MMA Promotion Signs Prime Time Network TV Deal

How many times boxing's death and burial been predicted over the years? I never understand why so many people (especially MMA fans) rush to kick dirt on boxing.

7134, why can't you compare last year's revenues due to De La Hoya-Mayweather? That'd be like a boxing fan saying "Well, you can't give UFC too much credit because it had the (Superstar A) vs. (Superstar B) PPV last year."

 

I'm trying to think of any MMA or UFC fans I've met at a bar or through a friend of a friend and liked.

I've got nothing.

And I'm in the middle of the male, 18-30 demographic.

A few months ago, my girlfriend's roommate's boyfriends were over at the girls' house watching one of those pay-per-view things on the big screen. I was a little tipsy when my girlfriend and I walked back from the bar, and I thought those dudes were all going to kick my ass when I asked, "Why don't you guys just break the ice and start an orgy? Isn't that why you watch this shit?"

They were not nearly as amused as me. Fortunately they cooled down, because they all looked like they took more steroids than the Bash Brothers combined, and I would have been crushed.

And yes, Bubbs, most (maybe all) of them had awesome tats.

The saddest part of her roommate breaking up with that guy was me losing the easiest comedic targets I'd met in quite a while.

 

SBD watched every 11 p.m. SportsCenter in November. Want to guess how much play MMA got?

Boxing- 0:00:25
Etc- 1:19:32
MLB- 1:35:23
MLS- 0:02:28
MMA- 0:00:00
NASCAR- 0:47:13
NBA- 3:46:36
NCAA Basketball- 1:53:13
NCAA Football- 4:38:22
NCAA Women's Basketball- 0:05:15
NCAA Other Sports- 0:00:00
NFL- 10:40:46
NHL- 0:32:58
Olympics- 0:00:53
Tennis- 0:01:46
WNBA- 0:00:00

 

i can understand not liking ufc/mma ... i can't understand someone spending so much time leaving comments about a sport that they don't like. makes zero sense to me.

 

I'm with you. I like MMA. It is a violent sport. So is boxing, so is football, so is hockey. Shit so is basketball. I like those sports, too. (OK, maybe not hockey so much.)

But folks who don't like MMA seem to be incredibly vehement about it. Hell, they get pretty self-righteous, and I don't understand where it comes from. I've had many arguments about it with people I respect, and they all seem to happily abandon logic and thoughtful discussion when it comes to this particular subject. It always seems very Jay Mariotti to me.

 

While I consider SportsJournalists.com to feature among the most well-informed posters of all message boards on the internet, I'm finding myself becoming increasingly frustrated anytime I read threads pertaining to mixed martial arts. There are two main issues that rub me the wrong way:

1) The whole MMA vs. Boxing debate. -- Why can't there be both? Why does one sport have to fail in order to sing the praises of the other? Sure, they're both one-on-one combat sports. But comparing the two is almost like trying to compare football with hockey. As knowledgeable sports fans, we know that soccer and hockey are completely different sports. But to someone who's never been introduced to either, if you described each sport, they might think they were quite similar. Both are team games with the main goal of trying to get the ball/puck past a goalie and into a net. You're not allowed to touch the ball/puck with your hands. Both sports are relatively low-scoring affairs.
Yes, there's obvious differences that we could rattle off forever. But to the uninformed fan, they could be seen as very similar.

In my opinion, boxing and MMA are about as similar as hockey and soccer are. Boxing is very limited in what the athlete is allowed to do in trying to defeat his opponent. It's basically punch and block the opponent's punches. It's a beautiful sport to watch when it's done at the highest levels. Mixed martial arts allows the fighters a lot more freedoms because it encompasses a wide variety of disciplines. Like boxing, you can punch. But, that's only one small part of the sport. You can kick (as long as the opponent is standing), wrestle and employ jiu-jitsu submission holds to defeat your opponent.

Some of my friends have asked me, who would win between an elite boxer and an elite mixed martial arts fighter. My answer is always the same. What rules are they fighting under? If it's boxing rules, the boxer wins 9 out of 10 times. If it's the unified MMA rules (as set by the New Jersey State Athletic Commission), then the MMA fighter wins 9 out of 10 times because he'll likely take the boxer down and submit him because that's something very foreign to the boxer.

It'd be like if I said "Let's put Sidney Crosby out on the soccer field because he's a great goal scorer." Well, he is a great scorer, but his talents are suited for hockey, not scoring goals in soccer. There's a difference.

There are going to be some of you who are probably going to roll your eyes at this argument, saying it's apples and oranges. You're right. It is silly for me to compare hockey and soccer. That's how silly I think it is to compare boxing and MMA. Two guys in trunks in a ring. But the means of competing are very different.

