Mixed Martial Arts Mixed Martial Arts, or MMA, is a popular combat sport with a different set of rules and practices. MMA is a combination of popular martial arts techniques and non-traditional techniques like striking, pounding and grappling etc. Though MMA fighting much resembles ancient Greek pankration, modern day techniques were developed during the 1900s in some European countries and Japan. Being a full-contact game, MMA requires intensive training and complete physical fitness in order to excel in this sport.