[Cabbage Soup]

Originally Posted by VenerealDisease

i partially agree that alot of mma guys are not terribly good at defending strikes.

with the exception of guys like crocop, that actually have extensive boxing/kickboxing experience, who seem to dodge damn near everypunch, most mma guys throw haymakers or have relatively rudimentary stand-up skills. i imagine in 5-10yrs from now when it's impossible to make it into the upper echelons of this sport without being really well-rounded (like gsp, fedor, or bj) this will no longer be a problem

I understand your point. I also feel like the guy feels a career threat if MMA goes to HBO.

[Justice]

Originally Posted by bma44

Too bad his girlfriend didn't have better defense skills. Lampley sucks.

YES!!! FUck you Lampley, you whore

[Rambamatic]

Saku, you're absolutely right. You have to understand that Boxing has been around forever and MMA is brand new. Guys like Lampley (who are old and have the entirety of their careers invested in boxing) are witnessing Boxing's decline and the rise of MMA. As Boxing goes down, so does their careers, and so they have a political and economic reason to try to defame MMA.

However, there is a deeper issue there as well, and it goes to the heart of many problems in MMA today: So many people only understand boxing (in terms of combat sports), that Boxing is the only standard they have to compare MMA to, or discuss MMA through. You see it all the time in the bonehead decisions that ringside judges (who have spent 30 years judging boxing, and know nothing about kickboxing, wrestling, BJJ, etc.) deliver. How many times have we seen fighter A decisively win a match using grappling, but because Fighter B scored better on the feet during 1 round or score a knockdown at some point, get awarded the fight because the judges are looking at it as a boxing match?

In another thread, the poster pointed out Dana White's response to one boxing commentator's comment that MMA fighters' "footwork was wrong". It's not "wrong"...it's different, because in Boxing you don't have to worry about knees, kicks, the clinch, the takedown, elbows, leg attacks, the shoot, etc.

So, it's not that MMA fighters don't have the defensive artistry that boxers do; it's that in MMA at any given time you have so many ways that your opponent can attack you or switch up their attack that you can only cover 2 or 3 out of 12 bases at a time, and that means that yes, you're going to get hit more in MMA than in boxing, but the reason for that is far different than the one that Lampley, or others, suggest.

On the other side, if you put an MMA fighter into the ring with a good pro- boxer under BOXING rules, even the best are going down. Boxing is a very powerful and beautiful art form and fighting style in its own right, and can survive and thrive in its own arena without belittling MMA. Just because MMA is so hot, does that mean that its the end of Greco-Roman Wrestling or Kickboxing or Karate? Of course not!!

Most of the wounds that boxing has suffered over the last 20 years have been self-inflicted. You have corrupt promoters, judges, and decisions that sour people on the results of the fights, you have 8,000 different sanctioning bodies (I think it's like 8 or 9, but that's WAY too many), you have fighters who are brain dead, street thugs, or criminals, and cannot be good ambassadors for the sport or role models for kids, artificial champions, etc. Boxing may yet pull itself out the slump, and it'll never go away totally, but the "boxing insiders" themselves are the ones who have destroyed the credibility of boxing.

[MMAMark]

Why anybody in boxing feels they need to bad mouth MMA is beyond me. I think they all relize boxing is on it's way out. Boxing is boring. ANY MMA fight is more exciting than boxing.

The last time anybody cared about boxing, TYSON was biting an ear off. That was a long time ago. It's amazing how these guys will still dog MMA, when the sport they are in is a damn joke.

I respect boxers, but the fact that they think a boxer can hang with a MMA guy is crazy.

[Kforcer]

That is an incredible picture of Zhang Ziyi in your avatar. What beauty.

[Kayo]

Originally Posted by SakurabaSan

YOu guys are so damn naive and gullible. He SIAD it but thast doesn't mean it's his THOUGHTS. Big difference between what one says and what one thinks. He's invested in boxing.

Everyone should be held accountable for the words of his voice. I'm gonna go 300 on Lampley...

This is MMA! *kicks Lampley in chest*

[Halfway]

Originally Posted by Cabbage Soup

I just don't understand why people with a public voice feel they need to mouth off on something they know little about.

It's because they feel that their sport (boxing) is threatened by MMA, which it is. Boxing is bigger at the moment but MMA is growing and growing fast.

They're all jerk offs for writing MMA off, him, PBF, Bill O'Riley, all of them.

[CDEstey]

Originally Posted by Rambamatic

Saku, you're absolutely right. You have to understand that Boxing has been around forever and MMA is brand new. Guys like Lampley (who are old and have the entirety of their careers invested in boxing) are witnessing Boxing's decline and the rise of MMA. As Boxing goes down, so does their careers, and so they have a political and economic reason to try to defame MMA.

However, there is a deeper issue there as well, and it goes to the heart of many problems in MMA today: So many people only understand boxing (in terms of combat sports), that Boxing is the only standard they have to compare MMA to, or discuss MMA through. You see it all the time in the bonehead decisions that ringside judges (who have spent 30 years judging boxing, and know nothing about kickboxing, wrestling, BJJ, etc.) deliver. How many times have we seen fighter A decisively win a match using grappling, but because Fighter B scored better on the feet during 1 round or score a knockdown at some point, get awarded the fight because the judges are looking at it as a boxing match?

In another thread, the poster pointed out Dana White's response to one boxing commentator's comment that MMA fighters' "footwork was wrong". It's not "wrong"...it's different, because in Boxing you don't have to worry about knees, kicks, the clinch, the takedown, elbows, leg attacks, the shoot, etc.

So, it's not that MMA fighters don't have the defensive artistry that boxers do; it's that in MMA at any given time you have so many ways that your opponent can attack you or switch up their attack that you can only cover 2 or 3 out of 12 bases at a time, and that means that yes, you're going to get hit more in MMA than in boxing, but the reason for that is far different than the one that Lampley, or others, suggest.

end.of.f'ing.thread

[xpriorx]

If your a famous announcer and see that boxing is on the decline and MMA is shooting up wouldnt it be a hell of a lot better idea to jump on the damn bandwagon. I mean if your managing a burger king that is about to go out of business, do you hate on the McDonalds across the street or go pick up an application.

very poor example, but I think u get what I mean.

[KingDemetrios]

Originally Posted by Cabbage Soup

I just don't understand why people with a public voice feel they need to mouth off on something they know little about.

People on Sherdog do it all the time