With the continued opportunity for exposure of the UFC\'s brand of MMA to mainstream audiences, particularly in the United States, changes need to be made to ensure that these opportunities are not lost. Currently, the UFC employs a few rules that encourage slow, uneventful matches and allow unfair tactics during these matches. The most egregious are: 1. Fighters are allowed to push their opponents against the fence of the Octagon. 2. Judges are encouraged to consider the top position of the Guard to be a Dominant position and 3. Fighters are allowed to \"lay and pray\" in the top position, with very little real activity, for extended periods of time (sometimes more than 2 minutes). 4. Round by Round scoring of fights. For the continued good of the sport these rules must be modified or gotten rid of. We encourage the UFC to adopt these recommendations: 1. Unless during the course of action a fighter is driven up against the fence & there is a REAL flurry of activity, fighters should be moved to the middle of the ring to allow the martial arts that they train to be used. Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu was the foundation of the UFC and it is nearly impossible to employ it while pressed against a fence. 2. If MMA has taught us anything it is that while a fighter is in another\'s guard they are in a NEUTRAL position unless there is a stunning amount of \"Ground and Pound\" being delivered by the top fighter. Judges should NOT consider the top fighter the dominant one unless they are truly dominating with strikes. 3.Stand ups should be quicker. If neither fighter can achieve anything (submissions, strikes, etc.) on the ground for 1 minute there should be a stand up. Currently, whole rounds go by with no activity on the ground, particularly up against the fence. 4. Round by Round 10/9 scoring encourages bad decisions. Not each winning round is equal & trying to force such a complex sport (unlike boxing) into some kind of mathematical equation (in so few rounds) just causes chaos. There should be \"Whole Fight\" decisions. If a judge is trusted enough to judge a round, then they should be trusted enough to judge the whole fight. None of these recommendations should cause any difficulties with any athletic commission because they do not involve the safety of the fighters (such as knees on the ground, soccer kicks and stomps) & we see no reason for them not to be implemented. The need to allow the RIGHT decision to be made during a fight and to not encourage boring, collegiate wrestling-like matches is CRITICAL for the continued success of the sport and we hope that you will consider our petition.

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