ABC agrees to change 'grounded fighter' language

The Association of Boxing Commissions and Combative Sports (ABC) passed an alteration of its rule on the definition of a grounded fighter Tuesday, ABC president Mike Mazzulli said, according to ESPN's Marc Raimondi.

In the new language, a grounded fighter is now a fighter who has anything but the soles of his or her feet on the canvas, with the exception of his or her fingers. A fighter can put a single fist or palm on the ground and be considered grounded, but not solely one or two fingers.

Currently, when a fighter is considered grounded, an opponent cannot legally land kicks or knees to the head. Mazzulli is confident all the athletic commissions will pass this new language with the hope of it being implemented by July 1, 2020.

In addition, Mazzulli would like to see a unified set of rules in all states so fighters can reference a single rule set. Both UFC and Bellator had representatives at the ABC conference on Tuesday.