Arena of NationState Fighters

The Arena of Nation States Fighters (ANSF) was one of the largest and best-known mixed martial arts promotion company in the multiverse, featuring some of the top-ranked fighters in the sport. Based in Adun, the ANSF produced events worldwide. The organization showcased eight weight divisions and abided by the Unified Rules of Mixed Martial Arts. The ANSF held over 300 Pay-Per-View events before its dissolution.

History

The first ANSF event was held in Muttville, Adun, and featured the first heavyweight championship match. The winner, Sergei "The Bat" Batunulayov, would go on to become one of the organisation's most dominant competitors. His dominance would partly lead to the introduction of the title "Dragon" – later renamed to "Tiger" – which the ANSF used to denote a champion who had successfully defended his or her title on four consecutive occasions. Such was Batunulayov's popularity, that the first ANSF event to be held outside Adun took place in his hometown, Moscawa, in Soviet Canuckistan.

The Reign of The Three Dragons

Hugo Madera used his defensive techniques and explosive striking to dominate the Lightweight division for several years

The early years of the ANSF were dominated by three fighters in particular: Vulshain's Kliment Innokenti, the Osarian Hugo Madera, and the immensely popular Sergei Batunulayov, of Soviet Canuckistan. The three were all dominant in their respective divisions and were dubbed "The Three Dragons" the Adun media, when all three had successfully defended their respective titles four consecutive times.

From the first ANSF event (ANSF 1) to ANSF 95, the Three Dragons held an undefeated record of fourteen wins, zero losses, and zero draws. Combined, they had eleven consecutive successful title defenses of the Bantamweight, Lightweight, and Heavyweight Championships. At ANSF 95, Sergei Batunulayov lost a unanimous decision to Stamatis Nicolaos, bringing the streak – and the reign of The Three Dragons &ndash to an end. Nicolaos, in honour of his victory over the first dragon, was given the nickname "Dragon Slayer".

The Rise of Osarius

At ANSF 136, Aarón Quintero defeated Andrej Bisnobic for the Featherweight Championship. Bisnobic had previously defeated Quintero the last time they faced. They fought at ANSF 107 in Bisnobic's first defense of the Featherweight Championship, which Bisnobic won. ANSF 136 featured Quintero's revenge when he became the new ANSF Featherweight championship.

At ANSF 144, Juan Luis of PuertoRico was one defense away from being crowned "Dragon" when he faced the Osarian JeMarcus Daley. Luis had defeated Daley three times in a row leading up to the fight, but Daley finally turned the tables and took the title from Luis, becoming the third ANSF champion from Osarius. With three consecutive title defenses, Juan Luis was labeled the hypodragon, or underdragon.

At ANSF 149, Xavier Acosta of Osarius defeated the reigning Heavyweight Champion, "The Dragon Slayer" Stamatis Nicolaos. After a back and forth first round, Acosta took control on the mat, knocking out the champion with some impressive ground in pound at 4:14 in the second round.

The very next event, ANSF 150, featured the next Osarius fighter to become a champion of the ANSF. Esteban Carranza defeated Jon Mathews to win the Light Heavyweight Championship. Mathews had previously defeated Carranza at ANSF 116 to win the Light Heavyweight Championship himself. Carranza was knocked down to the number one contender tournament. He blazed through the tournament, defeating all who stood in his way, before knocking out Mathews with an elbow to the face. That victory placed five out of the seven ANSF championships in the hands of Osarians.

At ANSF 153 in Breakdance Stadium in Madison, Adun, another of the original "Three Dragons" fell for the first time, as Hugo Madera was defeated by Thomas Gus – again of Mapletish. After four rounds of back and forth action, Thomas Gus took Madera down and executed a perfect kneebar to end the bout in the final round, becoming the new ANSF Lightweight Champion. As with Nicolaos, the media gave Thomas Gus the nickname, "Dragon Slayer". Madera's loss left only Kliment Innokenti of Vulshain as an undefeated Dragon.

The Resurgence of Osarius

[ osarius claiming all seven titles ]

New Blood

[ buchanan, top, etc ]

The Reign of the Dragon Couple

[ karastorre & galaxi ]

Champions

Main article: List of ANSF Champions

[ summary of championships ]

Tigers

Originally, when a champion successfully defended his or her title on four successive occasions, the Adun media would grant them the title "Dragon". This practice was later adopted as an official "super title" by the ANSF, and eventually renamed "Tiger". The first fighter to be awarded the distinction was Sergei Batunulayov, though others would later surpass his early levels of success.

