What the Hell is The Button?

Say nighty night.

Anyone who watches MMA will at sometime or another hear the commentators talking about "The Button". So what exactly is it, anyways? Well, the button is a spot on the jaw, below the ear. If a fighter gets hit on the button, he has most likely just gotten knocked the f**k out.

What causes this? No one is really sure. There are a couple of theories though. A knockout occurs when the brain hits the skull, so some people say that's whats happening when you hit the button. So why is that particular spot so devastating? Some say it causes the highest amount of head rotation, thereby maximizing brain against skull impact. Another theory is that a punch to the button causes the mandible (jaw bone) to shift, which does one of two things: cuts the cartoid artery, which cuts blood flow to the brain, or hits the cranial nerve, which sends a message to the brain to cut off all non-essential functions.