The #1 Contender: MMA in the Sports World

As the highly anticipated super fight between the Ultimate Fighting Championships middleweight champion (185 lbs.), Anderson "The Spider" Silva, and the Pride Fighting Championships middleweight champion (185 lbs.), Dan Henderson, to unify the two organizations and determine the undisputed middleweight champion of the world draws near, mixed martial arts is becoming more popular than ever and becoming an established contender in both the combat and mainstream sports worlds. This fight will not only decide who the undisputed middleweight champion of the world is, but could very well determine which man is the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world. The fight will feature two of the most dangerous and entertaining fighters in sports today and, if the results are even close to the expectations, mixed martial arts may be solidified as a permanent contender in the mainstream sports world. Because of the growing popularity of mixed martial arts in anticipation of this fight and fights to come (Georges St. Pierre vs. Matt Serra 2), this week I decided to explore the blogosphere to develop a greater understanding as to why mixed martial arts is the fastest rising sport in the world today. The first blog I found, "Mixed Martial Arts - MMA Explosion", is published by Cool Gadget and Tech Reviews. This entry explores some of the reasons for the rising popularity of the sport and also offers precautions for those looking to become active in the sport. The second blog I found, "Smacked Down", is published by Kit R. Roane at Conde Nast Portfolio.com. This entry discusses some of the rule changes that have led to the success of mixed martial arts and compares the pay-per-view revenues of the three main contenders in combat sports: boxing, professional wrestling, and mixed martial arts. I have left my comments on the two blogs below, but they also can be found directly on the author's blogs.

"Mixed Martial Arts - MMA Explosion
Comment:
I truly enjoyed your argument explaining the rapid growth in popularity of mixed martial arts and its emergence as one of the more popular sports in today's world and have a great respect for your insights. I thought the idea of mixed martial arts as a forum that allows us to develop a greater understanding of which fighting style is supreme was very interesting and accurate. Mixed martial arts is the ultimate full contact combat sport in which fighters are able to display their expertise in many different fighting styles and the sport gives sports fans and analysts the opportunity to determine which fighting style is supreme. As a university student and mixed martial arts fan I would like to see statistics displaying the success rates of the different fighting styles, for example the success rates of submission fighters or strikers. I also enjoyed your description of the sport. As you said, mixed martial arts is much more than just lifting weights, it is a "raw and vital application of their [fighters] strength, their speed and their stamina". I believe that many sports fans, without any knowledge of mixed martial arts, believe that the fighters are just street fighting, "gym rats" without any discipline or respect for their opponent, which is why informative blogs like yours are a major reason for the positive growth of the sport. I also agree with the warning you have given to those looking to become active in mixed martial arts. If an individual truly wishes to become active in the sport he or she must understand that in order to participate in this sport you must be dedicated and mentally, physically, and emotionally tough. Different from sports like basketball or soccer, you can not participate in this sport without any training or dedication and expect to be successful and, more importantly, safe.

"Smacked Down"
Comment:
First I would like to thank you for your well researched and informative opinions on the recent success of mixed martial arts. I completely agree that the rule changes are a huge factor in the success of the sport and I believe people who believe the rule changes have made the sport less real or raw are incompetent. I found your statistics regarding The Ultimate Fighter very interesting. The fact that the reality show receives more attention from 18-34 year old males than the NBA playoffs and Nascar leads one to believe that the sport is no doubt a contender in not only the combat sports world, but the mainstream sports world as well. I also found the pay-per-view revenue totals for the Ultimate Fighting Championships (UFC), the leader in mixed martial arts business, very interesting. Despite being ignored by most major television networks and newspapers and receiving far less financial backing than boxing or professional wrestling, the UFC was able to earn a staggering $222 million in both 2006 and 2007, close to, and at times eclipsing, the totals of HBO (the main boxing pay-per-view provider) and World Wresting Entertainment. This just shows that the fans of mixed martial arts are loyal and true, going out of their way to find out the time and location of upcoming events. I am anticipating a huge year for the UFC with fights like Anderson Silva vs. Dan Henderson, Georges St. Pierre vs. Matt Serra 2, and Quinton Jackson vs. Forrest Griffin on the horizon and I truly believe that this could be the year in which we see mixed martial arts dominate the combat sports world.

