stop the match. I’m not calling anyone a liar, I’m just saying in the heat of the moment maybe people have selective memories. Also, sometimes while adjusting position sometimes motions look like a tap out. Like I said above: I’m firmly in favor of only the competitor being able to tap out during a match, the referee is their to enforce safety and if you give him/her a legitimate reason to halt the match they are certainly going to take it. In this case you’re simply going to have trust the competence of the referee and take their word for it.

IN CASES WHERE THE QUESTION OCCURS WHETHER A TAP OCCURRED OR NOT, THE REFEREE HAS FINAL JURISDICTION. RESPECT MAH AUTHORITY!


5) TAPPING TO WIN- In the US I’ve heard that this particular maneuver has been named after a certain fighter, which is slightly unfair, as he’s certainly not the first to pull this particular maneuver. Tapping to win means quickly tapping the second an opponent puts on an illegal maneuver in the hopes of getting them disqualified and thus winning the match. Kind of a bitch maneuver, but it’s sometimes legitimate. How to handle this? My opinion:

TAPPING OUT TO AN ILLEGAL TECHNIQUE SHOULD NOT AUTOMATICALLY LEAD TO DISQUALIFICATION BUT THE OPTION TO DO SO IS AT THE DISCRETION OF THE REFEREE.

I hope the above is used as a guideline for competitors and promoters to hopefully clear up a lot of the controversy surrounding the tap out. The common denominator for all competitive matches is of course the quality of the referee, and the most basic underlying principle should be SPORTSMANSHIP. After all, we all want to be back On The Mat another day.

Train Hard
Fight Hard
Party Hard
Gumby@onthemat.com