Colorado accepts ONE FC ruleset ahead of USA launch

The UFC launched its first event at the McNichols Sports Arena back in 1993 in Denver, Colorado. Now the Centennial state looks to make history once again by agreeing to the ONE FC ruleset, which is an interesting turn on the MMA scene in the United States of America. Now, the Asian promotion could have adopted the rules of the states they found themselves promoting in but Colorado has stepped in once again to take a gamble and if it pays off could change history all over.

Knees to a grounded opponent are legal under their ruleset. This has always been an issue as fighters who fight under the Unified Rules of MMA can protect themselves if they have a hand on the mat or even a knee, they cannot be kicked or kneed to the head. Matt Serra famously demonstrated this on TUF when Rich Franklin provided some unorthodox advice…

It is a crazy tactic, granted, but Jon Jones has used it to some effect in his matches, this could change (and probably should for the better) if Jones should find himself in a title fight in Colorado. He nearly gets a boot in the head from Vitor in the clip below and looks to the ref.

We’ve seen fighters use this rule to full effect, Demetrious Johnson used it perfectly against John Dodson in their first title clash. Chris Weidman on the other and tried, and failed, to implement this and actually suffered a TKO loss to Gegard Mousasi. There was outcry from Weidman to have it changed to a DQ or even an NC but it never happened for the former champ.

Its also interesting to note that Demetrious Johnson was finished for the first time ever, due to a knee on the ground from his opponent in ONE FC of all places. Johnson is great in a scramble, but the knee adds another weapon to the chaos and one he did not see.

And we couldn’t forget about Yan vs Sterling, after Yan putting on a masterclass, blending strikes and takedowns Aljo was on his knees. There was some confusion as to whether a kick or knee to Aljo in that position would be legal, Petr soon found out after it was landed and Aljo became the Bantamweight champ on a DQ.

All of these fights (bar the Jon Jones vs Vitor Belfort fight) would have had different outcomes had the grounded opponent rule been chucked out. Are ONE FC onto something?