What is Medieval MMA? Fans taken aback after explosive armor-clad footage hits the internet: "Looks more interesting than UFC"

The advent of MMA changed the combat sports world in unprecedented ways in the 1990s. Now, Medieval MMA is hoping to expand the boundaries of the sport even further.

St. Petersburg, Russia-based M1 Global, which has been one of Europe's biggest promotions, previously had a medieval division. Armored MMA has taken this concept to the next level. The promotion's most recent event took place on Aug. 24 in Nashville, USA.

Check out a clip from the event re-posted by @HappyPunch here:

Due to the armor and weapons, the striking style in these fights is completely different and grappling attacks have their limitations due to the armor. The swords weigh up to 2kg, while the total weight of armour can be up to 20kg. The weapons, however, are blunted for the safety of the combatants.

Fans took to the comments section to react to this new ruleset. They wrote:

"Shi looks more interesting than UFC just saying," @danafairydust commented.

"They will call ANYTHING a sport," @ReddCinema commented.

"The sad part is that these people are probably making $10k or less from this fight," @StahpandStare commented.

While some fans thought that the sport was comparable to the UFC in terms of entertainment value, others felt that Dana White should invest in this form of combat sports instead of slapfighting.

"Looks fun asf though," @jxkemma commented.

"Dana should be investing in this instead of Power Slap," @RogueIsDed commented.

"We soo back at 1600's let's gooo," @KingVegeta429 commented.

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The idea of Medieval MMA has similarities with historical full-contact sports fighting revival movement

The historic fighting revival movement has been picking up pace in different parts of the world over the last decade. The International Medieval Combat Federation (IMCF) was founded for the accurate reproduction of medieval combat sports.

It produces events with armor, weapons, rules and fighting techniques from medieval times, and has found a lot of traction among combat sports fans. Like Medieval MMA, this form of combat sport also uses blunted weapons that are confined to a weight limit to avoid serious injuries.

While there seems to be no official connection between Armored MMA and IMCF, both sports appear to be different forms of the same movement. While it is still a marginalized sport, Medieval MMA seems to be gaining traction with a section of fight fans.

Recently, Youtuber-turned-professional boxer AnEsonGib announced his intention to compete in Medieval MMA. Meanwhile, Armored MMA's next event is scheduled to take place on Nov. 16.