OPINION: 15 elements of MMA that ought to be changed for the benefit of the sport – week 7

There are certain aspects of mixed martial arts that simply make no sense.

And when my lovable colleague Pat McCarry took a look at the 15 ways that rugby could be improved, it struck a chord with me and made me think that, as physical as rugby is, MMA is far more dangerous and needs some improvement in pretty much all areas. There are elements of the sport that are still counter-intuitive when it comes to fighter safety, fan enjoyment and the overall legitimisation of the sport. I would like to make it clear that this is very much an opinion piece and I've decided to drip feed my ideas for rule changes over 15 weeks and, while some of them are a little bit out there, I think that they just make sense to switch up. - In Week 1 we looked at how to deal with fighters missing weight - In Week 2 we supposed that concussive brain trauma would go down if fighters fought without gloves - In Week 3 we suggested a new initiative as to how the weight cut could be made safer for fighters - In week 4 we toyed with the idea of getting rid of the cage - In week 5, we reckoned more weight classes should be introduced - In week 6, we wanted all MMA judges to have some element of MMA experience

Week 7 - No stand ups

This is a polarising one because some fans have a preference for striking battles and get bored when fighters are jockeying for dominant position on the mat. And the argument makes sense that fight fans will get bored watching a fighter just stalling or riding out a decision victory by holding his opponent in place on the ground but I don't think boredom is a compelling enough reason to give fighters a helping hand. I wholeheartedly believe that if a superior grappler like Ben Askren can take you down and hold you there, then the onus is on you to initiate the scramble. https://youtu.be/TZ4RsOeRqHI In what other sport are competitors punished for being successful? You didn't see football referees in 2012 forcing Stoke City to play less long balls because it's unfair on shorter defenders and isn't entertaining for the crowd. It's left to the opponents to work out a gameplan to counteract the ability of the dominant competitor. https://youtu.be/C5qK8vGT3lg If you don't know how to sweep a smothering wrestler then tough shit, work out how to do so and don't rely on getting bailed out by the referee. All fights start on the feet which is enough of an advantage to award to strikers. And if a kickboxer can't keep away from the shots of a grappler then it's only five minutes that you'll have to put up with a "boring" exchange. The fight will return to its feet and the striker can deploy his/her gameplan again. The aim of mixed martial arts is to see who can win in a combat situation and being exciting isn't enough. Wanderlei Silva may be more adored by fight fans for his wild style but it's the Ben Askrens, Chael Sonnens and Daniel Cormiers who are more effective. A sport sans stand ups mightn't be as scintillating as seeing Gilbert Melendez and Diego Sanchez swing for the fences but the whole concept of mixed martial arts is based on determining who the most dominant fighter is. It's a fighting sport, not necessarily an excitement sport.