A downed opponent is a combatant that is on the ground, as compared to a combatant that is in a standing position. This commonly implies that the downed combatant is lying on the ground, but can technically refer to any position in which anything except the soles of the combatants feet are touching the ground. In many combat sports featuring striking

Strike (attack)

A strike is an attack with an inanimate object, such as a weapon, or with a part of the human body intended to cause an effect upon an opponent or to simply cause harm to an opponent. There are many different varieties of strikes...

, such as Boxing

Boxing

Boxing, also called pugilism, is a combat sport in which two people fight each other using their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee over a series of between one to three minute intervals called rounds...

 or Taekwondo

Taekwondo

Taekwondo is a Korean martial art and the national sport of South Korea. In Korean, tae means "to strike or break with foot"; kwon means "to strike or break with fist"; and do means "way", "method", or "path"...

, it is illegal to strike a downed opponent. The referee will promptly bring the downed opponent to his or her feet to resume the bout standing. The only one combat sport which allows strikes when the opponent is down is Mixed Martial Arts. Majority of MMA organization follows the common No Knees and Kicks to the Head of a grounded Opponent, Fighters are allowed to strike their opponent to their body. Hand Striking and Elbows to the head are considered legal.

There are many MMA organization that still follows the roots of MMA which is No Holds Barred Fighting. Brazil and Japan are the two main countries that allows Soccer Kicks to the face/head when the opponent is down as well as knees to the head of a downed opponent.

Pride Fighting Championship was the famous MMA organization in the world and they were the first Big organization which adopted soccer kicks, knees and stomps to the face/head of downed opponent.