I boxed in my early 20's (light heavy), have been a big fan of pro wrestling for the last 30 years, and got hooked on UFC and Pride about 2 years ago. I even subscribe to the Wrestling Observer and Figure Foure Leglock. So, I am very much a mark for this stuff.
UFC promotes its fights in the old school way ... slow personality and feud builds that can't help but get you anxious to see the PPV. Liddell finally shut up Ortiz decisively last night. They were estimating in the area of 900 thousand to 1 million buys of the PPV.
MMA, in and of itself, is quite interesting. It utilizes submission style wrestling and striking, unlike collegiate and olympic style wrestling which is pin fall based.
BTW, another $10 well spent is to go see the new "Rocky Balboa" movie. The story is tied together very nicely.
Get It On!
Regards, Rich |
I tried early on, it was much more brutalk yars ago. But I tapped out, it's just too violent for me. What I really liked early on what the presence of jiu jitsu with the Grace clan. But now it just seems like a bash your skull in bloodsport and it makes me sick to my stomach to watch the excessive skull bashing when a fighter is obviously dazed, confused and defenseless.
The last straw was when I was watching it and my wife was around and said anyone who watches that must be a manic. For some reason that just stuck with me and I don't want the mother of my children looking at me that way. Plus, it reminds me of a thing or two I saw in the city streets where men were truly trying to hurt someone and it was just the worst parts of humanity. I do enjoy boxing though and that's as far as I can go. These UFC refs need to be reprimanded for what they allow( or allowed, I haven't watched it in awhile.) At least in Boxing for the most part the refs try to protect the fighters (whether they like it or night.) I just hate to see what the mental state of these UFC fighters will be like as they get older. I will admit to it being a very exciting form of entertainment but too brutal for me, it's come a long way but still needs work, mainly little bit more conscience from the fighters to know when a man is defenseless and give the ref a moment before to bash the opponent in the head 3 more times when he was already knocked out to begin with. So basically, I was a fan but not anymore. If they continue to clean it up (which I presume they will) I would try to watch again. |
I watched it, it was OK. I expected a little more from Tito. Not standing up but at least on the ground. The Jardine and Griffin fight was pretty good. Next UFC on Feb 3rd should be good though. Jackson and CroCop from Pride make their debut. If you're not familiar with either fighter, try to find Jackson and Liddell's fight when Chuck tried his hand at Pride. Should be interesting if they meet again which was mentioned last night. I'm wondering whatever happened to the supposed upcoming fight between Liddell and Wanderlei Silva. I think it was announced at one of the Ortiz/Shamrock beatings. St. Pierre and Anderson Silva defend their titles on Feb. 3, also. I've marked my calender already. |
i prefer kung fu martial arts movies. |
The last straw was when I was watching it and my wife was around and said anyone who watches that must be a manic. For some reason that just stuck with me and I don't want the mother of my children looking at me that way. Very nicely stated. Thanks for sharing your inner feelings. Regards, |
I like it, and yet it disgusts me. Plus, I don't like paying PPV prices when I already feel that Comcast is ripping me off on my regular monthly fees. I think just watching some of the better Kung Fu movies is good entertainment, as Mr. Tennis suggested. I just saw Jet Li's "Fearless," and liked it a lot, although it was very sad at times.
When I was younger, I took Kung Fu for a couple of years and enjoyed it quite a bit, especially practicing the various animal forms and the free sparring. We were allowed to make hard contact to the body, but not to punch or kick to the face, groin, or knees. I went into a Kung Fu tournement once and was surprised at how brutal it was. And still, the UFC allows much more brutality than that.
