Mixed Martial Arts is a full combat contact sport that allows a wide mixture of fighting techniques. It is a combination of traditional and nontraditional martial arts discipline used in fighting or competing. The rules allow the use of two traditional martial arts technique: striking and grappling. Before the battle, both fighters stand on opposite sides of the ground and the referee will officially start the fight. This competition allows all martial artists with different background to participate. Modern Mixed Martial Arts competitions first became known in America and were later influenced by Japan. It was popularized in America in the 1900`s and was founded by an organization called Ultimate Fighting Championship. Mixed Martial Arts promoters always update the rules to increase the safety of the competitors. Their aim is to increase the popularity of Mixed Martial Arts and make it the mainstream sports of the millennium.

This sport gained widespread exposure not only in America but also internationally when Brazilian fighter Royce Gracie almost won the first Ultimate Fighting Championship Tournament. The strategies and techniques utilized in Mixed Martial Arts generally fall into two categories: striking techniques (kicks, knees, and punches) and grappling techniques (holds, pinning holds, submission holds, sweeps, take down, and throws). Several techniques are considered legal such as the elbow strike, head butt and spinal lock. The sport universally bans biting, striking the groin, eye-gouging and fish- hooking. In every competition, the concerns of the referee, judges and trainers are all the same: the safety of the competitors.