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Mixed Martial Arts

In ancient Greece, the Olympic Games included the pankration. A combination of boxing and wrestling, sometimes to the death.

MMA stands for mixed martial arts. This martial art is a full-contact fighting sport, which became known at the beginning of 1990 through the UFC (= Ultimate Fighting Championship) through major events and TV broadcasts.

The goal is to defeat your opponent with a knockout or Submission. When no KO or Submission is made  a victory on points by the judges makes the decision. The athletes are allowed to use not only throwing techniques, but also punching and kicking techniques as well as stranglations and locks. And these techniques can be combined from a wide variety of martial arts.

In contrast to other martial arts, MMA also allows punching and sometimes kicking in the ground. Accordingly, this sport is particularly demanding and every athlete must be able to take a lot and be in a great physical shape.