Thread: Mma

Initially I want to open this post with a personal statement.
I'm a boxer and boxing fan. I've followed boxing beyond the limits of my memory and I will continue to well into the future.
However, it would be a lie to state that I am not interested in Mixed Martial Arts.

In the past number of days I have noticed posts on this site that cast a negative shadow over Mixed Martial Arts and openly attempt to denigrate the sport. The fact is that at the moment MMa is enjoying a growth spurt and popularity boost unlike any which has preceeded it. The sport is exciting and is attracting legions of followers.

It seems that some boxing fans are resntful of this fact and use everything in their arsenal to attempt to discredit mma and it's followers.
I hear boxing fans mention steroid abuse, attitude problems and even fashion sense in arguements against mixed martial arts.

These ridiculous claims are not only irrelevant they are also hypocritical. In boxing, us fans have been scandalised with several cases of steroid use. In boxing several fighters use the guise of "gangsters" or bad guys just to be marketable. And in relation to fashion sense it seems boxing has alligned itself with Hip Hop in a similar fashion to mma alligning itself with Metal and Rock.

Mixed Martial arts is a sport in which the participants are necessitated to train diligently and develop their physical capacities to the extent of their capabilities. The concept is new, but the values are similar to boxing and other traditional combat sports. The idea is to train as hard as possible and compete as well as possible.

I'm not sugesting that all boxing fans become mma fans, but I do feel that a little mutual respect i demanded. These athletes are putting themselves in danger, just like out ring heroes and they do not deserve ridicule and disrespect for their efforts.

Very good post..

Over my years I have always had respect for martial arts and endeavored to train in a few different styles.. Unfortunetly I never got the chance. But those guys go in the ring & really do put on a show.. They train very very hard and go in their number 1, to be the best..
To try to up the popularity of the sport, they have had to use more out their marketing type things to draw attention to it, and I think this may be a part of the reason why people see it as like a sort of "side show entertainment" type thing compared to boxing...
But those athletes definetly put in the hard yards, and take their fighting as seriously as boxers do...

On a personal note though, I definetly prefer my boxing a lot more. I like the umm, this is a bad word for boxing, but "gentlemeness" of it. Or tradition maybe? A little like cricket.... It is big $$$ these days, but you can go back 60 years and still see the exact same game being played... When you see a really great boxing bout, it's a throwback to the haydays of gentlemen, everyday guys, meeting in the ring to test their abilities, skills & heart...
MMA is still kind of fresh where i'm concerned, although I know that these styles of fighting probably go back a lot longer than boxing. It is hard to feel the same passion for it that I have for boxing.

And as the cherry on top though, when I was very younger I had the unforunate experience of seeing some pretty nasty, scary street fights where people got really fucked up,,, and I personally don't necessarily like seeing people fight in that "no holds barred" manner.. Even under controlled circumstances. It occassionalyl sends me back to those younger experiences, and I get butterfly's in my stomach....
When I was young, remembering those fights litereally made me feel sick, for quite a while.

Even now, whenever some sort of fight breaks out in a crowd, most guys will be running towards it cheering, yelling out "FIIIIIGHTTT!!". I just feel like throwing up.. Most of those guys probably didn't see a grown mans face getting smashed into the pavement 15 times over, a metre away from them when they were 6 years old..... It takes the fun out of fights I tell ya..

But I still fucking love the art of boxing! dunno why...

actually, i can probably list a million reasons why.. but anyway... good point of discussion donny

I hear you Diz.
Agree on everything

I'm not resentful of MMA....I just don't like it.

Fair stance to take.

I'm a fan of both. I don't get the hatred from boxing fans. To me they are similar sports, so it's mind boggling how you can be a fan of one and hate the other.

I hate golf, nascar, and baseball. Playing them is fine, but watching.... i'd rather watch paint dry. Still as much as I dislike those sports I know the people are athletes and have a high level of skill. I don't discredit their skill level, just dont want to watch it.

I watch both boxing and MMA regularly and if they are both on at the same time, I choose by which has the more seemingly competitive fight. I have been very impressed by how MMA keeps their fighters evenly matched more often and don't tank a fighter for losing a fight.

Boxing has more inflated records and less competitive fights. There's just too much build up, and one sided match making. So many undefeated guys who've never had a challenge. And a big part of the problem is the commentators. They make it seem like a fighter if finished if they lose a close fight. Too many guys are afraid to take a challenge cause their career is sidetracked. Fortunately the lower weights have less of this. Vasquez and Marquez, etc...

Overall, I like both. MMA gets me more tense. I noticed when I am watching, I clench my muscles and have to actually tell myself to relax. Boxing is a different kind of excitement. So I can see why some are turned off by the part of MMA. It's a different brutality to get held down and get your face beat in, than getting hit and knocked down.

Originally Posted by hitmandonny

Initially I want to open this post with a personal statement.
I'm a boxer and boxing fan. I've followed boxing beyond the limits of my memory and I will continue to well into the future.
However, it would be a lie to state that I am not interested in Mixed Martial Arts.

In the past number of days I have noticed posts on this site that cast a negative shadow over Mixed Martial Arts and openly attempt to denigrate the sport. The fact is that at the moment MMa is enjoying a growth spurt and popularity boost unlike any which has preceeded it. The sport is exciting and is attracting legions of followers.

It seems that some boxing fans are resntful of this fact and use everything in their arsenal to attempt to discredit mma and it's followers.
I hear boxing fans mention steroid abuse, attitude problems and even fashion sense in arguements against mixed martial arts.

These ridiculous claims are not only irrelevant they are also hypocritical. In boxing, us fans have been scandalised with several cases of steroid use. In boxing several fighters use the guise of "gangsters" or bad guys just to be marketable. And in relation to fashion sense it seems boxing has alligned itself with Hip Hop in a similar fashion to mma alligning itself with Metal and Rock.

Mixed Martial arts is a sport in which the participants are necessitated to train diligently and develop their physical capacities to the extent of their capabilities. The concept is new, but the values are similar to boxing and other traditional combat sports. The idea is to train as hard as possible and compete as well as possible.

I'm not sugesting that all boxing fans become mma fans, but I do feel that a little mutual respect i demanded. These athletes are putting themselves in danger, just like out ring heroes and they do not deserve ridicule and disrespect for their efforts.

as far as the sport of MMA goes.. i have plenty respect for the fighters, as they're putting their life on the line just as much as boxers are. They have to train as hard as hell too.. with that said, ANYTHING negativity that i feel for the sport has nothing to do with the sport itself..

I hate MMA for a number of reasons.. and to be honest, i probably wouldn't hate it as much if so many people didn't talk about it like it was the best "NEW" thing.. I pretty much feel the same way about MMA the way i feel about an action movie.. It's entertaining, and that's about it.. I know that the submissions are all great and stuff, and you have to have some great jiu jitsu and whatever other martial art training to perform these moves but other than that little bit, it just has a possibility to be entertaining. I don't enjoy watching two guys wrestle for position for 4.5 min of a 5 min round.. At least in boxing when the fight is moving at a slow pace the fighters are still at least eating jabs or SOMETHING..

with that said, i feel boxing has SO MUCH more to it.. If you're fighting a body puncher, you have to be in tip top shape to take a TON of punishment to the body.. whereas in MMA there really aren't any body punchers.. it's just straight forward, knock the dude out, or submit him.. It's just too simple for me.. I'm down with the sweet science of boxing and appreciate it too much to be swept up amongst this new phenomena that is the MMA.. Do i enjoy watching a few fighters fight? sure do.. but as far as watching it on the regular, not even close..