In 2000, the Unified Rules of Mixed Martial Arts were written with the intention of making the sport of MMA appear more acceptable in a wider society. Under those rules, soccer kicks were explicitly banned and classed as a foul defined as "kicking the head of a grounded opponent". It is noted that while soccer kicks to grounded opponents are fouls, axe kicks, downward strikes with the back of the heel, are not considered fouls if done to any part of a grounded opponent. In the years after the banning of soccer kicks under the Unified Rules, a number of fans and MMA fighters have argued for them to be permitted under the Unified Rules along with face and foot stomps. Their justification is that soccer kicks and stomps being disallowed hindered fighters who were used to using them under other MMA rule sets. Mauricio Rua, who mostly used soccer kicks to earn victories in Pride, argued that elbows caused more pain than soccer kicks and claimed that soccer kicks were safer than elbows. Rua also argued that elbows were more dangerous than soccer kicks and yet were allowed under the unified rules. Opponents of soccer kicks argued that they needed to be banned in order for the sport of MMA to move forward. They also argued that in the face of opposition to the sport from politicians such as John McCain, soccer kicks had to be banned in order to ensure that the sport was not viewed as illegal "human cockfighting" and could be sanctioned as legal in the United States by Athletic Commissions.