I am going to receive a lot of heat from the MMA purists for my next suggestion for improving the rules, appeal and safety of mixed martial arts, but I am going to suggest it anyway.
IT IS TIME TO MAKE THE HEEL HOOK AN ILLEGAL SUBMISSION.
Now hold on, don’t throw your keyboard and monitor out the window in disgust. If you think it over and look at the issue objectively, you may ultimately find yourself agreeing with me. And keep in mind…
THERE WAS A POINT IN TIME WHEN PURISTS WERE CLAIMING THE FOLLOWING:
“We should permit head butts.”
“We should permit soccer kicks to downed opponents.”
“We should permit head stomps.”
“The fighters should not use gloves.”
“We should permit hair pulling if the fighter is reckless enough to enter the cage with hair long enough to pull.”
And if you look over the history of MMA and its gradual rules augmentations, you will see many aspects completely absent from modern MMA that were once claimed by some to be essential to the integrity of the sport.
I will probably be in the minority, but I am suggesting that we add the heel hook to the above list of once-permissible but not-worth-the-trouble fighting maneuvers. Now don’t get me wrong. I view the heel hook as a very legitimate submission move, an advanced skill, one worth knowing and studying and being able to defend against. But I would like to see it reserved more for the Krav Maga category than the arena of sanctioned mixed martial arts.
THE UFC CURRENTLY OUTLAWS THE FOLLOWING MOVES:
- Butting with the head.
- Eye gouging of any kind.
- Biting.
- Hair pulling.
- Fish hooking.
- Groin attacks of any kind.
- Striking to the spine or the back of the head.
- Striking downward using the point of the elbow.
- Throat strikes of any kind, including, without limitation, grabbing the trachea.
- Kicking the head of a grounded opponent.
- Kneeing the head of a grounded opponent.
- Stomping a grounded opponent.
- Kicking to the kidney with the heel.
- Small joint manipulation.
More than anything, I liken the heel hook to small joint manipulation (bending, twisting or breaking the fingers as a form of submission).
Several of the outlawed moves are on the outside looking in because they risk permanent brain or spinal injury (striking the spine or back of the head). However, several moves are outlawed for other reasons.
SMALL JOINT MANIPULATION IS NOT PERMITTED FOR TWO REASONS:
1. Damage to these joints can result in permanent impairment and career-ending loss of ability to effectively use the body part.
2. Due to the fragility of these joints, opponents are not given a sufficient opportunity to submit before the submission is fully executed and the damage is done.
THE VERY SAME RATIONALE APPLIES TO THE HEEL HOOK.
When a heel hook is applied, by the time the opponent feels the pain associated with the move and taps, it is quite likely that his knee and its ligaments have already been destroyed. The heel hook stands out among large joint submissions as one that is not only the most damaging, but one that provides the least opportunity to submit before it is executed to completion.
With that said, I would be willing to bet that if you surveyed professional fighters, more would prefer to punched or kicked in the head while unconscious than to have a heel hook performed to completion on them.
Every time a heel hook is applied and completed, the receiver is out for a minimum of six months and is almost guaranteed to return to the cage a reduced version of his former self. Very few athletes in any sport who require knee reconstruction due to torn ligaments will return and perform at 100% of their pre-injury level.
While the heel hook is an impressive submission and everybody loves clips like Ryo Chonan vs. Anderson Silva, is the potential drama provided by this one move worth the risk of the sport’s top stars being out for extended periods of recovery and possibly forced into retirement with a career-threatening injury? The move is literally designed to tear apart the ligaments of the knee, and is applied in such a manner that there is little opportunity to submit before the damage is done.
And don’t get me wrong. I greatly admire the legacy of Ken Shamrock, and it would be a slight source of sadness to see one of his signature moves go by the wayside, given his contributions to the rise of mixed martial arts. But at the same time, Royce Gracie employed headbutts and fought in a gi, both of which are now illegal with virtually no complaint from anyone.
I, for one, am willing to forego the (often grotesque) visuals of the heel hook and suffer the knowledge that the fighters are employing one less (minor) combat skill in order to ensure that my favorite fighters are competing longer and with the same knee ligaments (and agility) they were given at birth.