5 UFC rules you might not have heard of

#5 You can’t throw an opponent out of the Octagon

Tank Abbott infamously attempted to throw Cal Worsham over the Octagon fence in 1996

MMA and pro-wrestling have plenty of things in common – the world of pro-wrestling outright stole the idea of “tapping out” from the UFC, for instance, while some of the UFC’s trash-talking feuds can easily be compared to WWE – but one notable part of pro-wrestling is thoroughly outlawed inside the Octagon.

Or should that read, outside the Octagon? It is of course highly common in pro-wrestling to see one combatant dump their opponent over the ropes and out of the ring – the entire concept of the Royal Rumble show is based on this! – but in the UFC, we’ll never see that technique used. That’s because it’s written into the UFC’s rules that throwing an opponent over the Octagon fence – or even attempting to – is illegal.

If we’re totally honest, it’s unlikely that such a thing would ever happen anyway – when it happens in the WWE ring, it takes a great deal of co-operation between the two wrestlers to happen – co-operation that obviously wouldn’t take place inside the Octagon.

So why is it a rule? It’s likely that the UFC and the various Athletic Commissions implemented this rule after seeing footage of ‘Ultimate Ultimate 1996’, namely Tank Abbott’s fight with Cal Worsham. Never one to respect the usual restraints of the UFC, this fight saw Abbott attempt to throw Worsham out of the cage, although he avoided it.

On the smaller circuit, however, fighters have been knocked out by accidentally crashing out of the cage – usually through the door rather than going over the fence – meaning that this rule is definitely there for a reason, however unlikely such an event is.