Spectator guide

MMA glossary: the words announcers use

Plain definitions for the terms that get said quickly and explained rarely, from checking a kick to a level change.

Striking

Check a kick: Lifting the shin to meet an incoming leg kick, so the kicker hits bone instead of thigh.
Calf kick: A low kick to the outside of the lead calf. Cheap to throw, and it takes a fighter's movement away over a round or two.
Counter: A strike thrown into an opponent's attack rather than before it. The highest-value shots in the sport, because the target is moving toward you.
Feint: A fake meant to make someone react, so the real shot lands in the gap.
Level change: Dropping the hips. It sets up a takedown or a body shot, and the point is that the opponent cannot tell which.
Southpaw: A left-handed stance, right foot forward.
Switch: Changing stance mid-fight. Opens new angles and costs balance for a moment.
Overhand: A looping power punch thrown over the top of a guard. Common against a fighter who ducks under straight shots.
Flurry: A fast burst of punches. Visually convincing, often less effective than it looks.

Shoot: To commit to a takedown attempt, usually by dropping and driving at the legs.
Double leg, single leg: Takedowns that attack both legs or one. A double drives through the middle; a single is about angle and lifting.
Sprawl: The counter to a shot: hips down, legs back, weight on their shoulders.
Underhook, overhook: An arm threaded under or over the opponent's arm in a clinch. Underhooks control the hips and usually win the exchange.
Ride: Staying attached to a fighter who is trying to get up or escape.
Pass the guard: Getting past the legs into a better position.
Sweep: Reversing from the bottom so you end up on top.
Scramble: The chaotic seconds where neither fighter has a position yet.

Main card, prelims: Sections of an event. The main card is the last and most-billed group of fights; prelims come earlier.
Main event, co-main: The last fight of the night, and the one before it.
Catchweight: A fight contracted at a weight that is not one of the standard divisions.
Championship rounds: Rounds four and five of a five-round fight. A different sport from rounds one through three.
Cut: Both the weight a fighter loses before the fight and the laceration that can stop one. Context tells you which.
Short notice: A fighter taking a fight with little time to prepare, usually as a replacement.