Issue 054
September 2009
Why is it that many MMA fights increasingly resemble kickboxing matches, and bad ones at that? This is a trend that is being promoted by everyone from the fans to the fighters and the commentators to the promoters, and it needs to stop.
Mixed martial arts is a combination of as many different fighting styles as you can think of, whether it’s Muay Thai and wrestling, boxing and Brazilian jiu-jitsu, or karate and judo. This has always, and will always be, the case. The entire sport was built on this premise – the early events were marketed as ‘style versus style’.
In the modern era (all of 16 years after the first major MMA event in the world, the UFC) fighters are multi-dimensional combatants, equally skilled in every range of fighting.
So why is it that fighters are ignoring grappling in favor of standing across from an opponent and striking them with their fists, knees and feet? There could be a number of factors at work.
First off are the fans. Many followers of MMA appreciate true combative skill whether the fighters are stood toe-to-toe or twisted in a knot on the mat.
But as the popularity of the sport grows, more and more fans come on board with less knowledge and appreciation of the areas outside of what traditionally accustomed to comprise a ‘real fight’.
We’ve always been led to believe that a ‘fair fight’ starts with both men on the feet and ends with the victor stood over the vanquished. From boxing, the most popular and widely ‘accepted’ form of sporting combat, to Hollywood movies, fights never went to the floor and anyone who considered trying to fight in this manner was considered a lesser man.
That’s why so many die-hard boxing fans have such trouble accepting MMA is a real sport. It’s not the bitterness of the fact their sport has been slowly suffocating for the last 30 years that makes them so vehemently opposed to MMA. It’s like asking a football fan to watch rugby instead because it’s ‘better’. It’s a question of taste, and some people just can’t stomach watching two men elbow each other in the head while rolling around on the floor.
Another factor in this is the fighters. Somehow, there has been a shift in momentum these last few years. Whereas fighters were celebrated for their ability regardless of their style, now it seems that unless you are willing to slug it out, you’re not as manly, entertaining or profitable as your mediocre counterpart stupid enough to strike even when their real skills lie elsewhere.
We’ve seen this more and more lately, often with disastrous results for those fighters who try to compete out of their comfort zone. Respected wrestlers or submission fighters are tricking themselves into thinking that, because they train in striking, they’re capable of competing with men from that discipline.
Another factor popularizing this trend is that the promotions are, wittingly or unwittingly, promoting these bad kickboxing matches as somehow more entertaining and value-for-money than matches that involve plenty of grappling.
The commentators direct massive amounts of their paid enthusiasm toward the stand-up fights, screaming and hollering at every sloppy punch and near miss. They balance this with a seeming indifference to the portions of the fight played out on the mat, sometimes struggling to even notice significant events such as guard passes or submission attempts.
And at the top of the tree are the promoters. It’s no secret they book fights in the hope that they’ll turn out to be the next Hagler-Hearns (for those not clued up on boxing history, the 1985 fight between Marvin Hagler and Thomas Hearns is widely considered one of the ballsiest, brutal and most exciting fights ever). The promoters are even rewarding those who push the pace in the stand-up, often handing out large cash bonuses to those who are willing to risk getting knocked out in the face of winning via an ‘easier’ method.
A reader wrote to us recently, desperately asking ‘What happened to the ‘art’ in mixed martial arts?’ It’s a good question, and no surprise that some fans are asking it. I don’t think the art has gone completely, but I am worried about this growing trend of referring to bad kickboxing in four-ounce gloves as ‘MMA’.
For me, MMA is a dynamic form of fighting where techniques are played out in every possible position, up, down and back around, by fighters who move from one range to another seamlessly and without preference (unless of course implementing a specific game plan that necessitates the avoidance of another’s strengths).
If I wanted to watch two guys swinging wild punches at each other with no care for technique or finesse, I could hang around outside a bar on any Friday or Saturday night and get it for free. If I’m paying for MMA, I expect to see the full gamut. Let’s leave the bad kickboxing to the bad kickboxers and bring back real MMA, with everything from clinch fighting and dirty boxing to takedowns and ground ‘n pound, not just looping punches and low kicks.
