Hello there Bloody Elbow community!

Between not having done one of these in quite a few years and having recently relaunched as a totally independent entity, the BE staff figured it was a good time to go through and explain the few rules and guidelines we have in place. The reason we have them isn’t just to keep things running smoothly but to ensure that Bloody Elbow is an open, welcoming, and enjoyable environment for everyone here, that goes for the staff and readers alike.

But before I go through the list, know that if you ever do find yourself getting banned, if you simply email a staff member and explain yourself more often than not things can be worked out and you’ll be reinstated. We’re not tyrants.

Most of our long term readers already know these rules, but new people are joining all the time, so consider this a gentle reminder to the veterans and an introduction for the newbies. These first couple rules are the big ones you don’t wan to run afoul of.

1 – “Slow news day?” Posting a comment like this or something of a similar nature will result in either a very harsh warning from a moderator or possibly an outright ban. So just don’t do it.

2 – Questioning Bloody Elbow editorial is strictly forbidden. This is very similar to “slow news day”, asking why we’re covering such and such topic isn’t allowed. If you have an issue with a story we’ve run then please take it up with the author in private via email. Comment threads are not complaint boxes. Doing this can result in a very harsh warning or a ban.

3 – Bloody Elbow site moderation isn’t up for public debate. If you or someone else has a comment removed for violating a rule, don’t make another complaining about it. Doing so will just turn get you warned or banned. Like with the last rule, if you have a problem with moderation or a question about something that happened then take it up with us in private via email. Again, comment threads are not complaint boxes.

4 – No streams. Do not under any circumstances ask for a link to a stream, provide a link to a stream, or provide any information on where to find such links. Doing so is grounds for an automatic permaban. No ifs ands or butts.

Now these next few are more like guidelines compared to those above. Our moderator team will use a sliding scale to determine what action to take on a case by case basis.

5 – No fighter bashing. This is where said sliding scale comes in: it really depends on what was being said and how it was said. For example, “Why is Colby Covington always acting like such a moron?” is OK but “Colby Covington is such a retard” isn’t going to fly. You can criticize fighters but you can’t attack them.

6 – Don’t bring up unrelated topics or derail threads. That means don’t try and start a debate about mask mandates when it’s a story about a BJJ competition. Same goes for trying to inject politics or religion when it’s not germane to the topic at hand. If people have a conversation that heads off topic naturally, that’s totally fine, we’re talking about someone deliberately trying to steer things in a different direction simply to stir the pot.

7 – Don’t spam the comments. This is for someone who’s going up and down a thread just saying the same thing over and over and over again. You don’t need to tell 30 different people that you don’t like so and so fighter for whatever reason. We got it, you don’t need to reiterate it.

8 – Don’t piss off the staff. The infamous “Rule #8”. While this may seem rather vague in its wording, it doesn’t mean you need to walk on egg shells to keep from getting slapped with it. Rule #8 is reserved for the kind of troll who likes dancing up to the line but doesn’t cross it, they only care about annoying the rest of the community and the staff. Rule #8 is something that is rarely invoked and normally only done after talking to the rest of the mod team first.

9 – Don’t threaten or insult other community members. Don’t say you’re going to beat someone up or hope they get run over by a bus. Don’t call them names just because you may disagree about something. You get the idea, be respectful to others. If you see someone crossing a line, please don’t engage with them, simply flag their comments and let us deal with them. Anyone posting any sort of slurs or spouting hateful bigotry or posting obscene images will be permabanned.

All that being said, remember that our entire moderation team consists of people who started off as regular members of the Bloody Elbow community. They’re not outsiders who are ignorant of the “GSP is me” meme or clueless on how “LETS MUTHERFUKERS!” was born. Moderating is also a very thankless job, but they do it because they care about this place and want to keep it as a place where any MMA fan can call it home.

And once again, if you find yourself getting a warning or banned, emailing us and starting a conversation will more often than not lead to things being smoothed over and your ban being lifted.

So, if you have any questions, comments, or suggestions, feel free to ask them here. The floor is open so have at it.