As ANSF 200 approached, the ANSF announced the creation of a new "White Tiger" status, above the existing "Tiger" designation. This status was created partially due to Hugo Madera's dominance in the Lightweight division, and was to be awarded to any fighter who fulfilled the requirements for Tiger status twice. That is, any fighter managing two streaks of four successful title defenses, or one streak of eight successful defenses in a row. Madera would become the first fighter to achieve White Tiger status at ANSF 207, after completing a second streak of four title defenses with a knockout victory over Zhou Troski.

Madera's successes would continue, and again partially led to the introduction of a new prestige level, South China Tiger. The requirements were similar to the existing Tigers, except this time a fighter required three streaks of four successful defenses. As with the White Tiger designation, a streak of eight counted as two streaks of four. Similarly, a single streak of twelve successful defenses would afford a fighter South China Tiger designation. No fighter ever reached this level, however. The closest was Hugo Madera, who was stopped one defense short by Max Buchanan, in a shock knockout defeat at ANSF 245.

Elo ratings

The ANSF maintained Elo ratings for all fighters, as a method of helping to decide pound for pound rankings. These ratings were not released to the public at first, but would later be distributed in an official release from the ANSF every few events. While the Elo ratings were an imperfect system, they were accepted by fighters, pundits and fans alike as a fair method of comparison across weight classes when catch weight fights were not feasible.

The all-time highest Elo rating – supporting the consensus that he was the ANSF's greatest ever fighter, pound for pound – was recorded by Hugo Madera, who topped out with a rating of 3,321 points in the release following ANSF 236. Notably, Madera had not fought since ANSF 233, when he defeated Zach Z Top in a catch weight exhibition fight. Prior to that his last fight in his own weight class had been a successful title defense against Max Buchanan at ANSF 231.

[ table of Elo leaders by release ]

Rules

Rounds

ANSF matches would vary in maximum length, depending on whether the match is for a Championship title, or is a fight card's "main event" fight. In all fights, no round was allowed to be longer than five minutes. Championship fights lasted for a maximum of five rounds. Some main event bouts would also be extended to five rounds, like Hugo Madera's catchweight fight with Zach Z Top. Non-main event bouts lasted for a maximum of three rounds. There was a one-minute rest period permitted between rounds.

Weight divisions

The ANSF used eight different weight classes throughout its existence:

Weight class name	Upper limit
	in pounds (lb)	in kilograms (kg)	in stone (st)
Bantamweight	135	61.2	9 st 9 lb
Featherweight	145	65.8	10 st 5 lb
Lightweight	155	70.3	11 st 1 lb
Welterweight	170	77.1	12 st 2 lb
Middleweight	185	83.9	13 st 3 lb
Light Heavyweight	205	93.0	14 st 6 lb
Heavyweight	265	120.2	18 st 13 lb
Super Heavyweight/Open weight	No upper limit

Non-title fights had a one-pound leniency, and the ANSF did allow for non-title fights between weight classes.

Cage

The ANSF staged bouts in an eight-sided enclosure, with walls of metal chain-link fence coated with black vinyl and a diameter of , allowing of space from point to point. The fence is 5 ft 6 in to 5 ft 8 in height. The cage sits atop a platform, raising it from the ground. It has foam padding around the top of the fence and between each of the eight sections. It also has two entry-exit gates opposite each other. The mat, painted with sponsorship logos and art, is replaced for each event.

Attire

The ANSF mandated that all competitors must fight in approved shorts, without shoes. Shirts (except for women), gis or long pants (including gi pants) were not allowed. Fighters had to use approved light-weight open-fingered gloves, that include at least 1" of padding around the knuckles, (110 to 170 g / 4 to 6 ounces) that allow fingers to grab. These gloves enable fighters to punch with less risk of an injured or broken hand, while retaining the ability to grab and grapple. A mouthguard and jockstrap with protective cup (for male fighters) were also required, and fighters were checked for these by an official before being allowed to enter the cage/ring.

Match outcome

Matches may end via:

