[Targaryan]

It's pretty interesting to see how nervous boxing fans/ members of the boxing world are getting at the rise of mma. This guy sounds like the "childhood sweetheart" who just got dumped for the "sexy new girl". His points can be refuted by most any mma fan, his logic doesn't work.

[Scooter Brown]

Sent my 2 cents:

'"the UFC is now a mainstream sport in America."

"the UFC" is not a sport anymore than "the WBA" is a sport. Mixed Martial Arts is the name of the sport. The UFC is an organization that promotes that sport. And it's not even currently the biggest of those organizations, worldwide.


"It’s clear as day: the UFC is brand new, and boxing has been around as far back as records date"
Pankration, pretty much the Greek word for Mixed Martial Arts dates back just as far if not further.


"the UFC is pure violence, while boxing remains a thinking man’s sport"
How is boxing something other than violence, and what does that have to do with how much thought is involved. There is nothing a boxer needs to know how to do that a mixed martial artist does not. But there an almost infinite number of things a mixed martial artist must know how to do that a boxer does not. I think you must know this because you contradict yourself on it later.


"Sure, it is growing, but a sport with such little depth can only grow so much. Part of what makes boxing so great is that it has its roots planted in countries all over the world"
Mixed Martial Arts has complete roots in Brazil, Japan, and the US. Vale Tudo existed in Brazil before the first UFC event. Shooto and Pancrase both existed in Japan before the first UFC event. Further, Boxing's roots are Mixed Martial Art's roots. As are Muay Thai's roots, as are Judo's roots, as are Sombo's roots, as are Freestyle and Greco Roman wrestling's roots. Every combat sport's roots are also Mixed Martial Art's roots.


"Just think about it: starting a boxing gym is a pretty safe bet to make money. In addition to having people who actually want to box, you have people coming just to get in shape. Starting a UFC gym is so much more risky because people won’t be coming in to shed pounds. Business would depend on hard core male fighters who would have to be willing to sacrifice a year of their life to learn enough to take part in a fight."
Most mixed martial art's gyms are also Brazilian Jiu Jitsu gyms. Unlike boxing, you never have to get punched in the face to learn it. A 90 pound woman can learn Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, never get punched in the face in the process, and still have a very good chance of beating any random "only knows how to throw a punch" idiot.


"They’ll keep seeing the same fights over and over again and look for more, until they’ll realize that the lower level fights are quite boring as the fighters aren’t nearly as skilled as the big names (and believe me, nothing is more boring than watching two inexperienced UFC fighters wrestle on the ground for fifteen minutes)"

Probably the most famous exciting fight among newcomers was the one between the finalists on the UFC's reality show. They're big names now, but frankly they're on the lower end of the totem poll skillwise.


"There is so much more to boxing that people can appreciate. When Cory Spinks is dancing circles around Roman Karmazin, a twenty year old girl who has never seen the sport in her life can understand at he’s doing, but when Royce Gracie is working his magic on the UFC floor, people have no idea what’s going on. A lot of times, they don’t even understand why fights are stopped!"

This doesn't make sense. I thought boxing was the thinking man's sport, the one with depth, the one with so much more to appreciate? Then why does an ignorant 21 year old girl understand boxing but not mixed martial arts? I'll grant you this one. This has always been the biggest obstacle for MMA. It's simply too complex for most people to understand. So maybe you're right and it will decline in popularity. It'll still be around for people with the mental capacity to appreciate it.

Incidentily, boxing will never die as long as mma exists. Boxing is one of the skill subsets of MMA.'

[Jeynesey]

i sent him a quick one saying how funny his article was... basically just covered the same points as everyone else on here.

[CraneKick]

See you later guys, I'm going to open a boxing gym and rake in the cash from fatties trying to shed pounds.

[Stradlater]

Adding my name to the long list of those offended by the writer's misinformed article!

