A pair of proposed changes to the unified rules of MMA have been passed by the Association of Boxing Commissions and Combative Sports.
On Wednesday, members of the ABC voted to change rules regarding how eye poke infractions are handled during a fight and the wearing of neoprene sleeves.
If a referee calls for an interruption to deal with an eye poke in a fight, the injured fighter has a maximum time limit of five minutes to heal from the injury. If the fighter is unable to continue the fight after five minutes, then the bout will be cancelled. It is then up to the fighters who have completed each round or how long it took.
Previously, the time given to recover and examine a potential injury from an eye poke was left to the referee’s discretion. This new rule applies to low blow fouls.
Wednesday’s other change to the unified rules makes it so that neoprene sleeves are now permitted to be worn. Sleeves may not cover the ankle or knee joints.
Read the rule here (h/t Combat Sports Law):
A competitor might use soft, neoprene sleeves that cover the ankle or knee joints. Approved sleeves may not have: padding, Velcro, plastic, metal, ties or any other material considered to be unsafe or that may create an unfair advantage. Tape and gauze or any materials other than the approved sleeves are not permitted on the lower body. Black sleeves are not allowed, except for matching the corner assigned to athletes by having sleeves that match the corners.
An additional rule states that there will be no tape or protective gear of any kind allowed to cover the upper body outside of the standard gloves and hand wraps.
These two modifications are now part of the unified rules for MMA. However, individual commissions remain responsible for implementing any changes they make.
The 2022 ABC Annual Conference was held in Niagara Falls (N.Y .
Watch video of the conference below.
