What is illegal in MMA?
I · Intermediate · Fouls · 4 of 5The unified rules list 26 fouls. The main ones are headbutts, eye gouging, biting, hair pulling, groin attacks, strikes to the spine, the back of the head or the throat, kicking or kneeing the head of a grounded opponent, stomping a grounded opponent, spiking an opponent on the head and grabbing the fence.
How it works
- With the head or teeth: butting, biting and spitting.
- Hands at the face: eye gouging, fish hooking, outstretched fingers towards the eyes and a finger in any orifice or cut.
- Hair and skin: hair pulling, and clawing, pinching or twisting the flesh.
- Banned targets: the groin, the spine, the back of the head and the throat.
- On a grounded opponent: kicks or knees to the head, and stomps.
- Throws: spiking an opponent on the head or neck, and throwing an opponent out of the ring or cage.
- Holding: the opponent's gloves or shorts, and the fence or ropes.
- Small joints: twisting single fingers or toes.
- Not fighting: timidity, which covers avoiding contact, dropping the mouthpiece again and again and faking an injury.
- Conduct: abusive language, ignoring the referee, unsportsmanlike conduct that causes injury, and attacking after the bell, during a break or when the referee has stepped in.
- The corner: interference by a fighter's seconds.
The glossary has the foul, the fish hooking, the pile driver, the timidity, the small joint manipulation and the fingers outstretched.
Tricky cases
A punch lands in the eye socket and the eye swells shut. Was that eye gouging?
No. Legal strikes or punches that contact the eye socket are not eye gouging. The foul is gouging with fingers, chin or elbow.
A fighter reaches out with an open hand towards the opponent's face, without touching. Is that a foul?
Yes, when standing. Moving the arm towards the opponent with an open hand and fingers pointing at the face or eyes is a foul in itself. Fighters are told to close the fist or point the fingers up.
Can a fighter grab a handful of the opponent's fingers?
Yes. Grabbing the majority of the fingers or toes at once is allowed. Single fingers and toes are small joints and may not be manipulated.
Is trash talk during a fight a foul?
No, not in itself. Fighters can talk during a match. The foul is abusive language, such as racial or derogatory abuse, and the referee decides where the line is.
Why the rule exists
Each foul removes a way of winning by injuring a part of the body that cannot be trained or protected: eyes, groin, spine, throat, small joints. The conduct fouls protect the referee's control, which is the fighters' main safeguard.
Where it differs
| Where | What changes | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 2018 rules | 27 fouls, with the straight downward elbow among them | ABC Unified Rules 2018 |
| 2024 rules | 26 fouls; the downward elbow removed | ABC Fouls |
| Men and women | The same groin rule | ABC Foul 10 |
| Standing foot stomps | Not a foul | ABC Foul 12 |
From the rule book
Association of Boxing Commissions and Combative Sports, Unified Rules of Mixed Martial Arts (as amended 23 July 2024; California State Athletic Commission copy), fouls 1 to 26. Compared with the same association's text as amended 1 August 2018. Checked 14 October 2026. Official document: the association's Unified Rules of Mixed Martial Arts (adopted commission by commission).