Citation

Bello FD, Brito CJ, Amtmann J, Miarka B. J. Hum. Kinet. 2019; 67: 271-280.

Affiliation

Fight Department, School of Physical Education and Sport, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2019, Academy of Physical Education Poland, Publisher Walter de Gruyter)

DOI

10.2478/hukin-2018-0081

PMID

31523324

PMCID

PMC6714373

Abstract

This study compared grappling motor actions of male mixed martial arts (MMA) athletes considering outcome types from Ultimate Fighting Championship ( UFC) bouts. A validated protocol of technical-tactical analysis was utilized as in previous studies addressing MMA performance analysis, and Kruskall Wallis and U Mann-Whitney tests were applied to compare effects of types of outcome decisions (Split vs. Unanimous Decision vs. Knockout-KO/Technical-knockout-TKO vs. Submission). Unanimous Decision showed higher frequencies of takedowns attempted/round than KO/TKO and Submission outcomes (p ≤ 0.05; 1.9 ± 1.9 vs. 1.3 ± 1.4 vs. 1.0 ± 1.1 attempts). Bouts with Split Decision demonstrated higher takedowns/round than bouts ended by Submission (p = 0.048; 0.4 ± 0.7 vs. 0.2 ± 0.6 attempts). TKO/KO showed lower values of sweeps/round (p = 0.008, 0.0 ± 0.0 vs. 0.1 ± 0.3 attempts) and takedowns attempted/round (p = 0.014, 1.3 ± 1.4 vs. 2.0 ± 1.6 attempts) than bouts ending by Split Decision. The Submission outcome showed a higher frequency of submissions attempted/round than KO/TKO and Unanimous Decision (p ≤ 0.041, 0.3 ± 0.7 vs 0.2 ± 0.5 vs 0.2 ± 0.5). These results show a large specificity in the type of grappling attack/situation according to the strategy to end the combat. These results also show that the grappling strategy and tactics are variable depending on the strengths and weaknesses of the athletes, and can be used by coaches and athletes to develop specific training programs.

Language: en

Keywords

high-intensity interval training; martial arts; motor control; task performance and analysis; teaching; time and motion studies