GAMMA has issued new rules for youth competition ©GAMMA

The Global Association of Mixed Martial Arts (GAMMA) has published new rules for youth competition which include a ban on head strikes.

The new rules will be in force when GAMMA's first Under-18 MMA International Championships take place in Nashville in the Untied States in November.

Punches or kicks to the head are banned both when standing up and fighting on the floor - so at all times - in the youth rules.

Takedowns using only a neck grip, Ezekiel chokes, electric-chair submissions, a gogoplata chokehold from the top, reaping the knee and wrist locks are other moves legal in senior GAMMA competition but banned for athletes 18 and younger.

For GAMMA's under-16 and under-12 categories, further techniques have been outlawed.

Fighters in youth events cannot kick or punch an opponent in the head, under GAMMA rules ©GAMMA
Fighters in youth events cannot kick or punch an opponent in the head, under GAMMA rules ©GAMMA

"As part of our mission to ensure safe competition, it was necessary to review our existing competition rules to make sure they were fit for purpose for our youth athletes," GAMMA President Alexander Engelhardt said.

"We will not compromise on providing a safe competition environment and we believe that these rules will give our young athletes the necessary protection to further their development in the sport."

The rules, available to view here, were developed by GAMMA's Referee and Judges Committee.