Why I don't really respect MMA

[palmerq]

[
Let me be clear, people that wear Tapout are douchebags....that is a statement I stand by and will not retract.

I agree with this :S ufc seems to be marketed at errr well tits to be nice


it is an interesting sport though and the wrestling is very technical but I just find that part of it very boring a lot of time, so I don't watch it much... I do have respect for it as a sport and for the skill in wrestling, ju jitsu and judo and so on... I did judo before and it's not easy.

[TitoFan]

Boxing is above all a sport. You knock the guy down, he gets an 8-count while you go stand in a neutral corner. In MMA, heaven forbid the ref trips and falls while a fighter is pounding on a prone, unconscious opponent's face. Besides... once they go to the floor and it becomes wrestling, I lose what little interest I had in the first place.

The issue of a ref stopping a fight on time is a good point. Actually, MMA had a bad instance of that happen just last weekend. It was a dangerously bad stoppage and one of the worst I've seen in 15 years.

To be fair though, these days MMA refs are (for the most part) well trained and always in position to jump in. I've even seen many instances where a fighter will stop punching on his own because he recognizes that his opponent is out.

MMA's system allows, on average, for the losing fight to recieve much less damage to the brain, as if he's rocked and the opponent pounces, the ref will stop the fight. In boxing, a guy who gets dropped and concussed is given a count of 10 to try to clear the cobwebs and get up to take more punches to the head. You also have to factor in the margin of error for the ref, who may allow a guy who is out on his feet to wade out like a sitting duck for more blows. Frenkel/Macaranelli is probably the best example I can think of that.

Also, you have instances where guys are out on their feet and/or held up by the ropes and take vicious, unnecessary poundings. Morrison/Mercer, Pernell/Hurtado (I think) and Paret/Griffith where Emile killed the guy.

Clearly it's a matter of personal preference. Some like boxing and not MMA. Others like MMA and not boxing. And still others like both. My biggest beef about the MMA is the rules. Any "sport" that allows a fighter to pound on a prone opponent loses big-time points with me. Your points on the boxers who have died or suffered permanent brain damage is well taken. But the fact remains that boxing has gone to great lengths over the years to try and make the sport safer. Speaking of which... boxing is an ancient sport. One which has passed the test of time. People have spoken of the demise of boxing... but it always survives. It's a grand, old sport. MMA, on the other hand, is new. It has it's strong fanbase... but it's still new. Will MMA still be popular decades from now? Will it become a grand old sport, like boxing is?

Another thing. No one is claiming that MMA fighters are not tremendous athletes, as I saw someone post somewhere in the thread. Of course they're tremendous athletes. And that is to be admired. But as with all sport, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Frankly, I find it impossible to get too excited about an MMA match, because I just don't find it to be an appealing sport.

Maybe if the rules were tweaked... I don't know. I'm trying to be objective here. The other thing I don't like is the grappling on the floor. But then... I'm not too fond of Olympic style wrestling either. Again, it's a matter of personal preference.

Give me a good boxing match over an MMA fight any day of the week.

[VictorCharlie]

Tito,

I'm not suggesting that boxing is on it's last leg but I work everyday with 18-24 year old males. Very few of them can name more than a couple champion boxers nor could they tell you when the next major fight is going to be. Just about all of them can tell you when the next UFC is and multiple champions. Even my Hispanic Soldiers watch more MMA than boxing. At least in the US boxing is losing the marketing fight for the young male demographic. Only time will tell how this plays out in the future.

[IamInuit]

Not a big fan. To much ground game. Reminds me of a street fight to be honest but in a cage. Never really understood the draw. Brutality I guess. We all want to slow down when driving past an accident scene.

The only combat sport I enjoy other then boxing is K-1.

[Spicoli]

I don't know. I've come off my soapbox a bit when it comes to mma, although White is in fact an utter shitbag with a little man complex. If I was a fighter within I'd be more concerned with the way he seems hell bent to canabalize other 'groups' (?) and huddle under one tent that is a Ufc.

