[willhuntforfood]

As a boxer it pains me to say that his guy is full of shit. Actually (IMHO), the opposite is true - boxing is on a steady decline and MMA is taking off. To most people the "old" UFC was a bunch of sideshow freaks (no disrespect intended). The new UFC with rules, weight classes, etc. has legitimized the sport and now the competitors are seen for the true athletes they are. MMA is blowing up and that's not going to change as the old boxing fans begin to die off. My $.02.

[MI_Leglock]

I'm emailing this guy i'll post what i write.

[belikechris]

nahhh...mma has no roots...not in brazil, not in japan, not in russia and of course not in the states...so hail boxing and its great countries...poor mma

[Lovesong]

Originally Posted by superkan

...i am guesing that mma is bigger in Japan than boxing...

I would say boxing is on par or larger than MMA in Japan from my experience. K-1 and Pride draw ratings in the 20's or so (I think), but have you heard of the Kameda Brothers? When they fight, ratings have been as high as the 40's (basically 40% of the households with TV's are watching it) which is rediculous.

Basically the Kameda Brothers are a cultural phenomenon like Tyson was in the United States. So boxing isn't hurting in Japan at all.

Edit: Added a Source

[MI_Leglock]

Here's what i wrote, please give opinions


Dear Dan,
I'm writing in repsonse to your recent article on the UFC on doghouseboxing.com . The argument you made was weak at best, and face it boxing has gone down the drain in the last 5 years. The UFC is just one of many mixed martial arts companies in the world. UFC isn't as big as pride fighting championships based out of Japan. There are countless smaller organizations in America and around the world. Pride is coming to the U.S. to put on shows as well.
You made 'the international' argument for boxers. Well, mma is a worldwide sport with a HUGE following in the States, Japan, Brazil, all of Europe, Cananda, and Mexico. They all hold their own promotions and have countless gyms.
The UFC is new compared to all boxing but mma in one form or another outdates boxing (Pankration). The UFC has been around since 1993. Thirteen years and it's bigger than ever. Truth is I was a huge boxing fan years ago, but how can anybody stand the state it's in right now? No one knows who the heavyweight champ is outside yor small circle, yet people like Randy Couture are on DirecTV commercials.
UFC is currently taking over your pay-per-view buys. Why do you think that is? It is because it is finally getting mainstream exposure to the average person, and they pick MMA over boxing.
In conclusion, your opinion over the excitement of MMA Versus boxing is just opinion. The live gate draws and pay-per-view numbers of current events tells a different story. In my opinion, you are just holding on to what you love and I can not blame you for that. But as it was said in the last episode of Star Trek TNG, "Jean-Luc, all good things...must come to an end". Boxing is mortal and right now it's on its knees, while mma and the UFC stands tall.

[mantid]

Originally Posted by MI_Leglock

Here's what i wrote, please give opinions


Dear Dan,
I'm writing in repsonse to your recent article on the UFC on doghouseboxing.com . The argument you made was weak at best, and face it boxing has gone down the drain in the last 5 years. The UFC is just one of many mixed martial arts companies in the world. UFC isn't as big as pride fighting championships based out of Japan. There are countless smaller organizations in America and around the world. Pride is coming to the U.S. to put on shows as well.
You made 'the international' argument for boxers. Well, mma is a worldwide sport with a HUGE following in the States, Japan, Brazil, all of Europe, Cananda, and Mexico. They all hold their own promotions and have countless gyms.
The UFC is new compared to all boxing but mma in one form or another outdates boxing (Pankration). The UFC has been around since 1993. Thirteen years and it's bigger than ever. Truth is I was a huge boxing fan years ago, but how can anybody stand the state it's in right now? No one knows who the heavyweight champ is outside yor small circle, yet people like Randy Couture are on DirecTV commercials.
UFC is currently taking over your pay-per-view buys. Why do you think that is? It is because it is finally getting mainstream exposure to the average person, and they pick MMA over boxing.
In conclusion, your opinion over the excitement of MMA Versus boxing is just opinion. The live gate draws and pay-per-view numbers of current events tells a different story. In my opinion, you are just holding on to what you love and I can not blame you for that. But as it was said in the last episode of Star Trek TNG, "Jean-Luc, all good things...must come to an end". Boxing is mortal and right now it's on its knees, while mma and the UFC stands tall.

Thread closed.

[DrewO311]

My email:

Dan,

I'm sure that you've already received a number of emails regarding this article bashing you. I won't step to that level, but I would like to point out a few inaccuracies.

First, UFC is not a sport; mixed martial arts is a sport. The UFC is one of several mixed martial arts organizations, and the largest in the US.

"the UFC is pure violence, while boxing remains a thinking man’s sport;"

-Check the record, there have been no deaths in the UFC, where there have been several in boxing. Additionally, The rules of the UFC are there to protect the fighters. For example, a knockdown that in boxing would normally lead to a standing eight count will cause a stoppage in MMA. Once a fighter in either sport has sustained an injury to the head, he is not best able to defend himself and continue. What's more violent, letting someone live to fight another day or sending a damaged fighter back out to take more punishment?

