[redson]

well, i wrote this guy an email after reading his article, and it went thusly:

As an avid fan of MMA, and an occasional competitor, I have to tell you how
let down I am by your comments. You might care about what I have to say, or
I might be wasting my time by writing you this e-mail, but either way I felt
obligated to argue some of your points.

1. "The UFC will NEVER and I mean NEVER pose a long term threat to the sweet
science, "
Does this claim mean that the UFC (MMA) will not steal fans away from
boxing? Or that MMA is an inferior form of fighting, and that any MMA
fighter will always be a lesser fighter, when compared to a boxer? Cause I
hate to tell you, but some of the worst MMA fighters could defeat some of
the best boxers, just because they are more adept at more "ranges" of
combat. Put a boxer on his back, and he'll be lost.

2. "the UFC is pure violence, while boxing remains a thinking man’s sport;
"
This claim made me laugh out loud. The UFC is pure violence? This is not
true in the least. In MMA, you can win by KO, TKO, Doctor stoppage, Ref
stoppage, or submission. If you are put in a postition where injury is
imminent, you can honorably submit, and walk away un-injured. While in
boxing, any man who submits is instantly labeled a quitter, and a coward.
(i.e. No Mas)
Also, i must tell you, MMA is alot safer than boxing. Mainly because your
brain is not subjected to the amount of trauma that you would endure in a
boxing match. MMA fighters wear smaller gloves than boxers, and while they
might seem more in-humane, they actually protect the fighters more than a
boxing glove. If you punch someone over and over with a boxing glove,
you'll rattle their brain around inside their skull like a ping pong ball.
In MMA, if you were to punch someone the same amount of times, you would
either damage your hand, KO your opponent, or cut him. And the fight would
be stopped. So the MMA fight might appear bloodier, but these wounds are
only superficial, as opposed to suffering any brain damage that would be
received in a similar situation in a boxing match.

3. " roots are planted so deep, that the sport will be forever kept alive.
The same certainly cannot be said of the UFC. "
MMA has extemely deep roots! Have you ever heard of pancration (also
spelled pankration)? Look it up, and you'll be surprised.

Hit me back, and let me know what you think about MMA after reading this.
Alot of people hate the sport, and just see it as a spectacle, a disgusting
human cock fight. A bloodsport. But these people also haven't researched
the sport very much, and are making any derogatory claims out of ignorance.
I think anyone that learns more than just what the politicians say about the
sport will grow to love it.

Sincerely,

[redson]

and his reply was actually pretty civil, i assumed he'd get defensive. he back-pedaled a bit, and didn't sound so negative in his e-mail. it was this:

.No man, I value the opinion of anyone who has ever taken part in a combat sport.
Listen, the people who you say think the UFC is just a cockfight type sport are
the same people keeping the sport alive right now. It is THEY who think that the
UFC is pure violence....however, once they find out how advanced it is, they'll
not want to learn the ins and outs of the sport and will turn away from it....I
wasn't trying to take away from the complexity of MMA.

Thanks for the feedback,

[cali_chute_boxe]

boxing is going down hill while mma is going uphill. sure its a battle but we're winning. thats why so mny celebs are at mma shows

[Murph]

Originally Posted by deejayohen

this was written more out of emotion than precision (uh oh, fighter's nightmare) so i didn't get in all of the points i wanted to and didn't elaborate as much as i would have liked cause i didn't want to waste all my time on this guy, but this is what i sent in.

TO: danhorgan2@verizon.net
Subj.: your article on MMA...

was quite possibly the dumbest, most uninformed piece of garbage i've ever had the pleasure of reading. and i do mean it when i say pleasure, because i couldn't stop laughing the whole way through. i understand, mr. horgan, that you are deeply wounded by the fact that nearly no one gives two damns about boxing anymore, but there is simply no need to come out with such obvious lies and untruths about the fastest growing sport in the WORLD today. not america, the world. you cite mexico, cuba, and argentina as so-called "boxing strongholds", yet MMA truly has the world on lock, with the US, canada, japan, brazil, russia, holland, and germany amongst so many others (even england and france have been jumping on board) in the fold.

