why aren't elbow strikes allowed to the back of the head?
 

watched ufc1 and it was ok then, but the commentator after mentions they are now illegal in UFC

why is that?

I don't watch sweaty muscular men touching each other, so I can't help you.

Most likely because you can rattle somebody's brain around a little too much and it more or less. Ever been hit with an elbow? It hurts and can do some severe damage. The rule was introduced in UFC 15.

That is the softest part of the skull and thinnest and the nerves that run up from your spinal column run underneath it and into various parts of your brain but then basically all meet there. Your skull is made up of several plates and that plate also is the smallest and it interconnects with a lot more muscle and flesh than other plates that basically are bone on bone for the most part. This and the location of all the nerves and thinness of the plate itself make it a very vulnerable area and one that affects a person in so many different ways even with just a punch. Done hard enough and low enough on the back of the neck and more towards the spinal column it can fracture and even break the small bones, which are among some of the smallest, that make up the spinal column. This is one of the reasons why rabbit punches are basically not allowed in any kind of professional fighting anywhere in the world.

Those guys will all end up retarded, if they aren't already -- which is debatable. Right behind them is the over-tatted retards that watch it.

That's a kill shot. Would make things much more interesting.... :1orglaugh

The sport has been going for decades and no one has ended up retarded yet.

if you think these guys arn't gonna end up with serious brain damage you may also be retarded

Boxers end up sounding more retarded a hell of a lot more often then MMA fighters and die in the ring more often.

Only because punching eachother as hard as you can in the fucking head is THE key to winning. :1orglaugh You've simply got other options in MMA...

No doubt. LOL. :1orglaugh:1orglaugh:1orglaugh

spinal cord. nuff said...

Yup, in fact, the majority of the fighters enroll at top Universities as soon as they retire, great number of them (close to 90% actually) are MENSA members as well....

It takes intelligence to fight at that level. You've got to be able to think and react quickly. A lot of muscle memory has got to be involved, but being a top level fighter in MMA takes some brain power too. :2 cents:

You can hit someone a lot harder with boxing gloves on than the fingerless gloves in MMA as you aren't going to smash your hand to bits.

all strikes to the back of the head have been outlawed in the ufc since they became sanctioned.

First of all, what professional athlete enrols at university when they finish their career? They earn more money with bank interest alone than 90% of MENSA members. Second of all, most UFC fighters go years without suffering a single concussion. Third of all, show me a single example of a punch drunk ex-UFC fighter.

Boxers are far more likely to lose IQ points (though most of them are still pretty sharp at the end of their careers). Most of them spar at 90% contact several times a week. MMA fighters don't take many head blows between fights.