Issue 032

December 2007

You’re probably asking, what is ‘gameness’? An everyday word with a seemingly inappropriate suffix, gameness is many things, none of which are easy to pinpoint. . 

It is often defined as endurance or pluck, but it can also mean bravery, courage, fortitude or spunk. In MMA circles, it is often referred to as ‘heart’. 

The term gameness actually comes from the rather unsavoury world of dog fighting. It was born from the horrific bloodstained pits where animals fought, often to the death. The best fighting dogs were often described as having gameness, an innate quality that referred to the will to fight. A ‘game bred’ dog was one who would fight on in face of danger and through injury with an intensity that could not be matched through sheer prowess or physicality. Gameness is something else, something inside. A dog either had it or he didn’t, and the ones who didn’t paid for it with their lives. 

I’m loath to make comparisons between MMA and dog fighting. There are a rash of journalists primed and ready to do just that, especially in the States, where it seems every hack looking for an easy article decides that MMA is the human equivalent of an illegal and inhumane blood sport. They’re still dancing with delight over the recent scandal of an NFL player incriminated in an underground dog-fighting ring. They don’t need more ammo. 

But gameness is an interesting quality and one that, however distasteful, definitely has a parallel with MMA. 

It is an absolute truth that some guys are seemingly ‘born’ fighters. Whereas some guys are tough due to the hardships they’ve undergone in their upbringing (tough guys abound, but to quote from Million Dollar Baby, “tough ain’t enough”), certain people, even those from relatively comfortable, stable backgrounds, can have a fighting spirit unlike the average fighter. 

Where does fighting spirit come from? Can it be developed or is it simply a case of you have it or you don’t? 

Some people like to think they are fighters (see our article in issue 30, ‘so you wanna be a fighter?’) but they evidently just aren’t cut out for it. They can be skilled, impressive physical specimens who tear people up in the gym, but stick them in a cage and their whole world falls apart. Whether it is the stress of the big occasion or simply that they can’t handle the intensity of a real fight, they crumble under the pressure and go home with their tail between their legs. 

Tough guys like to think that fighting MMA is as simple as putting on a pair of shorts and walking into a cage. If only it was – but the long and short of it is that it is far more complex than it may appear at first glance, and to think that your ‘grit’ is enough to carry you though is delusional. 

The guys with real gameness are the ones who really, truly and honestly love to fight. You can hit them in the mouth and they will grin at you and punch you back harder. You throw them to the mat and they will literally spring to their feet and try to repay the favour. You get them in a choke and you had better be willing to put them to sleep, because they’re not planning on tapping. 

Fighters with gameness aren’t necessarily the best conditioned athletes. They may even suck in the gym, but when it is time to fight, they go longer and harder and won’t give in to anything. 

So which fighters have this mythical property called gameness? For one, there is Spencer Fisher – the Miletich-trained lightweight fights fast, fights hard, and fights until he can’t fight anymore. His fights with Sam Stout were noted as some of the top fights of 2006 and 2007. Before their rematch, Stout even referred to Fisher as a ‘gamer’. 

Another fighter with a heart bigger than his head was Enson Inoue. Nicknamed ‘yamato damashii’, he had a will of iron and fought with an abandonment fans and fighters alike were awed by. As in his fight with Igor Vovchanchyn, he literally had to be beaten unconscious before he would stop fighting back. 

Fighters with heart, fire, game or spunk are few and far between – the real ones, that is. Many people profess to being game, but believe me, when the chips are down and the fight is on, truth, as they say, will out.