Ha! Extending fingers towards the face, aka the Jon Jones rule. Redefinition of grounded is good but doesn't go far enough. The refined judging criteria is good. More 10-8 rounds will change a lot of results. We should see a lot more draws.
I swear I did a thread or something about this. I like the changes. Especially the "grounded rule". And as much as I want grounded knees back, I don't think we're getting it.
Yeah. I'd like grounded defined as torso contact which would get that back and eliminate a host of complications. Of course I'd also like to see the 12 to 6 elbow rule rescinded but I doubt that'll happen either.
Two of those rule changes are not going to make Jon Jones happy. Love the fingers exposed rule and the changes to a downed opponent. It is a step in the right direction. The only one I am a bit iffy on is that I would like to see octagon control have a little more influence than it will seem to. Not as much as now, but not as little as this suggests. I think controlling where a fight goes is a skill relevant in a street fight. I wonder how this is going to effect those fighters seen as "point fighters." Dominick Cruz is widely criticized in such a manner and I wonder if this will affect his fighting style? Jon Jones, well I am of the opinion he games the system with eye pokes and playing the one finger on the ground game. It will be interesting to see how he adapts. And will the refs really enforce actually deducting points instead of endless warnings? Or the judges - will they really award more 10-8 rounds? Will they really do it? I hope so, but am not so sure....
Many athletic commissions have already rejected the changes, in part or in whole. http://fightland.vice.com/blog/several-states-vote-to-reject-new-unified-mma-rules IIRC, the ABC tried to reformat the weight classes about five years ago, with similar results. Seems they don't really have a whole lot of power.
The knees to the head one I kind of understand trepidation about. I think NJ said their issue was the number of follow up strikes that position allows someone to land between being knocked out and a ref getting involved. Kidney kicks I don't understand though.