.

Overall, this would be a better route to go down, rather than to implement something more draconian such as an instant point deduction for a clearly accidental poke.