MMA & the Olympics

[scout200]

Should the MMA be part of the Olympics? I personally think so.. What are your thoughts?

-Scout

[Zelley]

NOT A CHANCE - The sport needs to be cleaned-up. Most bouts end-up being wrestling matches with one difference - one of the competitors
often punches away at an opponent when the opponent is resting on his back. Too many bouts end in one or two rounds.

at least with pro wrestling we know or should know it is pure entertainment that does not end
after a matter of minutes.

[mnmc10]

why not? one of the best local mma fighter in the philippines competes in wushu which is included in asian games (asian olympics) they also want it to be included in olympics.


"Most bouts end-up being wrestling matches with one difference - one of the competitors
often punches away at an opponent when the opponent is resting on his back. Too many bouts end in one or two rounds."

uhm wrestling is included in the olympics right? so is boxing, taekwondo, judo and many other sports. all of which is being practiced or used in mma. so i dont see why mma shouldnt be included in the olympics.

[scout200]

why not? one of the best local mma fighter in the philippines competes in wushu which is included in asian games (asian olympics) they also want it to be included in olympics.


"Most bouts end-up being wrestling matches with one difference - one of the competitors
often punches away at an opponent when the opponent is resting on his back. Too many bouts end in one or two rounds."

uhm wrestling is included in the olympics right? so is boxing, taekwondo, judo and many other sports. all of which is being practiced or used in mma. so i dont see why mma shouldnt be included in the olympics.

Excellent point!

[Captain America]

The Russians tried to get SAMBO added 1980 (I could have the year wrong), but it was deemed too violent. MMA will not be allowed in the Olympics any time soon. In boxing, once you go pro you can't compete as an amateur, correct? That would be a huge problem for MMA, which doesn't have a strong amateur base

[mnmc10]

but in basketball nba pro players play.

[Captain America]

And in the hockey, the NHL actually shuts down during the Olympics. But I'm almost positive that once a boxer goes pro, he can no longer compete as an amateur. Even if MMA becomes a sport and pros can compete, do you think that Dana White would allow UFC fighters to compete?

I guarantee that the rules get modified:
1. They'd add headgear
2. Strikes of all kinds to the head on the ground would probably be outlawed
3. Elbows would probably be outlawed (on account of cuts, actually a good idea)
4. Shin guards (like Pancrase had) would prbably be introduced
5. The round structure would be changed (look at StrikeForce's one night tournaments)

And that's not even touching on the scoring. MMA judging is too subjective, like pro boxing (only worse), a concrete point system would have to be implemented, like amateur boxing. And I've never seen a good point based system that people like. How do you weight grappling vs striking? How do you score a takedown vs a throw vs a trip vs a slam vs a guard pull? And what about when a jiu-jicion pulls guard as hrs being taken down? What about Werdum's knockdown/butt flop that Fedor jumped into? Or a butt flop in general?

And that's just what dumbass redneck in Bakersfield could think of off the top of his head. It's almost more trouble than its worth.

MMA is still very young (less than 22 years as an organized, international sport [using Shooto as a start in 1989]), it needs to grow into it's finished product before we can really think about the Olympics. As it stands now, there's too many variants of MMA rules worldwide to set up an international amateur competition. Hell, pros even struggle with rule changes from promotion to promotion.

I guess what I'm rambling about is this: MMA in the Olympics is a long, long way off, it ever even returns (pankration was a Greek funeral game as far back as 1200 B.C., and the first statue of an Olympic pankration champion was erected in 536 B.C.)

[Captain America]

Fuck that's a lot of text! Sorry, kinda got carried away

[mnmc10]

its a valid point captn america all im saying is that i dont find any reason why mma shouldnt be included in the olympics. it might not be in this generation though....

in the philippines weve been lobbying for billiards to be included in the olympics simply cause we have the best pool players in the world. pool is pretty simple and yet the olympics arent allowing pool to participate or be part of the olympics.

[Captain America]

Really? That's odd. You figure if they allow ping pong and synchronized swimming, then pool would be in

[lifeiswar]

Should the MMA be part of the Olympics? I personally think so.. What are your thoughts?

-Scout

No.

I just don't think it would work. Judo is boring at the olympics. BJJ events are generally quite a thrill but Olympic Judo is 5 minutes of grabbing each others jacket, a leg comes out and we get a tumble (sometimes that doesn't even happen, and we get the golden score). As much as I like technical ability, one thing that makes Boxing and MMA great to watch is that any fight can change with a punch. Cycling is more watched than Boxing at the Olympics. That says it all. MMA would fall on it's arse in the Olympics. Then what?

[Andre]

Paintball or skirmish would be great.

Countries army and ego at stake.

[Hulk]

The Russians tried to get SAMBO added 1980 (I could have the year wrong), but it was deemed too violent. MMA will not be allowed in the Olympics any time soon. In boxing, once you go pro you can't compete as an amateur, correct? That would be a huge problem for MMA, which doesn't have a strong amateur base

Thats it right there I think. MMA is just far too violent for the average housewife or senior citizen watching the Olympics. Yes, we have boxing, but its very very rare that a KO or even TKO occurs in it as it has been reduced to a fairly non violent affair.

[beenKOed]

MMA will eventually become an Olympic sport, when all the old fuddy-duddies die off. It'll be different from pro MMA, with lots of protective gear and different gloves. MMA will become so populat, they won't be able to say nay.

[VictorCharlie]

MMA in the Olympics will require developed amateur leagues in 26 countries. We will be waiting a while.