2) It really bugs me when people talk about the stereotypes of MMA (and please, people ... the SPORT is MMA. UFC is just the organization. I don't say "I'm gonna go to the gym and play NBA." No, I say "I'm gonna go play some basketball.").
I think it was Bubbler who said MMA is all about white guys with tattoos bludgeoning each other (I'm paraphrasing) with their fists. He also brought up that there's a problem because white fans boo black fighters. And, he quoted Bob Arum about MMA and its shortcomings.
First, if all you see is white, tattooe'd guys then I suggest you get out of 1994 and turn the channel onto something current. Yes there are white fighters. There are also black fighters, South American fighters, European fighters, Asian fighters. This is a world-wide sport. This isn't the old "Toughman Challenge" they used to show on Fox Sports with a bunch of out-of-shape rednecks fighting for $10,000 and a KFC bucket meal.
And, black fighters are having problems in this sport? Quinton "Rampage" Jackson is one of the most popular fighters in the sport right now. His popularity has even increased since beating "white America's" favorite Chuck Liddell. And, what about Kimbo Slice? Personally, I think he's a joke who's going to end up doing more harm than good to MMA, but he's fast becoming one of the most popular fighters in the sport.
And, color me shocked that Bob Arum would have some disparaging things to say about MMA, since he sees it as a challenge to the sport where he makes his money. Not the most impartial person there, is he?

Is MMA perfect? No. There's plenty of issues I'd like to see rectified. But it has come a long way in the last decade. A unified set of rules has helped greatly. Getting the sport approved by various state athletic commissions has improved safety for the fighters. Drug testing (especially in California and Nevada) is proving to be effective and it's good to see that UFC isn't ducking the drug testing.
If you're not interested in mixed martial arts, that's fine. Who the hell cares?!? But, don't jump on message board threads and act like you're an expert when it's obvious you've watched one or two fights in the last decade. In the mid-90s, UFC specifically was brutal. No weight classes, far fewer rules. Less skilled fighters who were more willing to sling wild punches.
Now, fighters are more likely to make you tap to an armlock or kneebar than to batter an opponent's head. Yes, I know sometimes there's an extra punch before the referee can get in to break it up. But there's far fewer headshots in MMA than there are in boxing. And late hits and blows to the head aren't exclusive to MMA. Ask Trent Green, Troy Aikman, Ted Johnson, Merrill Hoge, etc., etc.

I just don't see the point of insulting people who enjoy the sport, also. It's not like MMA fans are going on other threads and trying to convert people into fans. Yet non-fans feel the need to hop on and mock, as if it makes them feel good about themselves to belittle others. You may in fact get some enjoyment out of it, but it only makes you appear as small minded as you claim MMA fans to be.

 

Great post, Tripp.

I do disagree about boxing and MMA being totally unrelated. They are both combat sports, and I would consider them to fall into the same type of fanbase. Much like NASCAR and IRL can share the same fan base. In America, NASCAR dominates those fans to the point that IRL will never have the same fanbase that is has in South America or Europe.

The teenage fans of MMA today, IMHO, would have followed boxing 20, 30 or 40 years ago.

I think you made a great point that people who are suppposed to know something about sports do not understand the difference between MMA and UFC. Would you say that is our fault or UFC's fault?

 

I love it when there's a line like this in a post, "If you're not interested in mixed martial arts, that's fine. Who the hell cares?!?", exercpted from a War And Peace-like post that tries to convince me to believe just the opposite.

Thanks Rokski 3! The only thing missing was bolded copy.

MMA fans: More sensitive than soccer fans.

 

Is that all you got? Good job proving Tripp's points, jackass.

 

Bubbler: quit being a douche.

Is that short enough for you?

 

I don't know about that.

I see a lot more GNP than technical submission grabbling these days.

 

I'd also like to reiterate that I don't give a flying fuck whether you like MMA or not. But, you opened yourself up for comment by posting on this thread when you claim you're not the least bit interested in MMA. It's like the line from Hoosiers: "There's two kinds of crazy. One is a man who strips naked and howls at the moon. And the other is the man who does the same thing in my living room. The first one, I don't care about. The second one, you're kind of forced to deal with."

I'm not out trying to recruit anyone. But when people come on a thread and write moronic posts about a subject they obviously aren't very educated on, you're going to get a response.

I'm not a fan of soccer, hockey or auto racing. So, I stay off those threads. It doesn't bother me that others like those sports. I think they're boring. But, I'm also smart enough to know I shouldn't debate the merits and drawbacks of those sports because I know jack shit about them.

Self-awareness is a great trait to have. You should try to get some.