Poll results: Should heel-hook submissions be banned in MMA?

UFC 119 takes place tonight, and in the headliner, submission ace Frank Mir takes on famed striker Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic.

Mir, a Brazilian jiu-jitsu specialist, has many tools at his disposal. But should heel-hook submissions be one of them?

That's the question we asked in our latest MMAjunkie.com/"Inside MMA" weekly poll.

Fans proved overwhelmingly against such a ban. Only 15 percent of voters were in favor of banning the submissions while a whopping 85 percent believe the rules should remain as is.

Heel hooks, of course, have been a hot topic the past couple weeks, especially prior to Rousimar Palhares' UFC Fight Night 22 headliner with Nate Marquardt. Earlier in the year during a UFC 111 fight with Tomasz Drwal, Palhares secured a heel-hook submission (his sixth such heel-hook win in eight career submission wins).

He won the fight, but after initially refusing to break the hold, Palhares earned a 90-day suspension.

Of course, both intentionally and unintentionally, fighters have failed to quickly release submission holds. But officials usually (and appropriately) have a short leash when it comes to heel hooks, which have the potential for serious injury. Unlike superficial wounds, heel hooks can produce serious ligament and tendon damage from the knee area to the ankle. Such injuries usually require significant recovery time and can even cut short fighting careers.

That's why many grappling competitions ban them outright, especially with younger and inexperienced competitors.

So, should MMA enact a similar ban? Should heel hooks joins the likes of groin shots, knees to the head of a downed opponent, hair-pulling and fish hooking on the list of banned maneuvers? Or should the current rules remain unchanged and heel hooks be an available weapon for fighters?

State your case in the comments section below.

And don't forget to vote in this week's new poll on the MMAjunkie.com homepage. After he pulled out of UFC 106, Karo Parisyan was kicked out of the organization, and UFC president Dana White said he'd "never" fight in the organization again. So we want to know if you're surprised the organization recently re-signed him for a UFC 123 fight with Dennis Hallman.

HDNet's "Inside MMA" and MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) run a weekly poll thanks to a partnership between the two news outlet. Catch new episodes of "Inside MMA" on Fridays at 9 p.m. ET. For more information on "Inside MMA" and HDNet Fights, visit www.hdnetfights.com. For more information on HDNet and how to subscribe, visit www.hd.net.

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