Personally, I think you have to be a little crazy to compete in the UFC arena... I'd never consider doing so, but it is occasionally fun to watch. My wife, on the other hand will not watch anything that bloody and brutal (can't say I blame her). She probably thinks I have a screw loose for doing so, and I can't argue with her on that one. |
I am a big fan also. Didn't see the fight but expected Liddel to win. No one can take him to the ground and he hits with extreme accuract and power. I can understand people who don't like it but I appreciate the effort the fighters put into the matches. I also like boxing and think it can be as brutal. Phil Brady. |
Love the UFC and Pride fighting. Personally, I think boxing is much more dangerous with repeated hit after hit after hit to the head. The REFs in UFC are all experienced in MMA and they know what is going on at all times. If you want to talk violent, check out some of those Asian Muay Thai matches. Man, that stuff is out there. As for the Gracies, back when UFC started most of the contestants were amateurs and weekend warriors. Very few of the contestants were on the level of what you see today. It was the dentist with a black belt kind of thing. Today, all these guys are professionals and are prepared for whatever comes thier way. Sure, it is still violent. This is martial arts and martial means war. It looks much worse than you think especially if you over-react to bloody noses. Check out your Sunday football and you get to see guys playing with broken arms. How is that for violent? |
I thoroughly enjoyed that one. Yup, that's another addiction of mine. 40 bucks a pop, better than crack I guess. |
Match:
You make some good points. Many MMA critics point to the "ground and pound" as being too violent, but in reality those punches are way less dangerous than boxing strikes. On the ground, the fighter on top does not do a full wind up and slug away with full force as that would leave his arms open to a counter, such as an arm bar or other submission hold. UFC has banned small joint manipulation. Elbow strikes are still allowed, but they tend to look worse than they really are.
2007 will be the year to see if people are truly into MMA, as opposed to being just UFC fans.
Regards, Rich |
BTW, early on in UFC it was a bit more violent considering that most fighters were amateurs and such things as punching in the groin were allowed. Anyone remember seeing that? Plus, no weight division so a giant could fight a little guy. Today there are lots of rules and weight classes just like in boxing. Plus, Big John McCarthy is an excellent ref and I don't think he would allow any fighter to get needlessly hurt under his watch.
The UFC and MMA will run boxing out of town in time. Boxing is a dying sport. |
I enjoyed watching skinny Royce Gracie in the early no-weight-classes, one-night tournaments. I guess I had more appreciation for a martial artist who could subdue his opponent without beating him to a bloody pulp and leaving him possibly damaged for life.
I used to play judo with a man in his 70's who could beat me three out of four times, both of us going full blast but of course within judo rules (I was in my early to mid 30's at the time, and arguably in pretty good shape). My friend could beat most of the guys in their 20's too. How many 70+ year old veteran boxers do you see stepping into the ring and going full blast with guys young enough to be their grandchildren or great-grandchildren?
Duke |
Skinny Royce and the Gracies started the MMA thing for sure. The thing is, Royce was great at beating amateurs. Once everyone figured out what was needed, Royce was pushed aside. Royce recently lost to Matt Hughes. 15 years ago, Royce would have still lost to Matt Hughes although a younger Royce would have probably lasted a little longer. Yeah, Royce beat Ken Shamrock but who didn't?
The first few UFC shows had lots of blood. Royce got beat upside the head in one match and couldn't return to finish. Even in the beginning, it wasn't all roses.
How old is Rocky Balboa? |
In "Rocky Balboa", the sole reference to Rocky's age is "boxers in their late fifties."
If you follow the time line from "Rocky" though, Rocky was 30 at the time he fought Apollo Creed. The movie was picture of the year in 1976, which would make the Rocky character 59 or 60 years old, depending on when the filming was done.
Regards, Rich |
My audio buddy around the corner and I get every PPV. He is a tube guy and I am starting to lean to tubes also.
As for boxing verus MMA. MMA is much safer than boxing. If a fighter gets hurt badly in MMA the fight is stopped but, in boxing you get an eight count to recover a little then get your head pounded some more. How many people have been killed in legal MMA bouts? How many people have been killed in legal boxing bouts?
MMA is much more interesting to me. One has to know at least boxing, jiu jitsu and wrestling. If you don't know one of these you will be exposed.
I agree with the thought that MMA will soon take over boxing in popularity. |
I'm hooked, usually watch a few hours every thursday eve on Spike.
Yes, it's violent, but watching Chuck Liddell tool around in his Ferrari, that seems like a fair trade. Some of these guys would be fighting in bars anyway, it's just the way it is, there's alot of violent dudes out there.
I'd say other than the cuts, boxing is much more likely to do you serious damage, due to a much higher volume of punches over a much longer career.
I find pro wrestling much more disturbing, where using chairs, hitting referee's, ganging up on opponents etc are all 'part of the game'. Even tho it's fake, what message is getting to the younger viewers? |
I ain't what it used to be. The "Striker's" couldn't grapple and the "Grappler's" couldn't punch. Everything was pure and the David's went "head2head wih the Goliath's.
Everyone got scared of being choked-out, so they cross-trained and now it's all the same. |
I love UFC and mixed martial arts competitions and do some training in that area, more for fitness goals than anything else. I have also been a fan of pro wrestling since a kid. That is my second most common topic I blog on for fun after audio! |
