What Is Cage Fighting?

Cage fighting is exactly what it says on the tin, it’s a fight between two competitors which takes place inside of a cage, a ring, or an Octagon. Cage fighting is more popularly known as mixed martial arts (MMA) in the modern day, which does a lot to take away from the negative connotations that the term ‘cage fighting’ implies.

MMA has been made into a sport by organisations like the UFC, Bellator and One Championship, and the successful promotions of its biggest stars like Conor McGregor & Ronda Rousey have helped to bring mixed martial arts into the mainstream media. A lot of MMA events now take place on PPV (pay-per-view) and they draw in hundreds of thousands of PPV buys, with these numbers constantly climbing as the sport builds up ahead of steam.

Cage fighting, or MMA, takes place inside an Octagon ring in the UFC (so named because the ring has 8 corners), or a normal boxing ring (which sometimes happens in One Championship).

MMA is a combat sport which involves a fight where fighters are allowed to use multiple combined martial arts disciplines. Fighters train themselves to master BJJ (Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu), wresting, kickboxing, boxing, grappling and some other forms of fighting like Capoeira. Hence the term mixed martial arts.

Fighters usually specialise in one of these disciplines and they will employ a game plan which plays to their advantages, and their opponent’s weaknesses, in order to win the fight.

The sport does have rules, like any sport, which makes it a legitimate sport that can be accepted by the mainstream. These rules have done a lot to take away the previous negativity surrounding MMA. Fighters are not allowed to scratch, pull hair, hit the groin area, eye gouge, bite, pinch or pull off clothing.

Fighters are also forbidden from hitting an opponent after the buzzer has gone off at the end of each round, and fighters must obey the referee’s commands at all times. The referee is the only person allowed in the cage, other than the two fighters, while the fight is happening.

MMA fighters all belong to a certain weight class and they will compete against other fighters who are in their same weight class, as this was deemed the most fair way to match competitors up against each other.

Height is not always an advantage, as smaller fighters can have a lower centre of gravity and that can make them sturdier. However, having more mass than another fighter is an automatic advantage, among professionals.

When MMA fighters enter the cage, they will either be scheduled to fight for 3, or 5 rounds, which each round lasting 5 minutes. 3 rounds is the normal time limit for an MMA fight, whereas 5 rounds is usually reserved for the big fights such as title fights. However, a lot of MMA fights never go the full distance of the fight if one fighter knocks out (KO) their opponent or if they submit their opponent.

MMA fighters (cage fighters) who continue to win their fights will work their way up their weight class ladder, facing progressively harder and harder opponents. The harder fights usually earn the fighters more money as the toughest opponents are usually the most well-known by MMA fans, which means there is more money involved in the fight because more people pay to watch the fight.

When an MMA fighter has either earned enough victories against enough highly ranked opponents, or they have built up a large enough fan-base, they will be granted a ‘title shot’. A title shot is a fight against he current champion of the weight division.

If the fighter outclasses the champion and wins the fight, then they will become the new champion of the division and they will wear the championship belt as a symbol of their dominance over the division.