I was very satisfied with this UFC fight this past weekend. In case you don't know, I started watching UFC since UFC 2. It captivated me then so I've been following the sport pretty much from the beginning. Now that we are nearing UFC 100, I thought I would lay out my thoughts on some of the things going on in the world of MMA, past and present. The sport has changed much from what started as a tournament to determine which martial arts style was the best. It sounded awesome on paper and certainly delivered. It was a much different game back when there were no weight classes and the only rules were no biting and no eye gouging. I remember watching fights where hair pulling and groin strikes were big factors. However, it was that brutality that nearly caused it to go under while still in its infancy with many states banning what was termed "human cock-fighting." Out of that brutality emerged a little Brazilian beating guys much bigger than him to show the world a new method of fighting - Jiu Jitsu. Back when styles defined fights, jiu jitsu was king. He took the UFC by storm then and influenced how all future fighters trained. Fighters now are nothing like they were back in the early days as you need to have a complete game if you even hope to survive (at times I wish the sport would go back to its early days of pitting style vs. style with Machida's victory showing that different styles can be effective, but more on that later). With the organization nearly going under, a new group came in to purchase it and help it rise from near death by giving it legitimacy as a sport, much like boxing. The group was Zuffa and it was led by Dana White who is still the face of the organization today. They did much good in transitioning it to be viewed as more of a sport rather than just a no holds barred fight. They eventually helped the sport become a part of the mainstream, although it has come at a cost which I will also get to later.
At the same time, another organization was getting big on the other side of the world - Pride Fighting Championships. In my opinion, this organization had much better fighters than what was in the UFC at the time and I have many memories of staying up until 3 in the morning to catch them live on PPV. One of the big debates back in the day was which organization had the better fighters and you can just imagine my joy when word came out that the UFC had purchased Pride. It was supposed to be a merging of the two largest MMA organizations that would help to settle the argument about who had the best fighters in the world. Unfortunately, things didn't work out this way and rather than keeping Pride as a separate entity in Japan and holding occasional "unification" matches, they completely shut down the Pride name. Imagine the buzz that could be created in having two of the best fighters from opposite sides of the world come together for a "superfight." So while some great fighters certainly did come over, there were other instances where Dana White screwed up what was to be the beginning of a trend. The perfect example being that who I consider to be the best fighter on the face of the planet, Fedor Emelianenko, is still fighting outside the octagon.
All of which brings me to the current state of MMA. With Machida winning the Light Heavyweight belt, it feels like things are finally starting to get back to normal in the UFC, with the exception of the heavyweight division. Each of the current division champs with the exception of Lesnar (Penn, St. Pierre, Silva, Machida) are spectacular, well-rounded fighters that have the skills to stay on top for a long time. There is something about them that puts them a notch above everyone else. I'm not saying that they can't be beat or that there aren't other spectacular fighters out there but these guys just have that something that makes their fights special. Fighting in the heavyweight division is much more difficult because of the possibility of larger weight differences between fighters than the other divisions. I mean look at the size difference in the upcoming Mir and Lesnar fight. Also, the greatest fighter on the the planet (and maybe in the history of MMA), who happens to reside in the heavyweight division is not even in the UFC so take that championship position with a grain of salt. The reason for this is Dana White.