If its a good fight...its a good fight. I like good fights and the individuality of sport. Shit I watch Muay Thai and tennis likewise ha. Boxing as a sport and craft reigns supreme for me and I watch literally every card I find. Its not all bar room brawls and frankly any idiot can swing for the fences and bark about caving in heads. It burns me when you have fans booing and belching and its only a round or two in. Boxing is indeed a science..you see a boxer thinking. Both have crap matches and politics, Mma is here to stay though and frankly its funny to sit back and watch it in its infancy on a massive media stage and suffer some of the same infaction bullshit and ups and downs Boxing did and will continue to see. People who think mma will "take over" are sniffing glue. Its a babe in the woods compared.

[Julius Rain]

I like both boxing and mma. I hate kung fu or actors and naive movie fans.

My stance on winning a fight is knowing; boxing, kick boxing, wrestling and jiu jitsu - which is basically mma.

People say mma is boring because of the ground wrestling its like saying pure boxers are boring. Other dislike the ground game but imo those naive people don't realize most real fights will end up on the ground struggling for a dominant position.

I think those who dislike mma scares them, never been in a real fight, kung fu movie naive fanatics.

UFC is actually very civil compare to mma's roots but the truth still remains - BOXING IS MORE DANGEROUS THAN MMA!!!!!!!!!! Casualty difference is about 12,235,245 - 1 BOXING!!!!

[Beanflicker]

MMA is a different sport altogether, everyone knows it, everyone understands it and hell a lot of boxing fans watch MMA. I don't particularly care for it, I watch every so often to appease my friends, but I know those guys that hold titles put the work in and they deserve respect....but that doesn't give Junior Dos Santos a free pass to take shots at a Champion like Wladimir who conducts himself with class and has nothing but respect for the MMA and those people that do it. Wlad just lost his trainer Manny Steward as well and so that also plays into my thinking JDS was in the wrong. I'd expect that kind of uncouth bullshit from Tito Ortiz, The Shamrocks, Nick & Nate Diaz, Brock Lesnar, or Jon Jones but these comments were out of left field for JDS and he should fucking know better.

Boxers that have called out MMA fighters like James Toney and Ray Mercer have usually done so because their careers are over in boxing and they need money. Floyd criticized MMA but that's his deal, he's an asshole at times and it makes it hard to cheer for him. I think boxing fans in general have given UFC and MMA all the respect in the world, it's the Tapout wearing dickheads that think MMA is the greatest of all fighting ever and feel the need to talk down about boxing & boxers.

JDS is a nobody in boxing he will ALWAYS be a nobody in boxing so he should keep the sport and it's stars names out of his mouth. Here's hoping that jackass gets KO'd by the next fighter he faces.

I agree 100%. I'm actually a big JDS fan because he uses boxing in MMA better than anyone, but him thinking that he could beat a Klitschko in boxing is absolutely rediculous. He'd get handled by even fringe contenders like Arreola.

[Beanflicker]

Clearly it's a matter of personal preference. Some like boxing and not MMA. Others like MMA and not boxing. And still others like both. My biggest beef about the MMA is the rules. Any "sport" that allows a fighter to pound on a prone opponent loses big-time points with me. Your points on the boxers who have died or suffered permanent brain damage is well taken. But the fact remains that boxing has gone to great lengths over the years to try and make the sport safer. Speaking of which... boxing is an ancient sport. One which has passed the test of time. People have spoken of the demise of boxing... but it always survives. It's a grand, old sport. MMA, on the other hand, is new. It has it's strong fanbase... but it's still new. Will MMA still be popular decades from now? Will it become a grand old sport, like boxing is?

Another thing. No one is claiming that MMA fighters are not tremendous athletes, as I saw someone post somewhere in the thread. Of course they're tremendous athletes. And that is to be admired. But as with all sport, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Frankly, I find it impossible to get too excited about an MMA match, because I just don't find it to be an appealing sport.

