Will we ever see stoppages like this in MMA?

[Sticko]

And that's exactly why we all started watching it sir.

People say...it's not boxing.
Acting like boxing is safe because they throw in the towel, yet guys die every year in pro boxing, even after the towel is thrown.

Boxing is not safe, and would be even less safe without corner stoppages.

 

[HHJ]

Everything you say is true but does not really address the issue.

The issue is 'are there situations in MMA where throwing in the towel is necessary and should happen and will MMA culture allow it?'

We all know fights like Glover Teixeira and Fabio Maldonado were we watching guys potentially get years punched off his life and the ref was allowing it to go on way too long, or any of many Kim Winslow non stoppages, where the corner throwing in the towel would help.

And as others have said, it has happened, but the issue is (as you do say) way to rarely due to the culture of MMA.

Of course there are situations where the towel should be thrown in. But it's just less likely that it will for the reasons stated.

 

[StonedLemur]

Boxing is not safe, and would be even less safe without corner stoppages.

That's not really my point, but yeah you're not wrong.

 

[ChimRichalds]

Hopefully not. Those pussy ass corner men should have let him continue to be a warrior and go out in his shield.

Yeah who wouldnt want some extra brain damage to achieve the exact same end result amirite?

 

[Small Town Andrew]

I hope not. MMA is in the gutter as it is. Violence is what is so appealing about the sport.

I have been a fight fan since the 90s and this has got to be about the least interesting time to be an MMA fan. You get about 6 bad cards before one good card and all of the UFCs competition sucks.

 

[markantony20]

Benavidez was just on another level man.

 

[Pequeño Corey]

Yeah who wouldnt want some extra brain damage to achieve the exact same end result amirite?

yea man thats for true

 

[Rank Squatter]

GSP vs Penn 2

Thomson vs Diaz. Although officially a TKO because ref stopped the fight at exactly the same time.

Came to say this too ...

Nick threw the towel when Thompson whooped Nates ass

 

[Qays Stetkevich]

Cliffs: it's been done before. End of thread

Not at all, don't be a buzzkill for no reason. Those stoppages are super rare in MMA, which is what OP is getting at. And he might be right: as the sport ages and becomes a more "common" career, it wouldn't surprise me to see more corners looking out for their corner's longevity.

 

[Sweater of AV]

Crawford-Porter is another recent example from boxing. Trainers know their fighters very well (especially when they're related). It's similar in some of the MMA examples: Saku-Royce 1, Diaz-Thomson etc.

The culture of MMA is different. There's also a greater chance of pulling off a hail mary in MMA. Refs currently do a pretty good job of stopping the fight before a towel needs to be thrown though (with exceptions). It's hard to say how things will trend, but I wouldn't be surprised if there are more towels thrown.

 

[jeff7b9]

GSP vs Penn 2

Thomson vs Diaz. Although officially a TKO because ref stopped the fight at exactly the same time.

I believe both of those should/could have been DQs by the written rules at the time.

Only the referee can stop the fight.

Throwing the towel was listed as a foul, punished by DQ.

Pretty sure those were the rules as written prior to the rewriting of the unified rules.

 

[Bend NvR Break]

I hope not. MMA is in the gutter as it is. Violence is what is so appealing about the sport.

I have been a fight fan since the 90s and this has got to be about the least interesting time to be an MMA fan. You get about 6 bad cards before one good card and all of the UFCs competition sucks.

One thing that I appreciated about older mma is the mindset. Sure they weren't the most well rounded, technical and typically had a body built by the bench press but their aggresson was real and they came to fight not have a mma contest. It might not be pretty but someone was getting his ass kick.

Now, people start mma earlier, are well rounded, specialize in something, have all the best contemporary up to date methods on training and recovery, have 8 week camps for specific opponents and still come into fights looking not to lose rather that fighting to win.

 

[Bend NvR Break]

I believe both of those should/could have been DQs by the written rules at the time.

Only the referee can stop the fight.

Throwing the towel was listed as a foul, punished by DQ.

