Quote Originally Posted by SalTheButcher
http://www.mmanews.com/ufc/Floyd-May...dell--MMA.html
“UFC ain’t S***,” he said. “It ain’t but a fad. Anyone can put a tattoo on their head and get in a street fight.” He singled out UFC poster boy Chuck Liddell for an extra overhand right. “We should put Liddell against a good heavyweight, under Mayweather Promotions, and if Chuck wins, then I’ll give him a million dollars out of my own pocket.” PBF then shoe-shined all MMA fighters. “These are guys who couldn’t make it in boxing,” he said. “So they do (MMA). Boxing is the best sport in the world and it’s here to stay.”

Well not to rain on anyone's parade but part of what he is sayin is true. Boxing is a better sport than MMA, which is much more of a legalized street fight. Boxing is more of a sport; it is more of an art form; it is much more finely tuned. There are reasons why it is referred to as a "science". You can see this reflected in how the champions of UFC and Pride (with the possible exception of Fedor Emelianenkov) reign for much shorter time periods as in a UFC fight; titles change hands more frequently since in MMA there is a much smaller margin for error; it is much easier to win on one lucky punch or kick and have success (a la Tank Abbott) in the UFC rather than in boxing, which is just more specialized; more of a sport. UFC is one partlegalized violence to satisy the bloodlust of boxing "fans" who only want to watch the sport to see people get knocked out, and one part guys humping eachother. Dont get me wrong, I like violence too. I watch UFC and Pride sometimes when I want to get my fix for seeing someone's blood get spilled. But with that in mind, the majority of the time what it ends up turning into is an intense grappling session with the guys rolling around on the floor together trying mount eachother. I understand that there is skill involved in grappling and making your opponent tap out or choke them out; I respect that, but it is still pretty boring to watch, in my opinion. MMA will never replace boxing in my eyes as a sport or a pastime.

Mayweather may be a little off when he calls it a fad, but boxing has stood the test of time. The concept and sport of it has existed since 1500 B.C. You have to take that in consideration. MMA has a long way to go if it wants to compete with a tradition like that. Chuck Liddell is pretty much the man in MMA right now. He is the champion of his sport. Put him in a ring with gloves against a "good heavyweight", like say, Wladimir Klitschko would you bet on Chuck? I would be willing to bet that a good heavyweight, as Mayweather wanted to wager, would totally beat the crap out of The Iceman. By comparison, with UFC rules, I think 4 times out of five, Liddell would win; because of Chuck's toe to toe, slugging, exchanging style, don't be surprised if that boxer connected with that one good punch (which is much easier to land in MMA than in boxing because of how much lighter the padding in the gloves are). If you gave Klitschko or say David Tua the MMA gloves and put him in a ring with Liddell, don't you think they would be able to a lucky punch 2 out of 3 or 4 out of 5 times? Maybe if Chuck's ground skills were better the odds would be more in the his favor; to be successful in MMA fighting (and i give credit where credit is due), you have to be well rounded in everything, ground skills like wrestling and/or jujitsu, kickboxing, boxing and more. Boxing is a sport and a science, more than just a "martial art", but of all the martial arts combined in the UFC and in MMA, I think it is the single most powerful and useful across the boards. I think a really good pro boxer would, contrary to what a lot of people say and think, do really well in UFC, given six months training in ground defenses like jujitsu; but without it, eventually someone would take them down and they would be screwed. Unfortunately for UFC fans, we will never see this because boxers of that level of talent are paid over ten times what they would get for a match in the Octagon. That is what Mayweather meant when he said, "...these are guys who couldn't make it in boxing." That's not to say UFC fighters can't make it as pro boxers; the majority of them probably could make it to an extent (and still make more money than they do in the UFC)...but not to highly-paid world championship status like PBF or Oscar Delahoya where they are cashing in on multimillion dollar paydays.

And to make a long story short, mixed martial arts will never replace boxing in the eyes of true boxing fans. So like I said, part of what Floyd said is true.