Issue 092

September 2012

Gareth A Davies MMA and Boxing Correspondent for The Daily Telegraph, London

The thought of mixed martial arts in the Olympic Games is initially exciting, yet executing it is so complex, I can’t see it ever coming to fruition. And you know what… I’m not so sure I want a slimline, clean version of the visceral, breathtaking sport we all feel so passionately about. Fine in theory, not so in practice. 

The more I cogitate on it, the less it appeals; like Pythagoras with a headache. The initial brain-rush says, ‘Yes,’ but after thinking through the details and recognizing the traits of IOC small print, I’m not so sure about it being of any benefit for the sport, from this armchair.

Nor, indeed, do I necessarily believe inclusion in the Games will bring widespread understanding – or even acceptance – for the sport. Amateur boxing is a staple of the Games, but its full-blown professional big brother still gets a slating. Call me Scrooge, but I like the blood, the guts and the fury of professional MMA. The rawness is part of the intensity and evolution of the sport.  

The Olympic red tape machine is slow and laborious. What is conceivable, however, is jiu-jitsu as a demonstration sport in Rio in 2016, given the IOC’s will to bend to the host nation’s requirements. 

I’ll be working and reporting from the ExCeL Arena during the Olympic Games in London, where the sports of boxing, wrestling, judo and taekwondo will be taking place. It will be an interesting experience, and no doubt some of the talent on show will find its way into MMA, or indeed, the UFC. But balancing up the arguments, I’m not sure I’d be thrilled watching MMA with headguards, no elbows, no knees, no ground ‘n’ pound – and the myriad other re-definitions it would almost certainly be subject to… Shall I go on? 

In Sweden a couple of months back, with the International MMA Federation launched, Marc Ratner espousing the pluses of Olympic inclusion and Dana White, the UFC president, disclosing to a group of hacks that the UFC is putting its considerable weight and power behind a push to get MMA into the Olympics, there was the feel of riding in on the surf of a movement on the up and up. But reading between the lines of what White says, and what the IOC would say, I’m not so sure the twain would ever meet. 

Consider this: in White’s mind, it should be the professional, not the amateur form, which eventually gets there. No problem there as several other fully professional sports – golf, tennis, rugby sevens – are already in the Olympic Games. To White, ‘amateur MMA’ was unthinkable. And would professional fighters in MMA give up time to train for several years to compete as amateurs for the Olympics?

My theory – and this is not intended as a slight – is that women’s MMA is more suited to the Olympic format. 

What is self-evident is that several MMA skills are already in the Olympics. But that doesn’t mean the sport of MMA itself is there. Dan Hardy left taekwondo because of its sanitized Olympic form. Joe Rogan too.

Ross Pearson expressed something to me some time ago, that reflects perfectly in this instance. To him, winning TUF was the equivalent of securing an Olympic gold medal. That’s spot on. 

In Thailand, conversely, the government has tried to ban MMA, under the 1999 Boxing Act, in a bid to safeguard Muay Thai, as the Thai sport’s governing body in that country attempts to push for its inclusion in the Olympic Games as an exhibition sport. It may be a coincidence, but the ban on MMA was implemented one week before Muay Thai’s application to the International Olympic Committee and World Games. 

Technically, also, there would be issues that would dilute it further. Judging successful strikes would be an issue, and there are so many variables in MMA in determining the outcome of a fight that it may need to be simplified to the bare form. There would be no cage, just mats. Extra protection would almost certainly be a pre-requisite, and that would change aspects of the ground game.

Yes, having mixed martial arts in the Olympics would only help the sport in having more eyes on it worldwide. But they wouldn’t be watching the real thing. 

I’m happy to leave MMA where it is… flourishing and growing into the mainstream.