Simply put, I don't believe White deserves to be the face of that organization anymore. While the good he has done for the sport is immense, I feel he is hurting the sport now more than helping it. Let me just list a few of the things I dislike about what he's doing. The first is the fact he manages some of the fighters. Imagine David Stern or Roger Goodell managing some of the stars of their respective sports. Kind of hard to imagine it wouldn't create a conflict of interest right? This conflict of interest has reared its ugly head more than once and not just with fighters he manages but with those he has more at stake in as well. The way he pretty pushed Liddell into retirement when Liddell hadn't said anything about what he was going to do was wacky. More upsetting is that some of the fighters get preferential treatment and are placed on the fast track to title shots. I'm speaking of some of The Ultimate Fighter show winners. Griffin got his title shot by beating an injured and ineffective Shogun Rua then won the title on a decision I believe should've gone the other way. However that is not as bad as Evan's path to the belt. He fought an aging Tito Ortiz to a draw in what should have been a fight he dominated as he had too many opportunities but didn't take advantage and wasn't aggressive. He then beat Michael Bisping, another TUF winner who was undefeated at the time but I believed to be overrated due to him being fed weaker opponents to grow the fan base overseas. His next win came against a Liddell who we all know to be on the downside of a brilliant career. His championship fight with Griffin was a solid fight but I don't think it was between fighters that have championship caliber skills now. As proof that these guys were in a little deeper than they deserved, neither has defended their title. As I said before, I believe that will change now that Machida. These are just two glaring examples of the favor White gives to certain fighters. Another thing that gets to me is the fights the put on cards. Go back and look at some of the Pride Fighting cards and you'll see superstars fighting each other on almost every card. The best were always fighting the best and a loss didn't drop them from the top due to them being beat by the best. It seems that losses in the UFC have a much bigger effect and a fighter coming off a loss is seen as having to work his way up the ladder again. Then they are fed cookie-cutter fighters which make for un-exciting fights. The last thing I'll speak about regarding White is his actual demeanor and language when he speaks to the press. This guy uses the F-bomb every other word, he's not a good representative for someone trying to build more mainstream support for the support. Once more, imagine David Stern or Roger Goodell holding press conferences where they drop the F-bomb a dozen times. That would knock their credibility and professionalism.
The last thing I want to point out is the state of the actual fighters in the UFC. As I said in my first paragraph, I'd love to see different styles come out and try their hand at succeeding. Look at what has happened for Machida. This is a guy with a karate background that brought that mindset into the UFC and it led him to the championship. I used the term "cookie-cutter" fighters earlier because I believe that's what the majority of fighters nowadays have become. They're a product of these schools that just pump out fighters who have are at everything and well-rounded but aren't amazing in any particular aspect. They exchange blows when they're standing and ground and pound when the fight goes to the floor. They know the same basic submissions that are only exercised when there's a glaring opening such as a rear-naked choke or arm bar. Don't get me wrong, I still love the fights but I'd like to see someone different come out once in awhile. I was excited a few years back when Karo Parisyan debuted because I thought "Here's this guy with a Judo background that kicks ass!" He had some really nice throws that transitioned into some sweet submission attempts. However, he didn't train like he should have and also began to fight like other fighters do and look where he is now. Most fighters also don't train like they're supposed to. It appears that sometimes their sudden fame puts them in a place where they're partying all the time and don't train as hard as they did to get to the top. Rampage is the perfect example of this. He won the LH championship and didn't work as hard. As a result, he spent his training for the Griffin fight trying to make weight rather than working on his fighting. We all know what happened there... One thing I didn't mention in the Dana White section that I'll mention now is actual The Ultimate Fighter program. Each season they get two top fighters to coach the teams and then usually pit them against each other after the season is over. Well what do you think has happened to the top fighters who participated in it? They lost to the underdog coach. Why? Because they spent their time in front of the cameras trainging other fighters rather than focusing on their training. Randy Couture, Quinton Jackson, and Antonio Nogueira have all fallen into this trap where they were favored coming into their match against their rival coach and ended up losing. Of the 5 times where the coaches of the season have fought after, the underdog has won 3 of them. The ones who were victorious were Penn vs. Pulver and Ortiz vs. Shamrock - lopsided matches to begin with. This is just my observation. You can draw your own conclusion based on this. Fighters need to stick with their training and avoid all distractions! They're fighters first. This is another reason I believe Machida can stay on top for awhile. I'm sure he was offered the chance to coach the new season of TUF but refused knowing it would interfere with his own training. I love this guy more and more! And if you don't think he's hardcore, check this: Machida interview. Well I guess that pretty sums it up for now. I went off a bit but feel free to leave comments on your opinions as well.
stackable storage cubes
1 year ago