i wouldn't have been so appalled by your article if it had even an inkling of fact behind it. sadly, it does not. you state in your writing that nothing is more boring than watching two inexperienced fighters wrestle on the ground for fifteen minutes, but that would be the exact same thing as saying there's nothing as boring as watching two inexperienced boxers dance around each other for fifteen rounds. it's redundant, they're both boring.

the fact of the matter is obvious. it's clearly more exciting to watch two MMA (or as you like to pigeon-hole it, "UFC") stars fight a well-rounded fight for any period of time than it is to watch two boxing stars that the world has most likely never heard of tap dance around each other with overly-padded gloves. boxing is not a real fight, it's a punching contest. big deal.

again, i understand this article is coming from a place where people are hurt that their so-called sport (which is becoming less and less of a sport every passing day) is being put on the shelf in favor of something that is technically superior, but you and your kind just need to wake up and see that it's just that, technically superior. there's so much more strategy that goes into one MMA fight than what goes in to ten boxing matches. MMA takes the best of everything - wrestling, jiu-jitsu, muay thai, kickboxing, judo, sambo, and yes, even your beloved boxing - and successfully molds it together into the premier physical contact sport in the world today. you claim that no one will ever open a "UFC gym", which is true, because that's like saying the NBA or the NFL will never open up their own gym, why? because they're not the ones doing the training. the fact is, there are countless MMA gyms all over the country if you would just open your eyes and look for one. why do they succeed so well? because people don't just go there looking to become a professional fighter, people go there looking to get in shape and to be able to defend themselves in real-life situations. you're not going to get in a fight on the street and try to box the guy, if you do you're just going to get taken down and have the crap beat out of you. this is just an example of why MMA is a better route than boxing.

but believe me, i could sit here all day and point out the tons of flaws presented by your work, but quite frankly, that would take too much time and your ignorance would probably prevent you from learning anything. next time, think before you write and let this letter serve as a lesson that you can't just write up whatever trash you want and expect it to be accepted as fact.

yours truly,
david sean johnson

Nice reply, brother. I think that sums it up quite well.

[lallinho]

Damn, I was expecting a good article with some valid points to argue against. That was a scared old man without a clue.
My favourite part was where he cited boxing's international roots in Mexico, Cuba and LOL Argentina.
Try Brazil, USA, UK, Russia, Canada, Japan, Holland and S.Korea (where mma is rising fastest probably).
That article was so lame

[Thai Clinch]

mma=pankration was around before boxing i believe...boxing was boxing when the romans came and demolshed pankration...they took boxing and wresteling and seperated....so its been around at the same time....mma is not that new

[Jocke]

Originally Posted by redson

and his reply was actually pretty civil, i assumed he'd get defensive. he back-pedaled a bit, and didn't sound so negative in his e-mail. it was this:

.No man, I value the opinion of anyone who has ever taken part in a combat sport.
Listen, the people who you say think the UFC is just a cockfight type sport are
the same people keeping the sport alive right now. It is THEY who think that the
UFC is pure violence....however, once they find out how advanced it is, they'll
not want to learn the ins and outs of the sport and will turn away from it....I
wasn't trying to take away from the complexity of MMA.

Thanks for the feedback,

Lol, obviously if the human mind is so lazy to learn the ins and outs of a sport Im guessing no one should like boxing,football,soccer,hockey, hell any sport at all. Lets face it boxing was a bloodsport when it came and look at it now? Its mainstream, same will go for MMA.

[megatron]

Originally Posted by indianrob1

Its nice to see the boxing comunity panic like this, it means MMA is really growing.

That's something I have been waiting for , for a long time... i just hope that when
MMA gets Huge,,, (I mean Boxing huge, like when most everyone knows at least
a little bit about the sport.) they don't evolve into the bad habits and corruption
that tends to plague boxing. I hope it NEVER gets that way.. but $ talks and that
is when crap happens..

[Scooter Brown]

He contradicts himself a lot. Boxing is the thinking man's sport, but people won't like MMA because they don't understand what Royce Gracie is doing. Make up your mind, dip.

[Scooter Brown]

Man the sport of WBA is going down.