All Purpose UFC/MMA/That Kind Of Thing Thread

There's a segment of the population that also would love to see coverage of bar fights in the sports pages.

 

Is it the same segment that enjoys watching coin flips on tv?

 

Vitor Belfort Vs Jon Hess (Superbrawl 2: 11th October, 1996.)

First, some background on Hess and what led to the fight.

Extracted from Clyde Gentry's excellent, “No Holds Barred: Ultimate Fighting And The Martial Arts Revolution” which can be bought via Amazon (among others.)

http://www.amazon.com/No-Holds-Barred-Ulti...TF8&s=books

Anyway, the extract which starts by describing Hess's fight at UFC 5....

The eighteen year old was Vitor Belfort, back when Belfort was bad.

A Vitor Belfort quote on his fight with Jon Hess.

And the fight...

It has bad video quality and there's no sound. The clip is only 35 seconds long though. It's a brutal destruction job. To use a colloquialism, nigga got fucked up.

Finally, a postscript.

Vitor Belfort Vs Tank Abbott (UFC 13: The Ultimate Force. 30th May, 1997.)

I have trouble believing that this was over ten years ago. I remember it like it was yesterday. Time files, I guess.

http://www.dailymotion.com/visited/search/...-vs-tank-abbott

 

Also, following on from that Belfort related post, I stumbled upon this online.

Vitor Belfort Vs Randy “The Natural” “Couture (UFC 15 - Collision Course) (17th October, 1997)

The first few minutes of the video is a hype package for Maurice Smith’s first title defence against Tank Abbott, which headlined UFC 15.

http://uncutvideo.aol.com/tags/nhb/12635abe56bd0f13fd537b4566d2db2f?index=43

 

A really good “Washington Post” article on the popularity of MMA can be found at the link below. It’s one of the best pieces I’ve read in a long time. I know that there has been a proliferation of articles on the popularity of MMA but this might be the best of the bunch.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/10/AR2007071001618.html

 

The first ever unification bout between the Pride and UFC champs takes place on September 8th at UFC 75 as Quinton “Rampage” Jackson (the UFC champ) takes on Dan “Hollywood” Henderson (the Pride champ) with the winner becoming the unified 205 lbs champion. UFC 75 will air free on Spike TV.

It’s an interesting fight. Dan Henderson as well as having the Pride 205 lbs title also has the Pride 183 lbs title. One of the main problems during his negations with the UFC was that they wanted him to fight at 185 lbs while he wanted to fight at 205 lbs.

He got his wish.

He’s a good wrestler. During his wrestling career he was, among other things, a two-time member of the US Olympic team. He also has a sledgehammer right hand.

When it comes to fight time he’s going to be giving up a lot of size as Jackson, like most top 205 lbers, is cutting down from, like, 225 lbs. In the past, between, fights Jackson has gotten as high as 240 lbs.

Anyway, for those who are interested, Dan Henderson’s wrestling credentials can be viewed here.

http://www.wrestlinghalloffame.org/champions/?names&wrestler=1648

The third round of the fight where he won the Pride 205 lbs title can be found below.

http://www.dailymotion.com/relevance/search/henderson+silva/video/x1ktwz_henderson-vs-silva-pride-33-round-3

Finally, his pro MMA record…

http://www.sherdog.com/fightfinder/fightfinder.asp?fighterID=195

Anyway, a story on the fight…

http://www.miamiherald.com/588/story/172303.html

A bout that might be relevant to this fight is Jackson’s 2006 fight with Matt Lindland. Lindland is an Olympic Silver medallist in Greco-Roman wrestling. He is one of the top 185 lbers in the world but moved up to 205 lbs to fight Jackson.

This was also one of my favourite fights of 2006.

