MMA fighters never truly appreciated/Self-loathing MMA fans

[Mug]

I'm not sure what it is about MMA fans but they just can't seem to accept that the sport they watch has exceptional athletes in it.
NO matter what you do there will always be a counter.
You're undefeated/You've fought bums
You're champ/You're a paper champ
You've fought a tough career against tough opponents/You got smashed by X
You like to fight in the pocket/You're just a brawler
etc etc
Then, there is this whole A-level athlete illusion. You will be told you aren't an A-level athlete cos they only exist in leagues like the NFL,NBA and so on.
What do all these athletes do in their training? They lift weights and other conditioning but here's the catch, if you post a video of yourself weight training MMA fans will immediately blast you for it, your form, barbells/weights don't hit back, they'll make you slower.
Hit pads/Pads don't hit back. Every elite combat athlete has hit pads there is no room for only sparring in todays landscape of combat sports unless we want every fighter to sound like James Toney...
C'mon let's start appreciating the athletes and fighters we get to watch put their body's on the line for our entertainment

 

[k4lm4h]

boxing is superior

 

[Your Account]

<45>

 

[dickcheney]

<45>

Let's play "guess the missing photobucket"

Was it the guy with confused look and question marks?

 

[justbetter]

yeah fuck the fighters, they never appreciated the mma self-loathing fans

 

[Chindit]

I'm not sure what it is about MMA fans but they just can't seem to accept that the sport they watch has exceptional athletes in it.

Problem is simple, IMO.
- MMA is/was a mix. It suffers by comparison with "pure" boxing, "pure" wrestling, "pure" BJJ... As a polyvalent tool suffers by comparison with specialized tools. Same for athletes.
- At the beginning of MMA, you had a lot of level-B athletes. It has evolved since, but the sport is still young, so the fans remember the good old days more clearly that in others sports. In only 20 years, we have seen the guys at UFC 1 and Jon Jones or GSP. It creates a strange effect.

 

[Dogo1]

I don't relate to anything TS said.

 

[gspieler]

You sure you aren't just projecting here, TS?

 

[WhiteBeltForLife]

- MMA is/was a mix. It suffers by comparison with "pure" boxing, "pure" wrestling, "pure" BJJ... As a polyvalent tool...

Deserves a like just from "polyvalent".

 

[Chindit]

Deserves a like just from "polyvalent".

Versatile.

 

[Black Paladin]

Versatile.

If you were a dinosaur, you would be called a thesaurus.

 

[DLX]

there is no room for only sparring in todays landscape of combat sports unless we want every fighter to sound like James Toney...

 

[blewgums]

I love me a good pancake.