As MMA becomes more and more popular there are more and more people speaking out against this wonderful sport. These are 6 of the stupid reasons why people hate MMA.
6. Close Mindedness- The most obvious reason people don't like the sport is the same reason people can't embrace a number of things, close mindedness. I have friends that no matter what I tell them they just will not watch one single fight and they just can't understand why I'm so enthuastic when I speak about it. It goes in one ear and out the other just because its something new to their world, and that just scares close minded people off immediately.
5. The Violence- This is probably the most popular reason not to watch MMA and is absolutely absurd. Our society is a violent one, no one can deny that and thats why people watch football(the most popular sport here in America), boxing, pro wrestling, and other contact sports. Take pro wrestling, anybody who knows about pro wrestling knows that these "bumps" that wrestlers take are real and result in numorous injuries and death. Think about it would you rather have your kid mimicking MMA or pro wrestling(jumping off your roof)? Just turn on your local news channel and then talk to me about MMA violence, its a media(fox news) manufactured lie that its too "brutal", give me a break.
4. There's No Skill Involved, Its Just a Street Fight- When I hear people say this(and I have) all I can do is laugh my face off. Well if thats what you think, start an MMA organization, sign lets say Fedor Emelianenko or Anderson Silva, then find the greatest street fighter in the world(not Kimbo, he actually trains, but would still lose miserably to the aforementioned fighters), sign him, put them in the cage and prove your point. What would happen is the street fighter would likely be KO'd or submitted in under a minute with ease. Its just an outright spit in the face to any good MMA fighter to say there's no skill involved.
3. Its Boring, All They Do Is Lay on Each Other- This is a sad reason people can't embrace MMA. Often times its just rotten luck of the person who might walk-in in the middle of a boring fight and that turns them away forever. Its common knowledge among MMA fans that when bringing someone new into the sport, you show some stand-up wars first like Forrest Griffin vs Stephan Bonnar 1 or Quinton Jackson vs Chuck Liddell 1, two great fights that have little to zero ground game. Further down the road as they watch more fights its almost inevitable that they will start to appreciate a Fedor/Nog 1 or a Griffin/Edgar.
2. I'm a Boxing Fan- Utterly retarded reason for hating MMA, thats right I said it. "Duh, I like watching people get punched in the face, but only if they wear those big red shiny gloves and I know the guys names". I don't have a problem with boxing, a good boxing match is entertaining and skillful, but its not an actual fight, its a punching war. Ask a boxer like Oscar De La Hoya or Pretty Boy Floyd(who swears he could do it, LOL) and ask them to take 3-4 low leg kicks from Thiago Alves, Crocop or even a retired Bas Rutten without crying like a little girl. Better yet ask them to defend a Matt Hughes, GSP, Matt Hamill or Randy Couture takedown without having their spine rearranged. Its 2 different sports, but boxing guys like Jim Lampley have to run their mouth after every boxing event or go on ESPN/Fox to "defend" their sport. Its a ridiculous argument in which to hate MMA and they know it.
1. Ignorance is Bliss- Of course the number 1 reason is just plain old ignorance. Here's talking to you Bill O'Reilly, Sean Hannity, John McCain(although we've pretty much won him over), Jim Lampley, Bernard Goldberg and pretty much every old boxing enthusiast or Fox News analyst. The number 1 reason these people hate MMA is that they've never watched it! Its like saying you hate a movie without watching it. These idiots have it engrained in their little minds that this sport can have no redeeming factors, no grace, no skill, and no intelligence, the fighters are just bar room brawlers. All old time boxing enthusiasts and all Fox News analysts can stick it because believe me when I tell everyone that it is they who have no redeeming factors, no skill and most of all no intelligence.
Now I'm not saying MMA is for everyone, its not, there are people that will not watch anything violent, but just because you don't watch it doesn't mean you can't respect it because these are elite athletes just like baseball and football players and they put it all on the line every time out for us fans. If you aren't into MMA, that's fine, but hopefully its not for one of the reasons above.
12 comments:
thx mmapost, I enjoyed the article.
I agree that violence is probably the most popular reason people don't like mma. But there has got to be a better counter argument than simply, "we live in a violent world." I think that because this is the most popular reason not to like mma, the reply should deserve more thought.
a) violence is not necessarily a good thing. In most cases, I think its quite bad. People have good reason to be averse to it.
b) violence isn't necessarily 'natural'. The extent to which the world is violent is - among other reasons - a product of conscious actions. The fact that we live in a violent world is not a sufficient legitimation for more violence.
c) I hate the analogy between football and pro-wrestling. Dana White makes this argument, but the object of these sports is not to incapacitate your opponent. In mma it is, and I think that makes mma decidedly 'more violent.'
mma is a violent sport, and that should be appreciated. It should also be appreciated that it takes a lifetime to master. It is, after all, an art form right? (martial "arts") Maybe the 'it is violent' claim should be countered with the argument that 'it is art.'
big part of the problem is Ignorance and the rest is Dana White.fighting is natural for humans but most of the people have bad memories about fighting,for most of the people sey fighting means a mix of feelings like 'hate'.that is probably most of the old people on the news thinks they remenber when they were young and some Bullies hit them.and helping this misunderstand is Dana White whit his moron aptitude,he is the face of the ufc and probably MMA on America.ufc need a president that represent the warrior spirit humble,helpful and respectful.
