Games-Safety first as mixed martial arts grapples for recognition at Asian Games

NAGOYA, Japan, Sept 21 : With no cage, no elbows and no appetite for blood on the mat, the Asian Games' mixed martial arts competition is not quite the visceral experience of a UFC fight night.

The athletes battle in traditional martial arts uniforms, wear shin guards for protection and dropping knees onto prone opponents is very much out of bounds.

The only octagon at the Nagoya City Inae Sports Centre is a grey one marked on the open mat.

The competition's organisers know the modifications may not be to the liking of hard-core fans of a sport once dubbed "human cockfighting" but they are part of an attempt to make it more palatable for a longer-term tilt at Olympic inclusion.

"It's a sport, a rule-set that we believe is more suitable for the Olympic programme," Galastein Tan, director general of the Federation of International Mixed Martial Arts (FIMMA), told Reuters.

"A rule-set that we think is very athlete safety-centric."

HEAVY TAKEDOWN

Modifications aside, the fighting at the sport's Asian Games debut remains intense and bruising. 

South Korea's Lee Bo-mi was in tears and clutching her shoulder after a heavy takedown from Bahrain's Russian-born fighter Diana Pogosian in the women's 54kg semi-final.

Off the mat, there is a bigger fight in the background as the sport's rival governing bodies grapple for influence and global supremacy.

FIMMA, established last year, was born out of the Asian Mixed Martial Arts Association set up by Chinese billionaire Gordon Tang.

With Tang a vice-president of the Olympic Council of Asia, FIMMA's brand of MMA was endorsed for Nagoya and will be retained on the programme of sports for subsequent Asian Games, FIMMA officials told Reuters.

Getting MMA to the Olympics will be a far more complex