Spring Break
On 2nd Thought: Mixed Martial Arts
Should MMA be considered a sport on the same level as boxing?
State Hornet Staff
Issue date: 10/22/08 Section: Sports
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Taylor Collis
Mixed Martial Arts has a lot of followers - especially the female fights - but it does take some skill to know what moves you need to submit your opponent.
The chick-fight with MMA hottie Gina "Conviction" Carano versus Kelly Kobald-Gavin was insane. Carano beat up Kobald-Gavin throughout the fight and ended up with barely a scratch. Of course, all guys love watching women fight - especially when it's hottie v. butch - but guys probably won't see the female fights as a sport since it's more entertaining than anything.
The most well-known MMA fighter is Kevin Ferguson, who is better known as Kimbo Slice. This guy is not a good model of MMA being a legitimate sport because when he was finally put up against a real fighter, Seth "The Silverback" Petruzelli, he got knocked out within the first 14 seconds of the first round. He is so overrated as a fighter and fan favorite. He's not even creative; all of his six kids have names that start with a "K" and two of them are named after him. If he can't be creative on the home front when naming his kids, how can he be creative in the fights?
Basically, people pay to see these MMA fights and the cable companies call it a "popular sport." People want to see what moves the fighters use to defeat their opponents - from submissions like the arm bar or techniques like the ground-and-pound. It has something for everyone since there are female fighters that promote feminism and male fighters who beat the living tar out of each other, which even I watch. The best part of the fights is when the viewer can laugh at some of the positions the guys end up in that can be seen as a little too close for comfort.
Kimbo Slice is a huge joke
Felipe Molina
Mixed martial arts is definitely a sport! People who think that MMA is not a sport need to educate themselves. I'm tired of people calling MMA a legal street fight - it is more technical than people think. Unlike boxing where all you need to learn is how to punch, an MMA fighter needs to be well-versed in punching, kicking, wrestling, grappling and submissions.
Mixed martial arts is far removed from its early days of no rules brawling - MMA is now regulated by state athletic commissions. There is no reason why it shouldn't be considered a sport. Mixed martial arts is basically boxing, kick boxing and wrestling taken to a higher level. Most people who are against it are boxing fans older than 50 years old and have no idea what true mixed martial arts is. It is safer than boxing, and mixed martial arts has not had a death related to a regulated match - boxing cannot boast the same.
If you want to see high-quality MMA, check out the Ultimate Fighting Championship 89 on Spike Saturday night. You will see quality fighters like Brandon Vera, Michael Bisping and Thiago Silva step into the octagon and show you what well-rounded fighters and MMA top athletes are capable of. Not all mixed martial arts organizations show quality fighting. For example, don't watch Elite Extreme Combat as it tries to hype up Internet star Kimbo Slice; the organization is trying to create a spectacle, not a sport. Although it was hilarious seeing Slice get knocked out in 14 seconds by a pink-haired novice in his first real fight. The UFC and World Extreme Cagefighting are two places where you can see the true sport of mixed martial arts.
Boxing is a thing of the past and MMA is the future.
Crass commercialism taints MMA
Zaki Syed
A couple of years ago, no one even knew what mixed martial arts were. Now, thanks to the popularity of shows such as the "Ultimate Fighter" and pay-per-view fights, you have all these clowns asking, "Should MMA really be considered a sport?"
On one side, there are the diehard Ultimate Fighting Championship fans that swear that mixed martial arts is the only real sport out there. On the other side are the whiners constantly complaining that MMA is inhumane, should be banned and is nothing more than street fighting.
The truth is that mixed martial arts is a sport… most of the time. MMA athletes face the same struggles as every other athlete: They get up early to train, work out, diet and discipline themselves. Then they go into the cage and try to destroy or beat their opponent. As man is pitted against man, it becomes a one on one competition of courage, strength and willpower. Thus, it is inaccurate of critics to say, "Oh, it's not a sport, it's just fighting; it's too violent, it can't be a sport." Those people need to get out of "La-La Land." Sports is all about fighting. In every sport, the objective is to defeat your opponent, to come out on top by making someone else lose. Just because MMA is dangerous does not mean that it is not classified as a sport.
However, there are times when mixed martial arts cannot be called a sport. In certain fights, they will give knockout bonuses, submission bonuses and other kinds of bonuses for performing certain maneuvers or tactics. That practice simply makes the MMA look fake and manipulative. The viewer feels conned knowing the fighters are going through the motions to make more money. If I wanted to watch something unreal, I'd just go watch wrestling on TV, not an MMA fight. Fighters should only get paid for winning the fight. Sports are about playing to win, not getting paid to play a certain way. When fighters start getting paid to chicken out and throw the "money-makers," it stops being a sport and becomes an over hyped media pay-per-view event.
Taylor Collis, Felipe Molina and Zaki Syed can be reached at sports@statehornet.com.
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