Thursday, April 26, 2007

Why do people like UFC?

Last Saturday, I was out at a bar in Montreal. Just sitting back, enjoying a beer and the atmosphere in the bar at the time. When I noticed that they had the last UFC fight between Gabriel Gonzaga and Mirko Cro Cop on. As I watched, I began to notice how brutal these fight still are, as competitors punch and elbow each other in the head (not that Mirko Cro Cop did very much in the match). So, I began to wonder to myself, "How could people possibly like this?"

I am always surprised by how many people I know that actually watch UFC. Even people that normally frown on watching TV, and read books in there spare time seem to like UFC. So I ask, "Am I the only one that doesn't like UFC?

Sure it is different than the way that it used to be. I remember back in high school, seeing matches that may friend recorded from Pay Per View, where people would have blood pouring out of their foreheads and fighters would get pounded on by their competitors if ever they got on the ground. But now, the fights seem a lot cleaner and prettied up so that you can still recognize the fighters after the match is over.

But, I still worry about the level of damage these fighters are receiving each fight. The fact that people are actually damaging the other person disturbs me. Not that everyone that watches UFC is thinking of that. Back in the 80s, I use to watching Wrestling fully believing that it was real. It didn't bother me when Hulk Hogan went out to the ring and used violence to try to beat his opponent. Part of it probably was that everything was so clean and it was entertaining to think that the matches weren't already decided.

The unpredictability of each match in UFC, is probably what draws people in and has allowed it to became the new wrestling since WWE wrestling has been shown to be fake. Then again, maybe we just like to watch a good fight, as for years boxers have been knocking each other out without any outrage. In any case, I don't think I will be watching UFC again any time soon. But I would like to know what you think of UFC. Am I over reacting?

9 comments:

  1. If you're just not interested in watching fights, fair enough -- but don't demean the intelligence of fight fans. ("Even people who read books"?) Mixed martial arts fights may look brutal and sloppy to the untrained eye, but, as someone who's trained for years in Muay Thai and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, I can tell you that there's tons of technique going on, especially in the ground aspect of the sport. Certainly there are people who just want to see blood, but the real fans of the sport watch to see the best fighters in the world apply their technique and athleticism.

    Your concern about the damage the fighters are taking is mostly misplaced. There's certainly more blood than in most sports, but compared to sports like football, where people are blowing out knees all the time, MMA's track record with serious injuries is surprisingly good. Counterintuitively, it's probably even safer than boxing. Consider that in boxing, a man may take repeated blows to the head for 12 rounds. If he's hit so hard that he can't stand up, he gets 10 seconds to recover, get up, and receive more punishment. In an MMA fight, if a fighter is dropped with a punch, the fight will most likely be over in a matter of seconds. A few hard shots that end the fight early are actually much gentler on the brain than 300 lesser blows over the course of a 12-round fight. Consider also that almost every technique you'll see in the UFC, you can also see in the Olympics, be it in boxing, tae kwon do, wrestling, or judo.

    Anyway, like I said -- if fights just aren't for you, fine. But please don't demean the athletes or the fans.

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  2. Hey Brandon. Sorry this response to your comment is a little late, as I actually missed your comment. But, even on this late date I feel that your comment needs to be responded to . I do agree with you that there is a lot of skill in UFC and in fighting, as I took some martial arts training in the past. But may concern is that it seems that in UFC that violence is glorified and not the fighting. I see people go down that are clearly knocked out, being jumped on by their competitor and given head shots. I just think its plain stupid, I know they want to win, but winning at any cost just isn't honorable or right. That's why people use to die in the past.

    So, to answer you I do like the technique, but I just don't like the dishonorable tactics that I see used in the matches and the idea of cheering at someone else getting hurt.

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  3. I'm not at all bothered by the injury. If someone wants to put themselves in that situation and make money off of it than more power to them. What bothers me is when martial artists (particularly instructors) use this type of fighting as an example. UFC, like boxing, has rules. These aren't "real" fights anymore than a chess match is a "real" fight. Being physically fit, and having good reflexes and what not are all good but the bottom line is that these aren't real fights. If someone attacked me on the street I wouldn't try to grab there legs and hump them while attempting to punch them in the face over and over. First of all I would attempt to avoid physical conflict and if unavoidable I would go for targets like the groin, neck, piercings, ears, side and back of the head, fingers, and use simple, quick, and devastating strikes. Unless of course my assailant saves up enough manna to pull off a superman punch, spinning back fist, or maybe even the deadly flying bicycle kick.

    I generally don't watch sports (or any TV for that matter) and that's all the UFC is.

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  4. Someone said if you were smart you would get that what you would do in a so called real fight isnt really anything its sloppy and if you went up against a REAL FIGHTER then you would get your teeth kicked out

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  5. Wow I am using this information to write an essay at the moment (Thank you Brandon your comment was actually useful). I am a fan of UFC. UFC fighters are well trained and only people who have no idea about the art of fighting and martial arts would describe a back mount as "humping". People these are trained athletes that are the very best at the sport of fighting.

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  6. Wow. I'm surprised to still see comments to this post. Now that I'm a few years removed from this post I decided to post a comment. I'm still not a fan of UFC. Sure these guys do a lot of training and they are actually competing to win without anyone deciding the fights beforehand. But what I would like to see is a bit more order to the fights. In boxing if one of the fighters goes down the other fighter is to stand back while the ref checks on the fighter. In UFC the other fighter takes it as an opportunity to see if he can get some punches in. (At least that is what I saw that night in Montreal).

    But perhaps UFC has changed. I must admit that I haven't really watched or seen a fight in a while so; maybe UFC has cleaned its self up.

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  7. Chris, I wanted to thank you for the post. You wrote, "The fact that people are actually damaging the other person disturbs me. " Any unnecessary real physical violence that is inflicted on another person not for survival reasons but for the sake of entertainment is unjustifiable. Art or not art, sport or not sport, it is what it is and I can never be a fan.

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  9. You are definitely not alone. It's so brutal, undisciplined, and unfocused. At least actual martial arts have a sense of decorum and decency. UFC is nothing but a barbaric blood sport for knuckle dragging, mouth breathing he-men who think ranch dressing improves any dish.

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