[Clint07]

Originally Posted by Luis Cruz

I agree with the last post, i'm a fan of both. But anyways, i was the one that started this little article and spreading it around just to see what people thought and so he could get 1000 emails telling him how stupid he was. Then i got a better idea and he bit. I challenged him to come on my show Combat Fighter Zone (CFZ Radio) on MMANews.com (Radio.MMANews.com) and go one on one with me in a debate about this. He accepted and gave me his phone number, so it's on for Tuesday's show. It'll be after whatever interview we do (haven't decided on a guest yet), so approximately 930-945pm ET if you guys want to check it out. If not there will be an archive up as always. He's plugging it in his next article so he's pretty amped about it. Not as much as i am though, i shall speak for everyone and hold back no punches! lol

Sweet, this should be fun!

[radman]

Ok someone already mentioned that boxing and MMA can coexist. I honestly have no problem with that. But I am shocked that the boxing afficianados are freaking out as though MMA will make boxing disappear.

In fact these boxing fans should at least appreciate that boxing doesnt die in MMA, but it is incorporated into MMA training. Its funny to think that this guy thinks that MMA is pure violence when in reality this is a thinking man's game- you have to learn to adapt and adjust your technique in various combat situations in the cage/ring.

Everyone knows as long as MMA fighters have to use their hands, good boxing disicpline and techniques will always be an important component as much as wrestling, Jui-jitsu, Judo, and Muay Thai.

I think boxing and MMA can feed off each other and be coequal in popularity.

[nogueirian]

OUT with the old childhood sweetheart and IN with the sexy new girl...

this guy will eat his words soon enough. I should prolly go to my local "ufc gym" and train.

[SmoKoY]

MMA, and not just UFC, will grow if all the orgs can agree in some sort of a unified rules and a common "ring". UFC and most orgs in the US use the cage while overseas, they use boxing rings. all the orgs should agree first which ring to use before they can agree in a unified rules. If that ever happens, you can bet your ass MMA will be bigger than boxing. Boxing also started out having different rules and worked to have a unified rules. If MMA will have unified rules, then that's the time we can have a true "world champion" and that's when the big money will come in

[norcal313]

My reply to the article's author:

"Dan,

I read your article.

Now, my first reaction is laugh and wonder if you really did any homework on the subject. Instead I took a moment to try and realize where you’re coming from. I understand now, I understand your pain, I understand the panic inducing hysteria that this ‘MMA’ has brought to the boxing world. Instead of writing an article with numerous holes in it and blatantly obvious biased opinions (I can’t call any of your assumptions or predictions facts), how about realizing that the organization you targeted is not everything there is to be seen in regards to MMA. Have you even looked abroad at organizations in the UK, in Japan, such as Pride FC? You fail to see the appeal of the sport.

I remember when I was in my teens, I watched a boxing event every once in a while. I was always left with this empty feeling that boxing couldn’t fully satisfy. I wanted to see real sparring, I wanted to see what the human body was capable of in an event with more possibilities, an event that would pit multiple styles and training disciplines against each other. If you cannot see the appeal of this then you are merely being blinded by your stubbornness and unwillingness to accept what MMA has become.

Now, granted, the early UFCs were not all that pretty to watch, there was much less development between the competition and each fight was very unorthodox. But if you really researched the sport today you would see how hard these fighters train, how much time and energy is put into developing their skills and most importantly, how talented many of the professional fighters really are. Watching a professional fighter well versed in grappling and striking is a thing of beauty. Fighters are so well rounded these days that it bothers me that someone like yourself, someone who supposedly enjoys the competition between two professional fighters, can bash another similar sport simply because it’s draining the appeal of boxing.

To give you some insight on my personal background, I wrestled in highschool and in college, I also did Judo in college and I am now training MMA. I can tell you first hand that MMA is here to stay, the enthusiasm I see from people of all backgrounds, all walks of life, and all ages, is real.

Get past the problems you supposedly see in the UFC and see the sport for what it truly is.

Regards,


Chris"