MMA rule change? Conor McGregor wants spitting and ‘snot rockets’ banned

No one can deny Conor McGregor’s superstardom and his strong influence on the sport of mixed martial arts. USADA even made some changes to its testing protocols partly thanks to “The Notorious,” something that the Irishman is proud of.

Now, the former UFC “champ-champ” is calling for amendments in some of MMA’s unified rules, particularly on what merits a foul and an eventual point deduction. And as you’ll see in McGregor’s tweets that have since been deleted (but captured by Fansided’s Amy Kaplan), these proposed changes won’t directly affect the outcome of the fight.

McGregor likely saw a few of these instances happen this past weekend at UFC San Antonio, particularly during the headliner between Marlon “Chito” Vera and Cory Sandhagen.

Such actions are generally deemed to be lowbrow and crass by society. The same behavior seems to be somewhat of a norm inside the UFC cage, however, as you’ll see many other fighters do it, whether intentionally or otherwise.

Perhaps this is one of the rare instances where McGregor’s recent statements hold some level of validity, but will it matter in a sporting sense? We’ll just have to see if his influence stretches far enough to result in a rule change in some way shape or form.

About the author: Milan Ordoñez has been covering combat sports since 2012 and has been part of the Bloody Elbow staff since 2016. He’s also competed in amateur mixed martial arts and submission grappling tournaments. (full bio)