Mixed martial arts

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Mixed martial arts

Ground fighting during competition. The top fighter, Mac Danzig, maintains knee-on-stomach, over Takumi Nakayama, while delivering strikes.
Also known as	Vale Tudo, No holds barred (NHB), Ultimate Fighting, Cage Fighting
Focus	Various
Hardness	Full contact
Olympic sport	No

Mixed martial arts (MMA) is a full contact combat sport that allows a wide variety of fighting techniques, from a mixture of martial arts traditions and non-traditions, to be used in competitions. The rules allow the use of striking and grappling techniques, both while standing and on the ground. Such competitions allow martial artists of different backgrounds to compete.

The roots of mixed martial arts can be traced back to various mixed style contests that took place throughout Europe, Japan and the Pacific Rim during the early 1900s. Modern MMA competition emerged in 1993 with the founding of the Ultimate Fighting Championships, although professional MMA events had been held in Japan by Shooto starting back in 1989. Originally organized with the intention of finding the most effective martial arts for real unarmed combat situations, competitors were pitted against one another with minimal rules for safety. Later promoters adopted many additional rules aimed at increasing safety for competitors and to promote mainstream acceptance of the sport. The name mixed martial arts was coined by one of the developers of these rules, Jeff Blatnick, a former Greco-Roman wrestler and Olympic gold medalist. Following these changes, the sport has seen increased popularity with pay per view reach rivaling boxing and professional wrestling.

Pound for pound According to Wikipedia is the term used in boxing, mixed martial arts, and other combat sports to describe a fighter's value in relation to fighters of different weight classes. In boxing, Ring Magazine's pound for pound list is the established standard for ranking fighters pound for pound. Because of the emphasis on the size of the boxer, pound for pound ratings predominantly feature fewer heavyweights, focusing primarily on boxers middleweight or below.

It can also be used to describe how any two things compare when bearing in mind their varying quantities. For example, a tin of tomatoes weighing 250 g and costing $2.50 is more expensive, pound for pound, than one weighing 500 g and costing $4 (as the former costs $1.00 per 100 g and the latter $0.80 per 100 g)