"Hope fighters don't take advantage" - Fans debate the addition of two new rules under unified MMA, including UFC

Last week in Nevada, two new MMA rules were introduced at the conference for the Association of Boxing Commissions and Combative Sports under unified MMA.

Combat Sports regulatory lawyer Erik Magraken recently uploaded a video explaining the two new rules, which has been going viral on social media.

In the video, Magraken explained that under the first rule, if a fighter is on the receiving end of a cut due to a foul or an illegal strike, he or she can take up to five minutes to recuperate. In that time, a cut person could also come into the octagon and treat the cut.

Earlier, if a fighter sustained a cut due to an illegal blow, they would have to wait for the end of the round to get the cut person to tend to the wound.

The second rule is regarding illegal eye pokes in a fight. If a fighter is eye-poked, they get a window of five minutes to recover from it. But some new nuances have been added to the rule.

Explaining the changes, Magraken said that after getting poked in the eye, a fighter is eligible for a cold compress that could help heal the eye. Apart from that, the ringside medical professional can only enter the octagon after a 60 or 90-second period to check on the fighter.

Another new change is that upon entering the cage, a ringside physician should not immediately ask whether the fight can see or not. Instead, the athlete should as much of the allotted time of five minutes as possible before being asked whether their vision is compromised or not.

Check out Erik Magraken explaining the rules below:

The new rules have started a debate on social media as fans are discussing whether these changes benefit the fighters or will prove to be harmful to them:

"I hope fighters don't take advantage of the new eye poke rule and take advantage of the 5 minutes to 'Recover'."

"Now we need a rule mandating a point deduction for all fouls, intentional or not."

You can see a compilation of some of the comments below:

Fans react to the new rules

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How will the new MMA rules impact the UFC?

The new unified MMA rules will be applicable to UFC fights as well. Right now, many are debating the usefulness of the new changes.

But the new MMA rules could arguably provide more protection to the fighters during a fight. Under the new rule, if a fighter receives a cut from an illegal blow, they could avoid getting further damage on it by getting immediate medical assistance, instead of waiting until the end of the round.

Getting a cold compress after being eye-poked could also help the athlete in quick recovery, possibly healing up in allotted time to continue the fight.