- Joined
- Sep 29, 2014
- Messages
- 4,755
- Reaction score
- 2
Tim Hague's death was a huge bummer. But was it surprising at all? Of course we all mourned and were effected by Hague's death, but isn't this the whole point of watching MMA? To watch one man inflict brain damage on another. Sure, there are submissions which are not as traumatizing to the brain, but there are broken bones and chokes that cut off circulation to the brain. With post fight bonuses, crowds booing at inactivity, and highlight reels on news channels, there is a huge emphasis on damage and finishes.
One could say freak accidents like this occur in every sport. I've seen tragic things happen in all sports. Broken necks/spines in hockey, freak heart attacks in soccer, concussion after concussion in american football. But combat sports are distinct in that there is no ball to create the game around. In combat sports the whole point is to inflict as much damage as possible to another human being.
In this aspect, you have to respect what Floyd is teaching. He emphasizes taking the least damage as possible throughout one's career and having intact all of your mental health. GSP seemed to share that philosophy in MMA and would attack opponents at their weakest point to ensure a "safe" victory. One can call it point fighting, but in the end, it was smart fighting. But even GSP, towards the end of his career took a lot of damage.
USADA has only confused things more, because now you have a whole league of fighters fighting clean, but then you have guys in the regional circuits still juicing and destroying people. Whereas before, the playing field was more level with everybody juicing, now the field is more complicated with the possibility of more instances of someone on PEDS facing someone who is clean. Overall, the playing field is more level with most fighting clean, but then there will be those cases when someone is getting away with PED usage, fighting an entire league that is clean. It's just a weird situation.
This sport is brutal, and I wonder why I want to watch it anymore. Before, there were guys with amazing technique who were at the top. Like Anderson, who made you marvel at what he could do in the cage. Guys like Fedor, who in the young years of MMA was a superstar with a bigger than life aura. Guys like BJ Penn, who didn't care what weight the fight was at, he just wanted to scrap. When MMA was young, all these things were fresh and new to us and captivated us. Today, guys like Conor and Yair with his flashy kicks harken back to the type of things Anderson would bring to viewers. Conor also has the fight anywhere, anytime mentality. But nowadays, there are cards every week, and the luster isn't as bright as it used to be.
You have Mighty Mouse who is being smart about his career, but people want to see him face a bigger challenge in TJ. It's just a weird dynamic where the fighter is looking out for what's best for him, and the fans want to see the fighter put himself in the most dangerous situation. A weird dynamic that I'm not sure can coexist. This is not what fans want to see, fans just want to see blood. In that respect, maybe Mighty Mouse is in the wrong profession despite his success. That's why you see him joking about going back to stocking shelves in Costco, but is he really joking? Maybe he sees that he's not cut out for the barbaric culture of this sport.
I don't even know what I'm trying to say. But Tim Hague's death was a huge bummer and a reason to make you look at this sport in a different perspective.
One could say freak accidents like this occur in every sport. I've seen tragic things happen in all sports. Broken necks/spines in hockey, freak heart attacks in soccer, concussion after concussion in american football. But combat sports are distinct in that there is no ball to create the game around. In combat sports the whole point is to inflict as much damage as possible to another human being.
In this aspect, you have to respect what Floyd is teaching. He emphasizes taking the least damage as possible throughout one's career and having intact all of your mental health. GSP seemed to share that philosophy in MMA and would attack opponents at their weakest point to ensure a "safe" victory. One can call it point fighting, but in the end, it was smart fighting. But even GSP, towards the end of his career took a lot of damage.
USADA has only confused things more, because now you have a whole league of fighters fighting clean, but then you have guys in the regional circuits still juicing and destroying people. Whereas before, the playing field was more level with everybody juicing, now the field is more complicated with the possibility of more instances of someone on PEDS facing someone who is clean. Overall, the playing field is more level with most fighting clean, but then there will be those cases when someone is getting away with PED usage, fighting an entire league that is clean. It's just a weird situation.
This sport is brutal, and I wonder why I want to watch it anymore. Before, there were guys with amazing technique who were at the top. Like Anderson, who made you marvel at what he could do in the cage. Guys like Fedor, who in the young years of MMA was a superstar with a bigger than life aura. Guys like BJ Penn, who didn't care what weight the fight was at, he just wanted to scrap. When MMA was young, all these things were fresh and new to us and captivated us. Today, guys like Conor and Yair with his flashy kicks harken back to the type of things Anderson would bring to viewers. Conor also has the fight anywhere, anytime mentality. But nowadays, there are cards every week, and the luster isn't as bright as it used to be.
You have Mighty Mouse who is being smart about his career, but people want to see him face a bigger challenge in TJ. It's just a weird dynamic where the fighter is looking out for what's best for him, and the fans want to see the fighter put himself in the most dangerous situation. A weird dynamic that I'm not sure can coexist. This is not what fans want to see, fans just want to see blood. In that respect, maybe Mighty Mouse is in the wrong profession despite his success. That's why you see him joking about going back to stocking shelves in Costco, but is he really joking? Maybe he sees that he's not cut out for the barbaric culture of this sport.
I don't even know what I'm trying to say. But Tim Hague's death was a huge bummer and a reason to make you look at this sport in a different perspective.
Last edited:
