What Styles of Fighting Are Allowed in UFC?

The Ultimate Fighting Championship is the largest and most successful mixed martial arts organization the world. The UFC was founded in 1993 as a showcase for martial arts styles against each other. While today's MMA athletes may have a specialty in a specific area, such as Randy Couture with wrestling or Lyoto Machida with karate, they all cross train in multiple styles to be as well-rounded as possible. There are multiple styles permitted and most commonly used in the UFC.

  1. Muay Thai

    • Muay Thai originated in Thailand and specializes in stand-up fighting techniques that utilize the knees and elbows in addition to the hands and shins. The UFC does not allow headbutts or low blows so Thai techniques that involve either of those are not permitted but the majority of the Thai arsenal is within the rules. Anderson Silva is a UFC middleweight fighter who specializes in Muay Thai and he uses a lot of knees from the Thai clinch along with elbows from inside a body lock.

    Wrestling

    • Wrestling has been one of the most dominant styles in the UFC since the early days, with pioneers such as Mark Coleman and Dan Severn relying on wrestling technique almost exclusively en route to very successful careers. Wrestling specializes in close quarters grappling and the focus on ground positioning gives many wrestlers a natural level of submission defense against Jiu-Jitsu specialists. UFC Hall of Famer Randy Couture utilized his Greco-Roman wrestling skills en route to six titles in two weight classes.

    Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu

    • Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu was the style on which the UFC was founded. The Gracie family founded the UFC as a way of showcasing their Jiu-Jitsu and Royce Gracie won three out of the first four tournaments. Since that time, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu has been a must for MMA training. It specializes in submission grappling and using the legs to entrap an opponent on the ground before maneuvering into a joint lock or a choke hold. Even stand-up fighters needed to study it so they could learn how to avoid submissions and get back to their feet when taken down. UFC middleweight Damien Maia and former UFC heavyweight champion Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira have had very successful MMA careers with Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu as their primary base.