Why are fighters not permitted to strike the back of the head?

[burn2live]

This is something I've always been a little confused about. Striking the side of the head is legal and this is the weakest part of the skull, so why is the back of the head a no-go?

[MuscleMcMannus]

This is something I've always been a little confused about. Striking the side of the head is legal and this is the weakest part of the skull, so why is the back of the head a no-go?

Because a blow to the back of the head will cause the middle meningeal artery to rupture moreso than a blow to the side of the skull.  The pterion is located on the side of the skull which is the "weakest" link so to speak. 

[K-1]

rabbit punching to the back of the head can be extremely dangerous. Basically can result in death in the worst case scenario.

If you want to see an example of someone who took alot of shots to the back of the head and it shut him down same day watch Nigel Been vs Gerald McClellan boxing match-up.

basically those back of the head shots added up just that quick in that fight and changed Gerald forever.

I've been hit back there and it's no fun. Send a nice jolt down your spine also.

[burn2live]

Because a blow to the back of the head will cause the middle meningeal artery to rupture moreso than a blow to the side of the skull.  The pterion is located on the side of the skull which is the "weakest" link so to speak. 

The anterior branch of the middle meningeal artery is located right behind the pterion though. It's most likely to rupture there?