Maybe if the rules were tweaked... I don't know. I'm trying to be objective here. The other thing I don't like is the grappling on the floor. But then... I'm not too fond of Olympic style wrestling either. Again, it's a matter of personal preference.

Give me a good boxing match over an MMA fight any day of the week.

I'm totally cool with personal preference. I don't fault people who don't find MMA appealing. I realize that MMA goes against a lot of long-standing notions of what a fight is, IE hitting people while they are down. I've been a fan of MMA for 11 years, and I STILL find a lot of the ground fighting boring.

My post was mainly aimed at the people here who disrespect the hard work, dedication, technique and skill that MMA requires. And it's a two-way street: I post on MMA forums too, and I often have to defend boxing from MMA fans who say boxing is dead, or that it's two guys fighting with pillows on their hands.

I just kinda wish everyone could chill out and enjoy the fights. A good fight is a good fight, at least to me.

[El Kabong]

In hindsight, yes I could have worded the thread title differently and that's my fault, I take responsibility for it. I never meant to make this a hate thread about MMA just because we've had those threads before and everyone has their own opinion when it comes to what they like and all (as well they should).

I think as fans of Boxing & MMA we should hold accountable the fighters who take the time to diss either sport because let's be honest it's highly unlikely that a boxer will win in MMA or an MMA fighter will win in boxing, we've seen any number of examples that support that idea. It's no different than an NBA player calling out an NFL player, 2 different sports, 2 different types of training, different focuses, different goals, etc.

JDS is a solid MMA fighter, he's the heavyweight champion and that's nothing to scoff at. He perhaps thought a bit too highly of himself when making the comments in question, but it's no reason to hate the entire sport just because he had one slip up in an interview and I wasn't suggesting that.

The point is JDS should not have said what he did, and I expect 100% of people agree with that assessment whether they like MMA more or boxing more, JDS knows he'd never hold a candle to Wladimir Klitschko's boxing ability.

[Beanflicker]

The main thing I hate about JDS's statement is the fact that he's making a claim that can NEVER be backed up, because he's under contract to the UFC and would never be allowed to box Klitschko (it's not good for the UFC to have it's HW champ take a beating). If he was saying this to hype a potential fight, I wouldn't mind.

To the people who never seen JDS though, he's got the best boxing in MMA IMO. He has great range, works well behind a stiff jab, and has quick and heavy hands. He's even got praise from boxing champs. I know he spars with olympic boxers in Brazil, maybe he should visit a Klitschko camp and see how he stacks up in sparring. I think he would probably change his tune.

“JDS is a very strong fighter,deserves to be world champ,he jabs like my brother Wladimir,so is learning from the best" - Vitali Klitschko
"“Do ur thang tonight @junior _cigano Long may you Reign The King of the Big Boys! Your boxing skills are World class! Big KO!”" - David Haye on Twitter

If you're a boxing fan, JDS should be your favorite MMA guy, because he's KILLING guys with pure boxing. For a long time, people said boxing was obsolete on it's own, that if you didn't throw kicks you'd get destroyed in MMA. Junior destroys guys with boxing. Junior shows what boxing can do in MMA.

[Master]

Watched the start of Enter the Dragon and Bruce Lee fights a guy and it is just like MMA. Still do not like it.

[Beanflicker]

Bruce understood the value of a good ground game.

[IamInuit]

Chuck Norris beat Bruce plenty of times and these two icons agree on one thing. What they feared more then any other discipline was a seasoned street fighter. If anyone here is familiar with Jean-Yves Theriault he felt the same way.

[Beanflicker]

I can see that. A lot of those self-proclaimed martial art "bad asses" sat in dojos and hit heavybags that don't hit back. At least a seasoned street fighter had the guts and the practical knowledge on how to put his skills into action.