At yesterday’s official press conference with the heads of the UFC for the acquisition of Strikeforce, the largest fight organization in the world announced that Strikeforce would now operate under the unified rules. This tweak brings a very exciting element to the Strikeforce which will now allow elbows both standing and to a grounded opponent. No Elbows on the ground have long given the great Jiu Jitsu players an upper hand in Strikeforce and now it’s time to level the playing field to those with positional benefit and striking dominance. 

Take the most exciting fight off the last Strikeforce card as the best example of why we need elbows in MMA. Liz Carmouche was on a roll with great take downs and ground and pound on the champ Marloes Coenen and was obviously winning the fight when it entered the forth. Once again she was dominating the champion but was running out of steam and the limited ground strikes allowed limited her ability to finish the upset. Without the ability to dish out over a full round of elbows to cut up the champ, she was forced to try to break into the turtle positioned guard of the champ and finish that way. Elbows could have defiantly had a major impact on this fight and Strikeforce might have had itself a new champion.

Another prime example would be when Antonio Bigfoot Silva was dominating Fedor in his last fight. The fight could have broken down faster and with more exciting violence if elbows were allowed to be dropped on the “last emperor”. Or maybe if Dan Henderson would have been able to cut up shields a little more in the first round the tide would have never turned. There are many instances where elbows could have changed outcomes of major fights leaving a sour taste in many fans mind while also allowing potentially short fight to go to decision.

Now we may never return to the wonderful soccer kicks of Pride’s past but this new announcement is helping fans get their fights “As Real As it gets”. The guard is not the dominant position it once was in Strikeforce and many fighters will benefit from the change. Look for either the Aoki or Mousasi fight having the first real example of the unified rules in the Strikeforce Hexagon, in a violently new twist of faith on April 9th’s Diaz vs. Daley fight card.

 

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One Response

  1. MrJM

    Just because the addition of elbows to a downed opponent could or would change the outcomes of fights, that doesn’t necessarily mean they *should* be added to change the outcomes of fights. For example, legalized fish-hooking would change the calculus of fighters as well, but that doesn’t mean it should be allowed.

    No one doubts that the new elbow rule will change the way Strikeforce match-ups are fought, but this article fails to tell us why we should welcome the change.

    — MrJM

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