Mixed Martial Arts: A Fight With Politics

Last week truly was a "super" week with Super Bowl 42 featuring a historic match up between the New England Patriots and New York Giants taking place on Sunday and the nationwide primary elections to determine the republican and democratic presidential candidates on "Super Tuesday". After the ballots were counted the presidential candidate frontrunners for the Democratic Party are Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton and for the Republican Party are Mitt Romney and John McCain. While researching these final presidential candidates I came upon Senator John McCain's views on the sport known as mixed martial arts (MMA). In 1995 Senator McCain made an appearance on CNN's "Larry King Live" accompanied by Marc Ratner, who at the time was the executive director of the Nevada State Athletic Commission, in an attempt to embark on an a systematic course of aggressive anti-mixed martial arts activities. During the interview McCain claimed that mixed martial arts was barbaric human cockfighting and that the sport “appeals to the lowest common denominator in our society”. These statements are very well known in society today and even more so in the mixed martial arts world, however what is not as well known is McCain's ties to boxing, mixed martial arts number one rival. McCain's wife, Cindy McCain, inherited one of the largest Budweiser, who at the time was a major sponsor for the sport of boxing, distributorships in the country and McCain was also known to have received copious gratuities from boxing promoters over the years. One can argue that both of these ties to boxing are strong enough to make an attemptattempt to destroy its only legitimate rival.

The problem with McCain's claims against mixed martial arts is that at first glance they appear to be true. Mixed martial arts is an intense battle in which two fighters compete, testing their physical, mental, and emotional strength, and to a first time viewer this competition can come across as brutal and borderline barbaric. However, true believers in the sport feel that one should not determine his or her opinion on the sport without being well informed.

The Styles
Mixed martial arts is a full contact combat sport in which many different fighting techniques are used including different styles of striking and grappling. Most fighters fall into three categories: a stand up specialist, a clinch specialist, or a ground specialist. A stand up specialist possesses expertise in boxing, kickboxing, and/or muay thai and will most likely look to damage his opponent with his fists, elbows, knees, and feet. A clinch specialist possesses expertise in freestyle wrestling, greco roman wrestling, or judo will often times look to damage his opponent via the clinch (a standing wrestling position), takedowns, and throws. A ground specialist possesses and expertise in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and/or wresting and will usually look to damage his opponent with submission holds and by maintaining ground control. Because of the many different fighting styles and strategies found in mixed martial arts a fighter must perfect his style and study and practice the many other styles to become a well-rounded, successful fighter. To McCain's dismay, these fighters do not just enter a ring or octagon without any strategy and pound each other like barbaric Neanderthols, instead they spend years studying the many different styles and strategies found throughout the world in hope to become a renaissance fighter, versed in all combat styles as opposed to boxers who only have to focus on one form of combat.

The Fighters
Mixed martial arts fighters tend to be discipline athletes that continue to have the desire to compete after there careers in their previous sports have come to an end. Unlike in boxing where the story seems to always be "I grew up in a tough neighborhood and had to fight for survival", these fighters are usually college educated men that have a great respect for the sport, their opponent, and themselves. In boxing one often witnesses the two boxers taunting one another or participating in un-sportsmanlike "trash talk" leading up to, during, or after the fight. Not to say that men competing in mixed martial arts do not share any similarities with boxers or never engage in un-sportsmanlike activities, but it is quite rare to see a mixed martial arts fighter embarrass or bring shame to his opponent before, during or after the fight. These men respect one another for having the courage and strength to participate in the sport and, usually, display that respect with their actions and words. This attitude found amongst mixed martial arts fighters destroys McCain's statement that the sport “appeals to the lowest common denominator in our society”. As was stated previously these men tend to be college educated individuals with great discipline and respect for one another and the sport, an attitude and lifestyle that would not be found amongst the lowest common denominator in our society.

The Facts
John McCain is entitled to his opinion on the sport; however he has developed his opinion without assessing important facts and establishing an understanding of the sport. Given McCain's opinion on mixed martial arts, it appears that he has probably seen very few mixed martial arts events and while watching the event may have allowed his bias and allegiance to boxing to influence his opinion of the sport. What McCain sees as violent and brutal actually is a much more safe sport than the one he supports. Based on McCain's opinion one would believe that there have been a great amount of deaths caused by competition in a mixed martial arts event, when in fact that idea is far from the truth. Since 1890 approximately 1350 people have died from injuries sustained during competition in boxing as opposed to the 1 death caused from injuries sustained during competition in sanctioned mixed martial arts events and since 1998 there has been approximately 70 deaths caused by injuries sustained during competition in boxing and only 1 death caused by injuries sustained during competition in a mixed martial arts event. Though competition in mixed martial arts events has not been in existence nearly as long as boxing, one can not deny the facts which eliminate the validity of McCain's argument and prove that mixed martial arts is not nearly as brutal as people think.