[graedy]

Originally Posted by Stonebreaker

I'm sure there are a thousand other factors that we could never hash out, but in the end, TUF1 put the UFC on the U.S.'s radar, and it's been going like an avalanche ever since. Every season has had it's share of "what the hell is that guy doing there" fighters and guys who could probably have just debuted on the undercard of a PPV. TUF and the Fight Nights on Spike have put MMA out where everybody could see them whether they'd heard of it before or not, and MMA is expanding at an incredible rate as a result.

I think that's a good thing.

Yes, the reality TV thing is a annoying, but in its defense, TUF has gotten less "reality" TV as the seasons go along. No more challenges to determine the fights. They've moved to real tournament-style matches, so nobody has to do what Sanchez did and fight three (four?) times to get to the finals. MMA may be growing fast, but I don't think all the talent scouts in the world are going to be able to come up with 16 solid contenders willing to sign away 6 weeks of their lives twice a year, no matter how hard they look.

It's a TV show. MMA is a sport. Zuffa is promoting said sport. Yes, they're doing a lot of stuff to draw fans in and get them to spend their money. That's what sports in general, and growing ones in particular, need to do to get on the map and stay there.

So long as it all means that when the next Vitor Belfort makes his debut in the UFC, it won't be in a 3100-seat mini-arena in backwoods Alabama, I'm just fine with it.

Correct. But the question is if we as longtime fans really wanna see the sport become mainstream and marketed. It has some Pros. But where there is lots of money things go down the toilette sooner or later.
Do I think the new weightroom at our club is great? - yes I do. Do I often wish the old weightroom with no heater and only one window back? - very often.
Why? Because in the old weightroom only the really determined people trained. A small fully dedicated group which didnt care about how dirty the room was.
In the enw weightroom it is many, many people and many I dont really like.

[Zerocrew1984]

Originally Posted by graedy

Correct. But the question is if we as longtime fans really wanna see the sport become mainstream and marketed. It has some Pros. But where there is lots of money things go down the toilette sooner or later.
Do I think the new weightroom at our club is great? - yes I do. Do I often wish the old weightroom with no heater and only one window back? - very often.
Why? Because in the old weightroom only the really determined people trained. A small fully dedicated group which didnt care about how dirty the room was.
In the enw weightroom it is many, many people and many I dont really like.

money > than all of that.

[mschatz]

SB - I cant argue with anything you said, but I blame TUF for a large part of the nonsense going on in the heavyweight forum right now. That show has made everyone think they are an expert. Right now there is a 5 page thread on who would win between Anderson Silva and Fedor.

[thethirddiaz]

Silva obv. Fedor hasn't fought in like2 years. Plus, he beat a bloated middleweight and lost to TK.

Wait, this isn' the heavies?

[Stonebreaker]

Growing popularity is, indeed, a double-edged sword. It means more idiot meatheads spouting their unfounded and ignorant opinions in weight rooms, bars, and random workplaces across the world. It also means growing acceptance, recognition and paychecks for the sport, which in turn has attracted more and more true athletes and martial artisits to step on the stage. Sherk dropped out of fighting and went back to laying tile because he couldn't make a living fighting not all that long ago. In the words of Stephan Bonnar: "It wasn't that long ago that I was fighting Terry Martin for $300 if I won." No fighter bashing intended here, but Tank Abbot wouldn't last a heartbeat against the kind of skill and talent that's stepping into the cage these days, and as far as recent history has shown, more athletic ability and more skill have made for far better fights than a couple of wild brawlers whose primary qualification was a willingness to hurt people for money.

Yes, MMA is going mainstream. There are some changes intertwined with that, and not everyone is going to think that they're for the best. There's still a market of sorts for bare-knuckle, no rules matches, or we wouldn't have seen that Rio Fight (?) thing a month or two ago. To me, though, MMA stepping into the spotlight as a legitimate, sanctioned sport, largely free of accusations of worked fights, shoddy promotion and "human cockfighting" is a good thing.

I'm willing to put up with the idiot meatheads if I have to.

[Zerocrew1984]

you have a lot of interest for something you dont compete in? or do you train any type of MMA? I want to train but its way too much money now. plus i hate cardio but thats besides the point.

[Stonebreaker]

Me?

I'm an MMA fan. That's how I found Sherdog and why I'm here. I dwell mostly in the Training Logs because that's where the better conversations are and, sadly, more of the idiot-free MMA knowledge is to be found.

I learn more about MMA in general by reading one of Brandon or Standard's log entries (or Ian, or Wax, or Smashius... too many to list, all apologies to everyone's training that I just blithely skipped over) than I could from spending an hour pounding my head against the HW forum.

Yep. Popularity. Double-edged swords. Most of the best ones are, I supose.

[mschatz]

Im never going in there again!!!!!!!

[thethirddiaz]

Haha, are you talking about the HW misses?

BTW, I always found it ironic that your name would be Ms. Chatz or Miss Chatz, but we call you misses. Still can't make my self switch though.

[Sonny]

Originally Posted by mschatz

Im never going in there again!!!!!!!

Wuss!