Pretty sure those were the rules as written prior to the rewriting of the unified rules.

Technically
Jay Penn didn't let BJ answer the bell for the 4th round. He didn't throw in the towel but wouldn't let him brother continue fighting either. I think technically it's recorded as a corner stoppage.

And like others have said, Nate vs Thomson ended with a ref stoppage by TKO. Nick just threw the towel in at the same time the ref was stopping the fight.

Good point though as I think officially there is no "throwing in the towel" rule in mma and a ref has no obligation to stop a fight if a towel is thrown. You're right possibly that could be a DQ.

I remember a fight in a regional promotion where a trainer ran into the cage and shoved a fighter off his guy. The fighter had the trainer's fighter in a choke, made him go unconscious and the ref wasn't stopping the fight so after throwing in the towel and yelling for the fight to be stopped he finally hopped the fence the got his fighter out the choke.

 

[avenue94]

There's also a perception (and realistic) issue, of there being more ways to win/lose and pull a miracle, come from behind victory in MMA. So corners become hesitant as we have seen many times a guy pull a hail mary technique and manage to catch the opponent off guard and win.

Where as in boxing, if one guy is simply better then that's pretty much that. Boxing has a long history, and ring control within the sport is a literal science at this point. So being the much better boxer and getting caught with something wild is amateurish (and becomes increasingly unlikely at the higher levels).

People really overestimate comebacks in mma. Statistically speaking, overwhelmingly most of the time, whichever fighter is hurt first doesn't. Comebacks are pretty much single digit percentages.

 

[avenue94]

The culture of MMA is different. There's also a greater chance of pulling off a hail mary in MMA. Refs currently do a pretty good job of stopping the fight before a towel needs to be thrown though (with exceptions). It's hard to say how things will trend, but I wouldn't be surprised if there are more towels thrown.

Statistically speaking, there really isn't. People overestimate how common comebacks are because they are so rare that they are overly memorable.

 

[marvinparsons]

Boxing it seems like the coaches are actually part of their team long term whereas MMA it feels like they are paying a coach or cornermen so they don't have the authority to call it. They absolutely should though.

Korean Zombie last fight was just pointless. He was getting destroyed and looked 100% incapable of mustering the energy to hurt Volkankovski.

There was no point to the last round.

 

[Bend NvR Break]

Boxing it seems like the coaches are actually part of their team long term whereas MMA it feels like they are paying a coach or cornermen so they don't have the authority to call it. They absolutely should though.

Korean Zombie last fight was just pointless. He was getting destroyed and looked 100% incapable of mustering the energy to hurt Volkankovski.

There was no point to the last round.

Who the fuck decided that Holloway and Kattar would go to the judges? Or Holloway vs Ortega?

FFS when your opponent is giving you defensive tips and telling you to keep your hands up in the middle of the fight because he's fucked you up that bad it's time to not answer the bell.

 

[TheBulge]

I can't think of another MMA example.

 

[daltonames]

GSP vs Penn 2

Thomson vs Diaz. Although officially a TKO because ref stopped the fight at exactly the same time.

Nate's corner threw in the towel, ref didn't see it anyway. Throwing a towel into a cage is less obvious than a ring.

 

[sadowolf]

GSP vs Penn 2

Thomson vs Diaz. Although officially a TKO because ref stopped the fight at exactly the same time.

That's an interesting one because if I'm not mistaken, literally throwing in the towel is and was ruled a foul under the unified rules, and isn't supposed to be considered by the ref as a signal that the fight needs to be stopped. Would've been interesting to see what would've happened if the ref didn't decide to coincidentally stop the fight at the same time Nick threw the towel in. Would they have stopped the action to to warn the corner? Dragged a concussed Nate around the cage and taken a point? Haha

In all likelihood he would've just ignored the towel, moved it out of the way or picked it up when he had the chance, and given the corner a stern talking to, but it's still one of those things I think about from time to time, along with how hilarious it would've been if Chael survived the round with Jones.