Ações técnico-táticas de lutadores especializados em combates de agarre, de contato e mistos (agarre e contato), em razão da permanência no Ultimate Fighting Championship®

Abstract

Mixed martial arts (MMA) achieved a higher repercussion through the Ultimate Fighting Championship® (UFC®) and are characterized by actions of grappling and striking techniques. So far, it is not well known how motor and technical-tactical actions are performed by athletes who use predominantly strikers, grapplers or the both, called mixed athletes (using grappling and striking actions) in training and competitions. Therefore, this study aimed to analyze the technical-tactical actions performed by athletes specialized in grappling, striking and mixed modalities. This is a descriptive research, stratified by the percentage of MMA athletes in their respective combat specialties between the years 2014-2019. The sample is composed of 384 athletes. For the measurement of technical-tactical actions, a time-motion valid action protocol was applied. For descriptive statistics, One-way ANOVA was used, followed by Bonferroni's post hoc. Mean (𝑋̅) and standard deviation (±SD) were performed for parametric variables; for the non-parametric, the Kruskal-wallis test (X2 ) was used, followed by Dunn's post-hoc Q1 (1st quartile - 25%), Q2 (2nd quartile - 50%) and Q3 (3rd quartile - 75%). The groups were distributed according to primary and secondary combat sport. Differences were found between groups regarding the percentage of actions, athletes who entered the UFC® from mixed combat sports, used a lower percentage of striking actions in the primary [41 (32.3; 51.5); p≤0.001] and secondary [40 (35.3; 46.0); p≤0.001] modality, grappling techniques [32.0 (17.5; 41.5); p≤0.001]; and high tied outcomes [1.0 (0.0; 3.0); p≤0.001] compared to the others. For the outcomes, strikers ended the combat by knockout/technical knockout [8.0 (4.0; 11.0); p≤0.001] and submission [3.0 (1.0; 5.0); p≤0.001]. For the secondary modality, defeat [5.0 (1.0; 10.0); p≤0.001], tie [0.5 (0.0; 2.0); p≤0.001], referee decision [4.0 (3.0; 7.0); p≤0.001] were predominate in the mixed athletes; knockout/technical knockout [7.0 (4.0; 10.0); p≤0.001] and submission [3.0 (1.0; 6.0); p≤0.001] were predominate in the strikers. Mixed athletes showed a lower percentage to: distance [98.5 (34.0; 197.5) p≤0.001], clinch [14.5 (7.5; 38.5) p≤0.001], groundwork [16.5 (2.8; 38.5) p≤0.001], strikes attempt for head [107.5 (38.3; 180.5) p≤0.001], body [26.5 (11.8; 59.5) p≤0.001], leg [10.5 (4.3; 49.8) p≤0.001] when analyzed by the primary modality; distance [99.0 (40.0; 240.8) p≤0.001] clinch [21.5 (8.5; 49.5) p≤0.001], ground [15.5 (5.3; 58.5 ) p≤0.001], strikes attempt for head [121.5 (39.0; 238.0) p≤0.001], body [28.5 (14.0; 65.5) p≤0.001], leg [25.5 (8.3; 49.8) p≤0.001], when analyzed by the secondary modality. According the results, it is possible to conclude that there are characteristics and technical actions that differ athletes who previously practiced contact sports. Attention is recommended for athletes from mixed modalities, because, due to the number of actions performed during the fighting and the outcome of the combats, these proved to be inferior when compared to the strikers and grapplers. The results described in this research can contribute to the training planning and the preparation of strategies by the coaches.