Word.
I enjoyed the article as well. I'm a huge fan of the sport, and to be honest, it use to bug me when people would mock MMA from an ignorant perspective (are they humping each other on the ground?)... but to be honest, now-a-days I just strictly watch events either: By myself; with friends who have the same passion for the sport... other than that, meh... but good job analysing this for sure... I think a seventh reason could be "some people are idiots and only like what they can excell at" ;-)
Nice article, as usual. The only bone I'd pick with it is your referring to boxing as "not an actual fight" - implying MMA is a "fight". Just watching one accidental eyepoke or groin shot (not to mention the current strategy most fighters use when on their back facing a standing opponent) is illustration enough to me that this is definitely a sport with rules, not a "fight" by my definition. Not to mention there hasn't been one recorded shanking in MMA history!
When people ask stupid sherdog-type questions like "Could you beat X (usually Fedor, natch) in a fight?" I usually say yes - I doubt with his busy training schedule he's as good a draw/shot as I am! But in a MMA match, that's a different story...
I'm just saying that Boxing, Wrestling, Judo, BJJ, MT, and MMA (and others) are all competitive, combative SPORTS. All would prepare you for aspects of a fight. As would the 40m dash...
I look forward to all your posts, bro. Keep up the good work!
This is stating the obvious. What would be more useful is if you wrote an article stating SOLUTIONS to overcoming these barriers to MMA adoption.
^100% Agree with the anonymous above about your comments against Boxing. All due respect, going by your logic, MMA would not be an actual fight either. Like that Anonymous said, combat sports all have rules, an actual "fight" according to the definition I believe me and him are both following, has no such rules. So an mma .match.(key word here) isn't an actual fight in the true sense of the word.
Where I believe me and him could agree on is Combat Sports being fights under rules(which takes away the Life/Death aspect for the most part, but you have several records of combat sports participants dying during matches or as results of them, how do you explain that from something that's not an actual fight?) Sure, there's chances of death in a lot of sports activities, but higher in combat sports because the point is to specifically hurt your opponent in a .fight. under certain rules. What you wrote is like the common MMA mantra "WRESTLING IS S0 F@K3", which is absolutely stupid, as fake implies zero pain/strain, which we should all know is not the case.
Sorry to go on a tirade there, but I felt that remark was an idiotic reason to dispute people who hate mma(of which I'm not one of them).
"b) violence isn't necessarily 'natural'. The extent to which the world is violent is - among other reasons - a product of conscious actions. The fact that we live in a violent world is not a sufficient legitimation for more violence."
We are a VERY naturally violent species. (see - Hiroshima, Nagasaki, etc.) Animals all over the planet have a natural tendency toward some form of violence. The fact that humans have self awareness and still insist on violence as a necessary means of communication, makes our violence even more deeply programmed. Just because you, as an individual, might not feel violent, doesn't mean that humans aren't violent as a whole. That said... I believe that what is the problem in human nature is malice, not violence. MMA is a means for millions of thoughtful and aware people to get out their malicious tendencies in the form of violent but consentual, and respectful interaction. I train at a Relson Gracie school, and I'm glad to see eogs are checked at the door, always. And honor and respect between combatants is a given. We need to look a little deeper at our social problems and not be so quick to use the traditional language. Violence isnt the problem, malice and ill will are.
all its not lost, even the left wing naturalist hippies get it......... this is an article forwarded by my wife.... it's a good read and deserves a place in the mmanews blog as a counter to all the negative press we've seen lately
http://www.naturalnews.com/022995.html
"We are a VERY naturally violent species. (see - Hiroshima, Nagasaki, etc.) Animals all over the planet have a natural tendency toward some form of violence."
Hiroshima and Hagasaki aren't examples of natural violence. Just as MMA isn't natural. They are both socially situated. I think it is smart to put nature in scare quotes (e.g. 'natural') and qualify it with something like "not necessarily," because the only thing natural about humans is our sociality. Other than that, the question of violence in our nature has long been debated by very smart people, and I'm sure there is no decisive conclusion.
But, lets agree that violence is not the problem with mma.
All i can say is I have found every other sport in my entire life incredibly boring. I still get very bored by most MMA fights, but it's the only sport I've ever followed and gotten to actually know in a reasonable amount of depth. As soon as I saw my first MMA fight I was like "Wow, this is as real a sport as it gets." Not like punching people with pillows in your hands or nut hugging a ball. It's the most entertaining since the outcome is always a huge mystery (vs. 1 team will have more points than the other).
"big part of the problem is Ignorance and the rest is Dana White.fighting is natural for humans but most of the people have bad memories about fighting,for most of the people sey fighting means a mix of feelings like 'hate'.that is probably most of the old people on the news thinks they remenber when they were young and some Bullies hit them.and helping this misunderstand is Dana White whit his moron aptitude,he is the face of the ufc and probably MMA on America.ufc need a president that represent the warrior spirit humble,helpful and respectful."
I can relate to that. MMA shouldn't have their unofficial spokesman dropping the f-bomb every other word.
I hate MMA because there is no tradition in it. Call it something other than Martial Arts. There is no Art to it. It is someone raping several styles of certain techniques and calling it an art. Mixed technique fighting will work for me. Do not compare your stuff to traditional Shaolin Kung-fu or Bujinkan. Those are true arts handed down for centuries.
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