Look, I'm what most would consider a casual fan of mixed martial arts (MMA). I don't know what a rear naked choke is but I know that I know I don't want one. I also haven't watched a boxing match since Mike Tyson went to prison. Why? I'm American and as such, I don't have the attention span for the jab, jab and hug system that boxing seems to reward.
Conversely, MMA has a way of limiting all the pomp and circumstance surrounding a fight and giving up the goods in a hurry. A good match has the ability to pull out the otherwise dormant primal urges of an average accountant and compel him to spit out a half-eaten chicken finger with a growl after watching someone's foot find anothers face.
There are many reasons why MMA is becoming more and more popular. Here's five of our favorites:
MMA Doesn't Have a Don King
Don King's resume is pretty colorful. After dropping out of college, King went on to run an illegal bookmaking operation while being charged twice for murder. While the first charge was dropped after it was determined to be justified homicide (the slain man was attempting to rob King's gambling house), the second charge stuck. In this case, King stomped an employee to death over $600.
Even Mike Tyson, whom most people would rate just above a slug on the humanity scale offered this about King, "(King is) a wretched, slimy, reptilian motherf--. This is supposed to be my 'black brother' right? He's just a bad man, a real bad man. He would kill his own mother for a dollar. He's ruthless, he's deplorable, and he doesn't know how to love anybody".
The point of this brief history lesson is that you know a promoter with this colorful history isn't in the game to earn an honest living or further the sport that he loves. He is in it for the money, power and the ability to create a celebrity status normally reserved for the talented.
Perhaps the deeper issue is more about how the business of boxing has traditionally operated. In boxing, each fighter is essentially a free agent. The elite can hold out for what they consider a proper pay-day while hand picking their opponents. In MMA it's much simpler. Fighters sign contracts with an organization that determines who fights when and against whom. Because of this, the upcoming fights are known far in advance and don't waiver unless there is an injury. While you could debate the merits of pay scale of a MMA fighter versus a boxer, the MMA set up is better for fans as it knocks out the Don Kings of the game.
MMA is More Creative
Note that I didn't say 'artistic' here. It will be hard for any MMA fighter to exemplify the thunder and fury of Mohammed Ali or a handful of other legendary boxers. However, the fighting tactics available for a good MMA offer a wider spectrum of fighting creativity to come into play. It also forces fighters to be balanced. You can be a great striker or have the ground game of an Olympic wrestler, but if you lack a single discipline, a savvy MMA fighter will discover, expose and punish you for your lack of balance. Watch a single fight of Anderson da Silva and you will quickly understand the depth of knowledge that some MMA fighters possess.
MMA Reveals True Toughness
Before Roy Jones Jr. gained prominence; James Toney was widely considered the best pound-for-pound boxer in the world. Toney held belts in the light heavyweight, cruiserweight and heavyweight divisions. Granted Toney was an older, heavier and slower version of his former self, but Randy Couture beat him senseless in UFC 118. You could take the side that Toney is newcomer to the MMA scene, but at 47, Couture is 5 years Toney's senior.
That's what great about MMA - a match reveals who is the better warrior. We've all seen boxers that jab the hell out of their opponents but when the going get's tough, they hug and wait for the referee to stop the fight only to continue the jab and hub routine. If you are choosing a teammate for a bar brawl, you don't want the jab and hug teammate, you want the guy who is going do whatever it takes to get the job done. In this case, Randy Couture is pretty high up on my list.
No Standing 8 Counts
This is pretty much self explanatory if you consider how real-life works. If you decide to stand up to a mugger or a carjacker at some point and you realize that after taking a few jacks that you need to catch your breath, you can't take a knee and wait as the mugger retreats to his corner. The mugger will likely wail on you until the police arrive or he becomes disinterested. Depending on where you live, this could take some time.
In fact, there seems to be a fair amount of strategy that goes into a boxing match about winning rounds and pacing yourself. Every Rocky movie was based around this premise. Rocky would allow his opponent to wear himself out by taking body blow after body blow. Sensing his opponents' physical ability becoming tapped, Rocky would then queue the rock music and get his fists a' pumping.
MMA couldn't be more different. Both fighters come at each other full bore. No one assumes that the fight will end in a decision. In fact, a MMA match could end with a single strike.
More Bang for the Buck
While both sports' big events are viewed with pay-per-view, boxing generally only has one fight worth watching. It could be an action-packed minute or a hour snooze fest. Either way, most UFC cards features 5 fights that no MMA fan will want to miss.
If you throw out this Mike Tyson interview, even the post-match interviews of MMA are more exciting. At MMA events, oftentimes the fighters are interviewed over the public address system. The fans boo, hiss and generally make it hard for the fighter to get their thoughts out. That is, unless you are Brock Lesnar, who has no problem talking about his lack of beer sponsorships and the prospect of him hooking up with his wife later in the night.
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