The Fight Game, Explained
Straight answers about how MMA actually works — the weight cuts, the money, the rankings politics. Written by the team behind Rising Fighter, a free fighter-career sim that models all of it.
How Many Rounds Are in an MMA Fight?
Three rounds of five minutes — except when it's five. Title fights, main events, the 1-minute break, and why the championship rounds decide close fights.
What Is an Interim Title in MMA?
Why a division sometimes has two champions at once, how the belts get merged back into one — and what an interim reign is worth when they never meet.
How Do MMA Gyms Make Money?
Memberships pay the rent, not fight purses — typical pricing, the cut coaches take from a purse, and why the pro team is the least profitable thing in the building.
How Do UFC Contracts Work?
Show money, win bonuses, deals counted in fights not years — and the champion's clause that keeps titleholders from ever hitting the open market.
MMA Fighting Styles Explained
Striker, wrestler, grappler, all-rounder — the bases every fighter builds on, how they beat each other, and why the "best base" debate never ends.
The Unified Rules of MMA, Explained
One rulebook governs almost every fight you watch — born in New Jersey in 2000, rewritten in 2024. Rounds, fouls, 12-6 elbows, and who actually enforces it all.
KO vs TKO: What's the Difference?
One means a fighter can't defend himself, the other means he isn't — and someone steps in. Every stoppage type under the unified rules, and why the record book lumps them together.
MMA Fight Camp Explained
The 6–10 weeks between signing and the scale: base building, peak sparring, the taper — and why the last two weeks are for recovering, not improving.
What Happens When a Fighter Misses Weight?
The fine that goes to the opponent, the extra hour in the sauna, the catchweight negotiation — and how a champion can lose a belt standing on a scale.
What's Your Fighting Style?
Nine questions, one honest answer: your natural stance — orthodox, southpaw, or switch — and the style you'd actually fight with.
MMA Walkouts Explained
The only ninety seconds of fight night a fighter fully controls. Who picks the song, why the replay sounds different, why flags vanished and came back — and what the walk tells you.
Do Takedowns Win Rounds?
A takedown is not a point. What judges actually credit when a fighter hits the mat — and why the 2025 damage-first rewrite made some takedowns worth nothing.
Why Do Some MMA Fights Get Boring?
Wall-and-stall, blanket wrestling, staring contests — dull fights aren't lazy fights. The incentives that make playing it safe the smart move, explained.
Why Do Fighters Touch Gloves?
It's not in any rulebook, refusing it is legal, and trusting it too much has ended fights. MMA's most misread ritual, explained.
What Weight Class Would I Be?
Your weight, two answers: the division you'd fight in tomorrow, and the one you'd make with a full camp.
What Do Cornermen Do in MMA?
Three people, sixty seconds, one plan — who's allowed in the corner, what the cutman can legally use, and when the towel comes in.
What Is Octagon Control?
Commentators say it every round; judges almost never score on it. What cage control really means under the Unified Rules.
How to Watch MMA: A Beginner's Guide
Where to watch UFC, ONE, and PFL in 2026, how fight cards are structured, and what to look for once the cage door closes.
MMA Terms Glossary
Underhooks, 10-8 rounds, "and new" — every word you need to follow a fight card, in plain English.
The Longest Win Streak in UFC History
Makhachev's 17 straight is the new record — the full all-time list, and why almost nobody gets past a dozen.
Who Is Quillan Salkilld?
14-1, 6-0 in the UFC, five first-round finishes — the record, the style, and how fast he got here.
Makhachev vs Machado Garry: UFC 330 Result
He got the record: 17 straight. The result, the scorecards, and an honest grade of the game plan we published.
MMA Weight Cut Calculator
Walk-around weight, target division, weeks left — see if your cut is makeable, heavy, or hospital math.
How Does MMA Scoring Work?
The 10-point must system, 10-8 rounds, and every decision type on the scorecard, decoded.
How Do Weight Cuts Work in MMA?
The science, the day-by-day fight week, what goes wrong, and how the rules are changing.
How Much Do MMA Fighters Actually Make?
Purses, win bonuses, what managers and coaches take, and why most pros keep day jobs.
MMA Weight Classes Explained
Every Unified Rules division and limit, catchweights, allowances, and picking the right class.
How Do MMA Rankings and Title Shots Work?
Who votes, what actually moves you up, and why the #1 contender doesn't always get the call.
How to Become an MMA Fighter
From first gym session to amateur record to pro debut — the honest version.
Reading About It Is the Easy Part
Rising Fighter is a free MMA career sim in your browser: weight cuts, purse negotiations, rankings, rivalries — every call is yours, and every call costs something.
“Played it all night and got an earful from my wife.” — 앤쵸비바이퍼 (player review, translated)
Play Rising Fighter FreeNo download. Runs in your browser.