• Submission: a fighter clearly taps the mat or his opponent, verbally submits, or clearly communicates being in pain (such as by yelling) to a degree that causes the referee to stop the fight. Also, a technical submission may be called when a fighter either loses consciousness or is on the verge of serious injury while in a hold.
• Knockout: a fighter is put into a state of unconsciousness resulting from any legal strike.
• Technical Knockout (TKO): If the referee decides a fighter cannot continue, the fight is ruled as a technical knockout. Technical knockouts can be classified into three categories:
  • referee stoppage (the referee ends the fight because one fighter is deemed unable to intelligently defend himself)
  • doctor stoppage (a ring side doctor decides that it is unsafe for one fighter to continue the bout, due to excessive bleeding or physical injuries)
  • corner stoppage (a fighter's cornerman signals defeat for their own fighter)
• Judges' Decision: Depending on scoring, a match may end as:
  • unanimous decision (all three judges score a win for fighter A)
  • majority decision (two judges score a win for fighter A, one judge scores a draw)
  • split decision (two judges score a win for fighter A, one judge scores a win for fighter B)
  • technical decision (a fighter is rendered unable to continue as a result of an unintentional illegal element or move, resulting in a decision based on the finished and unfinished rounds if the number of rounds to be judged is sufficient)
  • unanimous draw (all three judges score a draw)
  • majority draw (two judges score a draw, one judge scoring a win)
  • split draw (one judge scores a win for fighter A, one judge scores a win for fighter B, and one judge scores a draw)
  • technical draw (the bout ends in a manner similar to that of a technical decision, with the judges' scores resulting in a draw)
• Disqualification: a fighter intentionally executes an illegal move that is considered by the referee or opponent to be injurious or significant enough to negatively alter the opponent's performance should the fight continue, resulting in the opponent's victory.
• Forfeit: a fighter fails to compete or intentionally and prematurely ends the bout for a reason besides injury, resulting in the opponent's victory.
• No Contest: a fighter is rendered unable to continue or compete effectively as a result of an unintentional illegal element or move and there is not a sufficient number of finished rounds to be judged to make a technical decision viable, or both fighters are rendered unable to continue or compete effectively. Also, a fight may be ruled a no contest if the original outcome of the bout is changed due to unsatisfactory or illegal circumstances, such as a premature stoppage or a fighter's testing positive for banned substances.

In the event of a draw, it is not necessary that the fighters' total points be equal. However, in a unanimous or split draw, each fighter does score an equal number of win judgments from the three judges (0 or 1, respectively).

Judging criteria

The ten-point must system was in effect for all ANSF fights; three judges score each round and the winner of each receives ten points while the loser receives nine points or fewer (although 10–10 rounds are given in the rare event that a judge feels the rounds was too close to warrant giving one fighter 10 and the other 9.) Scores of 10–8 are typically awarded for dominant rounds and anything more dominant is scored less. 10–7 rounds are very rare.

Fouls

The ANSF rules, at the time of dissolution, listed the following as fouls:

1. Biting
2. Eye-gouging
3. Fish-hooking
4. Groin attacks
5. Small joint manipulation
6. Hair pulling
7. Putting a finger into any orifice or into any cut or laceration on an opponent (see Fish-hooking)
8. Throat strikes of any kind, including, without limitation, grabbing the trachea
9. Clawing, pinching or twisting the flesh
10. Grabbing the clavicle
11. Intentionally attempting to break an opponent's bone
12. Kicking to the kidney with the heel
13. Spiking an opponent to the canvas on the head or neck (see Piledriver)
14. Throwing an opponent out of the ring or fenced area
15. Holding the shorts or gloves of an opponent
16. Spitting at an opponent
17. Engaging in unsportsmanlike conduct that causes an injury to an opponent
18. Holding the ropes or the fence
19. Using abusive language in the ring or fenced area
20. Attacking an opponent on or during the break
21. Attacking an opponent who is under the care of the referee
22. Attacking an opponent after the bell (horn) has sounded the end of a round
23. Flagrantly disregarding the instructions of the referee
24. Timidity, including, without limitation, avoiding contact with an opponent, intentionally or consistently dropping the mouthpiece or faking an injury
25. Interference by the corner
26. Using any foreign substance that could give an unfair advantage
27. Head-butting
28. Striking to the spine or the back of the head (see Rabbit punch)
29. Striking downward using the point of the elbow (see Elbow (strike))

Fouls against a grounded opponent

1. Kicking the head of a grounded opponent
2. Kneeing the head of a grounded opponent
3. Stomping a grounded opponent

When a foul is charged, the referee in their discretion may deduct one or more points as a penalty. If a foul incapacitates a fighter, then the match may end in a disqualification if the foul was intentional, or a no contest if unintentional. If a foul causes a fighter to be unable to continue later in the bout, it ends with a technical decision win to the injured fighter if the injured fighter is ahead on points, otherwise it is a technical draw.

Match conduct

• After a verbal warning the referee can stop the fighters and stand them up if they reach a stalemate on the ground (where neither are in a dominant position or working towards one). This rule was codified as the stand-up rule.
• If the referee pauses the match, it is resumed with the fighters in their prior positions.
• Grabbing the cage brings a verbal warning, followed by an attempt by the referee to release the grab by pulling on the grabbing hand. If that attempt fails or if the fighter continues to hold the cage, the referee may charge a foul.
• Abusive language during combat is prohibited.

ANSF Hall of Fame

People

Matches