Are Americans falling behind in MMA?

[Jack Stevonovich]

26 years ago no-holds-barred fighting was supposed to prove what the greatest martial art was, here we are today and I think the answer is pretty clear mixed martial arts as a style is superior to every other discipline ever created however I've noticed that the United States has fewer mixed martial arts gyms then I expected by now.

I expected mixed martial arts to take over the world but today if you search for MMA on Google Maps 99% of the results will be Brazilian jiu-jitsu gyms.

Royce Gracie was a Phenom No Doubt but we don't see anybody walking into the ring in a Jiu-Jitsu Gi nowadays however 99% of your training opportunities in 99% of America's hometowns is traditional Brazilian Jiu Jitsu.

why has Brazilian jiu-jitsu dominated the the American martial arts market for so many years and it's almost impossible to find pure mixed martial arts as a style in most of America's towns?

Brazilian Jiu Jitsu doesn't have video games or TV shows or betting odds like MMA however it dominates the martial arts Marketplace!

I really feel like the rest of the world is leaving America in the dust and the fact that we are the biggest country with the best technology and the best athletes and still don't dominate the grappling Sports and MMA is a bit of a cluster.

In a lot of countries the state actually has free gymnasiums where people can go train in Combat Athletics meanwhile in America all our training opportunitys are private for-profit businesses who sweat liability and prioritize profits.

don't let the UFC rankings fool you,
I don't think the UFC has the best fighters in the world I think they put on the best fights in the world there's a difference!

Other countries will begin to dominate IF they make pankration an Olympic sport.

 

[BBMN]

7 of 12....
So we don't dominate it..

Or, one could say "The US has more UFC championships than the remaining 194 countries combined."

 

[jabelar]

Every "decade" or generation seems to have a favorite martial art that captures the (American) public consciousness. In the 60s and early 70s it was Kung-Fu and you had the Bruce Lee's and Chuck Noris's, then in the 80s it was Karate -- that was all people were taking when I was a kid -- and you had movies like Karate Kid, then in 90's and 00's seems like TaeKwonDo was most popular -- I think because there was a rise in appreciation for Korean warrior culture plus it was properly organized as a sport (e.g. in Olympics). Then in with the rise of MMA the novelty seemed to focus on BJJ and honestly it was hyped as a big part of what made MMA different than other martial arts sports (we'd all been seeing punches and such for decades but now there were all these "weird" full-body submissions and such).

So yes BJJ is really the sport flavor of martial arts for the current generation.

The key though is that the majority of parents put kids into SPORTS. The well-organized ones like TaeKwonDo and BJJ are going to be strong candidates. It is also important that the sport be seen as lacking corruption and also not simply being a freak-show entertainment.

If you're talking to other parents and they say "my daughter is taking TaeKwonDo" no one even blinks. If you say "my daughter is taking boxing" you'll immediately get a lecture on CTE, and if you say "my daughter is taking MMA" they'll generally think you're a bad parent.

Not saying it is right, but just explaining the general societal view that I've witnessed.

 

[KeepItRealist]

Can't understand the dearth of decent American HW's for years. Both boxing and MMA. In a country so fat, that's inexcusable.

 

[NoSmilez]

They all end up moving to the US for training.

 

[whougonnacall]

Hard to say its largely americans let into the ufc ...fuck knows how many khabibs are left outside

 

[HHJ]

Alot of bjj gyms became mma gyms and kept original name.

 

[-guerilla-]

America does great at the Olympics and has the worst (i.e. essentially non-existent) state support in the entire world. Soon-to-be Olympic gold medalists work in Starbuck's to afford a place to live so they can train their asses off to rep their country. And despite having to concern themselves with paying the bills, they still kill it (especially) at the Summer Olympics every year.

So no, lack of state support has never held back Americans from athletic excellence.

How do you know that?

if we had state support then perhaps we have some numbers to back that up.

Try starting an MMA gym at your local community center, their risk management team will throw you out faster than you could pick up your mats.

Meanwhile the rest of the world still respects combat sports and has state run facilities that allow the practice of all types of martial arts

 

[-guerilla-]

Hard to say its largely americans let into the ufc ...fuck knows how many khabibs are left outside

EXACTLY!!!

 

[Sonny Qc]

How have I not seen this before? Holy crap

Stoled it, thought that was a classic

 

[thobra]

Americans never dominated mma. The UFC is an American promotion, but still, there Are several foreign top 10 fighters. If they were so dominant, it wouldn’t be.

Americans dominate Football And Basketball.

 

[-guerilla-]

Alot of bjj gyms became mma gyms and kept original name.

Yeah kind of, they don't have an MMA class they have 5 diff martial arts... $$$$

 

[TStoner]

Didn’t read the OP, but no. The rest of the countries are just catching up

 

[Blayt7hh]

Hard to say its largely americans let into the ufc ...fuck knows how many khabibs are left outside

None. It’s the low end fighters that get left out

 

[Mmaprovost]

And I'm proud to be an American

 

[MescalineDreams]

not sure exactly how to approach this one..

So, who do you think are the best fighters In the world then If they don't exist in the UFC?

 

[Rex Kwon Do]

How do you know that?

if we had state support then perhaps we have some numbers to back that up.

"The United States Olympic Committee is one of the only national committees that does not receive any financial assistance from its government."

https://www.dailysignal.com/2014/02/07/federal-funding-us-olympians/

"Unlike many other countries, the U.S. federal government does not fund Olympic programs. In 1978, Congress turned over the job of representing American athletes to the U.S. Olympic Committee (USOC), a non-profit. The USOC reported $339 million in revenue in 2016, while the International Olympic Committee (IOC) makes billions of dollars from broadcasting rights and sponsorship deals."

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/winter-olympics-athletes-financial-struggles-endorsements/

 

[MescalineDreams]

How do you know that?

if we had state support then perhaps we have some numbers to back that up.

Try starting an MMA gym at your local community center, their risk management team will throw you out faster than you could pick up your mats.

Meanwhile the rest of the world still respects combat sports and has state run facilities that allow the practice of all types of martial arts

I think this is an overly general statement and the level of acceptance would vary drastically all over north america.

At the same time, maybe you do have a bit of a point here relative to other countries..Hard for me to say without seeing some actual Data.

That said, the rest of your OP is a bit of a confused mess.

 

[whougonnacall]

None. It’s the low end fighters that get left out

We have very little idea mma has no real ranking system outside mma nor any set criteria to get into the ufc

 

[MescalineDreams]

EXACTLY!!!

To a point, maybe this Is true.

That said, If they are really that good. They're on the radar somewhere. Someone is looking at them, whether Bellator, the UFC, One, PFL, etc. It would be impossible to be a high caliber fighter In this day and age and not have some awareness somewhere of their existence.

I don't think the UFC really cares where fighters are coming from for the most part, they're Interested In having the best fighters In the world and putting on the best fights.