Also, MMA is just that, mixed martial arts. There's quite a bit of thinking when you have to be prepared not just to box, but also think about kicks, submissions, wrestling, etc.

"the UFC has copious pre-fight drama while boxing has unscripted storylines"

-I can be a wise-ass and just say "Don King".

Both sports utilize a lot of drama in their promotion. The job is to sell more pay-per-views or commercials. There's passion in fighting, both as a fighter and as a fan. It's easy to capitalize on that. The UFC's "Ultimate Fighter" series is no different than "The Contender".

"Part of what makes boxing so great is that it has its roots planted in countries all over the world. Mexico, Cuba, Argentina, and so many other countries all have strong amateur programs that produce some of today’s top professionals, and these roots are planted so deep, that the sport will be forever kept alive. The same certainly cannot be said of the UFC. "

-As MMA has its roots in martial arts, they are planted all over the world; Brazil, Japan, Eastern Europe, etc. The difference is that those who compete in martial arts generally come from a background of one martial art (including boxing and wrestling) and add others to become a more well rounded fighter. There's no denying that boxing will always exist, but mixed martial arts will as well, whether it is in a format such as is seen today, or where martial artists of different styles meet to compete in contracting styles (such as the early UFC fights.)

"So, one might ask, won’t the UFC start to plant its own roots and then grow from there? The answer, quite frankly, is no. 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. That doesn’t sound like the greatest money maker in the world. Plus, opening a UFC gym in a country with deep boxing roots would be like trying to introduce cricket to a baseball oriented country---it’s just not going to happen."

-Look around. The early UFC's led to a boom in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu gyms across the world. They continue to grow and offer MMA training as well. Many martial arts studios are adding MMA training if for no other reason than the demand. Contrary to what you believe, these gyms aren't much different than boxing gyms, many people train just to train.

"So without the ability of expansion, the UFC will be forced to use what it already has, and so far, that has worked. Spike TV has a huge archive of fights that they can pick and choose from to deliver only top quality action to the new fans. These “casual” fans, which now keep the sport alive, think that every UFC fight is a first round knockout and are immediately hooked. However, the further they’ll get into the sport, the more they’ll realize that it isn’t all that great. 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). They’ll buy into some pre-fight hype, pay fifty dollars, and then see the main event stopped a minute into the action."

Again, your lack of knowledge of the sport is leading to false assumptions. There are several large MMA organizations across the world. What will eventually happen is the different organizations will allow their fighters to fight each other, leading to undisputed champions, no different than boxing. Smaller organizations act as a "minor league" for the larger ones, allowing fighters to develop.

What we're seeing today is just the start of the growth of MMA. People beginning training today (now more than ever) will become tomorrow's fighters. We're not going to see the added depth for a few years, and that's good for the sport.

Also, let's not pretend that the "casual" boxing fans, which there seems to be less and less of, are any different than casual MMA fans. They know as little about what matters in the respective sport. They don't want to see 12 round technical fights, they want to see knockouts early and then compain that they didn't get enough for their PPV dollars.

The current state of boxing is not very good and MMA is drawing fans from that, myself included. Do I believe that MMA will overtake boxing someday? Likely not, but it is giving boxing a good run for its money. Do yourself a favor and take a little time to watch and understand MMA. You can be a fan of both. If nothing else, you can be better informed when you write your next article.

[MI_Leglock]

yeah i forgot to comment on the whole ' violence' BS

[rearea]

""Interesting article ... actually Horgan does make some good points about the shallowness of the ufc ... that's a serious problem, evidence of this is the recent craze in rematches. Where the sport will be in 10 years though is anyones guess, So Horgan can say what he wants, it's just an opionion, and like the rest of us he sure as hell doesn't have a crystal ball ... It will be intresting to see what happens after the TUF show has run it's course, wonder if those newbies will stick around....""

I actually complete disagree about the depth of the UFC and mma...while there is a large number of rematches taking place currently, expect that to slow down soon. With the 'hopeful' consistent fighter swaps and title unifications, the talent pool will be greatly increased. The writer tries to make the point that MMA has no grassroots to continue to develop from. This really exposes him for the lack of research he did. All over Japan, S. America, and now the US gyms are popping up everywhere. While they may not all be MMA, jiu-jitsu is everywhere, as is muay-thai and as he pointed out boxing...combine the wrestling programs at most high schools and to me it seems like it could really take off. The quality of the athletes in MMA is constantly improving...strength, technique, conditioning...and with the next generation of fighters, i think MMA will truly captivate the combat sports world the way heavyweight boxing did in the Ali days and prior

[Muay]

I love how he contradicts himself by implying that Boxing is a more sophisticated 'thinkers' sport and then says that anyone can understand it whilst this is not the case with MMA.