Quentin “Rampage” Jackson Vs Matt “The Law” Lindland (WFA - King of the Streets) (22nd July, 2006)

http://www.dailymotion.com/relevance/search/%22lindland%22+%22jackson%22/video/x8l5e_wfa-quentin-jackson-vs-matt-lindlan

Matt Lindland's wrestling credentials can be found at the link below.

http://www.wrestlinghalloffame.org/champions/?names&wrestler=1906

Lindland is an excellent fighter. He is different from Henderson, as he doesn't have the same one punch power.

 

A great explanation of the sport for those who call it savagery.


http://www.nbcsports.com/ufc/1763536/detail.html

 

I saw this quote and quickly determined that it's a false conclusion.

"At first glance, mixed martial arts is indeed a violent sport. That is indisputable. It is no different than football, hockey and boxing in that regard."

The goal in football and hockey is to reach a place on a field. If you were to do the things they do in mixed martial arts, you'd be penalized. That's not to say that it doesn't have a violent side; but violence is secondary in nature.

In boxing and this other thing, the entire purpose is to hurt the other person. Sure, you can call that a sport. But it's not a sport that my children will be watching. I can take my son to a football game or a hockey game. But I'm not going to introduce him to something that is acutely about hurting someone via violence. I read a quote today by someone who pointed out that cages are for animals. I'd agree with that statement.

 

That’s a credible position.

I’ll preface this by saying that I’m a big boxing fan.

The thing that I find ridiculous is when people argue, and there are many sports writers among this group, that MMA is barbaric and something that's lower than sport and, yet, readily accept boxing.

If someone hates boxing and MMA (and by extension kickboxing, muay Thai etc) then that is a credible position. Hate is too strong a word. If someone dislikes boxing and MMA for their barbarism, or savagery, then that is something I can accept. I would argue against that position in the cases of both sports but I would not find it intellectually dishonest.

The term, “cage fighting” is a misnomer. It might be used in many articles about MMA but the fact is that many organisations use a ring. Fedor Emelianenko is the greatest heavyweight MMA fighter currently active, and, probably, the greatest MMA fighter who has ever lived, he has never fought in a cage. The thing is, though, in a sport that utilises the combination of grappling and striking that MMA does the cage is safer than a ring. The reason is that you can’t fall out of a cage.

I’m not arguing that anyone should like MMA. People are entitled to their own opinions. What annoys me is when people who don’t understand the sport dismiss it as a joke that is akin to a bar fight.

As the articles says…

 

You're correct that calling it a cage is a misnomer. I'll give you that.

There's no doubt that MMA is a sport. But it's more about entertainment than anything else. While the people are making athletic moves, I'd bet that most fans enjoy the violence of it more than the athleticism.

What I find interesting is that, while MMA is enjoying its coming out party on one side, we have a debate starting to kick off regarding dog fighting. The two are quite similar in terms of what the fans enjoy, which is the violence and the betting.

 

You're onto something there Heineken. I believe a lot of these fans coming over from boxing are leaving because they believe MMA/UFC to be a glorified street fight and just want to see blood. There is a perception among the ignorant that MMA is more violent than boxing. These are the same people you hear booing in the stand when the fight goes to the ground. A large percentage of the mma bandwagon jumpers don't want to see technique they just want to see 2 people hurt each other.

Two things will happen either the UFC and other MMA orgs will change the rules to allow for more stand-ups or fans will become more educated and a large number of the bloodseekers will be absorbed making the sport more mainstream. Either way I think we are a few years from that.

There is a lot to MMA. Some of the best fights I have witnessed feature very little striking. It can be a brutal bloodletting but there is less certainty in that than in boxing by my viewpoint. I am hoping that the american audience will be able to enjoy the artistry and skill on display by the finest the sport has to offer but I'm not holding my breath.

 

Well, when the point is to pound the other guy in the head until he's unconscious, it's a problem for me. When I was in high school, I loved to watch Tyson wallop people. But I've grown up since then, and I see boxing as a fairly barbaric sport. Essentially, it's a bunch of poor kids beating the shit out of each other for the benefit of a bunch of rich gamblers and PPV TV execs. I also don't care much for the "we've got huge balls" marketing approach that Spike TV takes. It's insulting.