When is an MMA fighter "grounded"?
I · Intermediate · Fouls · 5 of 5A fighter is grounded when any part of the body other than the hands or feet is touching the canvas. A grounded fighter may not be kicked or kneed to the head, and may not be stomped. Under the 2024 text a hand on the canvas no longer makes a fighter grounded.
How it works
- Grounded: anything other than the hands or feet in contact with the canvas. A knee, the seat, the back or a forearm all count.
- Not grounded: hands and feet only, however low the fighter is bent.
- No kicks or knees to the head: of a grounded fighter.
- No stomps: a stomp is a strike with the bottom of the foot or heel after lifting the leg and bending the knee.
- Axe kicks: not stomps.
- Still legal: punches and elbows to a grounded fighter's head, and kicks and knees to the body.
- Standing foot stomps: stamping on a standing opponent's feet is not a foul.
The glossary has the grounded fighter, the stomping, the foul, the ground and pound, the referee and the strike.
Tricky cases
A fighter bends over and puts one palm on the canvas. Can they be kneed in the head?
Yes, under the 2024 text. Only the hands and feet are touching, so the fighter is not grounded.
A fighter has one knee on the canvas. Can they be kicked in the head?
No. A knee is a part of the body other than the hands or feet, so the fighter is grounded.
Can a standing fighter punch a grounded one in the head?
Yes. The foul covers kneeing and kicking the head, and stomping. Punches and elbows are not in it.
Does every commission use the new definition?
Not necessarily. Each commission adopts the rules by its own vote, and the saved copy is one commission's papers proposing adoption from November 2024.
Why the rule exists
A kick or knee to the head of someone who cannot move away carries the full weight of the leg, and the head has nowhere to go. The older wording made a fighter with both hands on the floor "grounded", so a standing fighter could bend down, touch the canvas and avoid knees. The 2024 definition was written, in the commission's words, to clear up confusion.
Where it differs
| Where | What changes | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 text | Grounded when anything but hands or feet touches the canvas | ABC Foul 11 |
| 2018 text | One hand down did not count; both hands down did | ABC Unified Rules 2018 |
| Kicks and knees to the head of a grounded fighter | Foul | ABC Foul 11 |
| Stomps on a grounded fighter | Foul | ABC Foul 12 |
| Other promotions | Some allow such kicks under their own rules | Not saved |
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 11 and 12, with the commission's covering memo on the 2024 changes. 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).