10 UFC Rules That Fighters And Fans Get Wrong All The Time

By Matthew Salzer /

5. Point Deductions

Something that often comes up in MMA whether something is done by accident or not are point deductions. People see a fighter do something wrong, they're stood up and a fighter will get deducted a point. Sometimes a fighter is deducted a point without warning. Some people and fighters often ask why a point deduction happens. Once again we turn to the Unified Rules. The Unified Rules has a long list of fouls which include the aforementioned illegal strikes, crotch shots, eye pokes, head butts, etc. If a fighter uses it once by accident, they are usually given a verbal warning. If it happens again, the official will usually pull the fighters apart and warn the offending fighter. If it happens a third time that is usually when a point deduction happens. There are of course exceptions and sometimes referees do things prematurely but that is usually how point deductions happen.