Guides & Analysis
A useful starting point for watching, scoring and understanding MMA
Choose a question below. Each selected resource has a clear task, examples or source links to help you follow it further. News reports and other features remain available in the article archive.
Plan your fight night
Check the broadcaster for your country, then translate the announced start time into your own calendar.
- UFC, PFL and ONE: how to compare an MMA eventCompare UFC, PFL and ONE events: identify the discipline, rankings, titles and tournament stage before planning your viewing.
- How to watch UFC in the UK and US: plans, PPV and start timesA UK and US viewing checklist: the event, card segment, subscription entitlement and replay questions to verify before paying.
- Fight Night Time ConverterConvert an announced start time, check the local date and daylight-saving changes, and save a calendar entry with your announcement link.
Understand the score and the stoppage
Separate what the judges score from what the referee decides, then work through an example yourself.
- MMA Scorecard and scoring guideKeep three judges’ cards over three or five rounds, record deductions and compare decision outcomes. Worked examples explain how totals change.
- Ruleset Decision LabTest four judging scenarios under Unified Rules, ONE Global MMA rules or an event-specific rulebook before interpreting a result.
- Six MMA scoring exercises: practise explaining your roundSix fictional situations for practising observation and reasoning, with comparisons you can reveal after making your notes.
- MMA referee decisions: grounded opponents, stoppages and deductionsGrounded-opponent examples, legal targets, warnings, deductions and stoppages, with the rule date and jurisdiction kept in view.
Make sense of fight statistics
Check the underlying counts, reproduce the arithmetic and keep the limits of a full-fight total in view.
- What MMA fight statistics can and cannot tell youTwo documented UFC bouts: reproduce accuracy and elapsed-time calculations, then compare the numbers with the official result.
- Fight Stat WorksheetCalculate accuracy, percentage-point gaps and strikes per elapsed minute from your own inputs. Keep a text record of the source and calculation.
Explore MMA history
Start with the documented result, then ask what changed. These guides separate records from interpretation.
- How MMA rules changed: a sourced timeline and worked examplesA sourced rules timeline, three grounded-position comparisons and worked round durations, with document revisions separated from event adoption.
- Four MMA rivalries: the fights, results and what changedFour rivalries with dates, results and points of comparison, including why an overturned result changes the official record.
- Five UFC fights that marked a change in the sportFive UFC milestones, from the first tournament to simultaneous titles in two divisions, with primary sources and corrections to the earlier article.
- TUF 1 Finale explained: Griffin, Sanchez and the two tournament finalsThe two TUF 1 tournament finals: Griffin and Sanchez’s official results, and why awarding a contract did not change a decision.
Read the weight-class rules
Match a division name to its promotion, numeric limit and competition category.
- MMA weight classes: UFC and ONE limits, with amateur rules explainedSeparate UFC and ONE tables, pounds and kilograms, title allowances, hydration checks and the questions amateur competitors must confirm.
Choose a class and prepare for training
Ask about the session, contact and costs, and know where to find qualified help.
- Your first MMA class: what to ask, bring and decideA first-class booking message, six questions for the gym, contact choices, preparation and a separate youth checklist.
- MMA equipment: how to choose, check and care for your kitTurn the activity’s kit list into fit, borrowing, buying and care decisions, with a worked example and linked equipment guidance.
- MMA Nutrition: A Practical Training-Day Food GuidePlan food around an evening class using a clearly hypothetical adult timetable, with recovery guidance, supplement questions and professional support links.
- MMA mental health support: practical steps for fighters and gymsMental-health support routes for England, appointment prompts and hypothetical gym conversations, with clear professional-role and age limits.
- MMA training injuries: when to stop and get help in EnglandInjury signposting for England: urgent-care links, suspected concussion and a practical gym emergency-plan checklist.
Follow the sources
A historical result, a viewing arrangement and a judging rule need different checks. Use the linked event record for a result, the provider's current listing for access, and the event's adopted rules for officiating. Our editorial standards explain how we handle sources and corrections. If something appears wrong, send the page and supporting source.