Article on MMA

Couldn't decide where else to post this, and I respect y'all's opinions. I'm writin' an article on MMA for a new paper at my college. It's due at 5:00 tonight, and I just wanted to get the opinion of anyone who's here before then. I can't add anymore without completely rewordin' or takin' somethin' out, as I'm already slightly over the word limit.


The sport of Mixed Martial Arts, or MMA, has experienced rapid growth the last few years and is now just shy of being considered mainstream. However, MMA still draws controversy, as it is misunderstood by many people who think it is still the spectacle that started the sport in America. As a loyal MMA fan, and occasional competitor, I would like to educate my fellow students about this sport, and hopefully raise interest in it.
The first Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) events were organized to see which type of martial art was the best. They used a very minimal rule set (to not favor one style over another), and the promoters tried sell the show by exclaiming

 

What's the word limit? It seems awfully short.

 

im just curious, is MMA really that foreign where you live? its hard for me to picture, i live in southern california and its ridiculous here, everyone knows what it is, 9 times outta 10 they have no idea what they're talking about as far critiquing the fighting but they know what MMA is. the reason i ask is because it seems like the point of your article is to expose people to it, or is the article just for shits n' giggles?

 

Can you put in a picture of Finnegan biting a baby's head off?

 

I agree to an extent. People can look at an MMA fight and say, "That's MMA." But they seem to know Jack and Shit about it. It's getting better, but I still get asked if biting and eye-gouges are allowed.

John,
You might want to go in depth on the rules and such.

 

What bacon said plus judo, ju-jitsu, pay-per-view all lower-case, I guess.

 

Organisators????

What kind of Kaiser-shit is this?

 

Whatever. The UFC is depecited as both an event and an organisation/company, I think one should distinguish.

 

You should say you are a fighter rather than a 'practiotioner' or w/e you put, gives you more authority and the readers will respect what youre saying more.

 

yeah that is true, otherwise it sounds kinda cheesy to someone who doesnt really know much about it.

 

Thanx for the input fellas. I'll update in a couple minutes once I redo some stuff to it.

And yeah, MMA is kinda foregin at my university, which specializes in music and music business. I think I know all 10 other people here that have half a clue about it (I've introduced a few to it)

 

Ok. For all interested. Here's pretty much my final draft I'm sendin' to the editor. Thanx for the input and suggestions on what to add, but with a max of about 400 words, it's kinda hard to expand anymore without droppin' somethin' out.



The sport of Mixed Martial Arts, or MMA, has experienced rapid growth the last few years and is now just shy of being as accepted as football or boxing. However, MMA still draws controversy, because it is misunderstood. Many people think it is still the spectacle from 1993 that started the sport in America. As a loyal MMA fan, and amateur MMA fighter, I would like to educate my fellow Belmont students about this sport, and hopefully raise their interest in it.
The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) was started as a series of events organized to determine which martial art was the best. In order to not favor one style over another, the rule set of the early events was almost nonexistent. The early UFC was promoted by the phrase “There are no rules!”, but that created a lot of negative feelings and drew concern from legislators. After being banned in many states, the UFC worked with state athletic commissions and created what is known as the Unified Rules of MMA. This effort got the ban on MMA competitions lifted in most states. In fact, Arizona Senator John McCain, who once derided the sport as “human cockfighting” and led the campaign against it, now supports MMA, feeling that competition is safer and fairer.
Today, MMA is a far cry from the backyard brawl that some think it is. The fighters are not just thugs who like hurting people. In fact, some of the most successful fighters are also some of the nicest people you could ever meet. Sportsmanship and respect are highly regarded, and most matches end with a hug. The fighters are well trained and conditioned athletes who have to master a variety of skills in order to succeed in their sport. Compared to a boxer or wrestler, who only has to master one discipline, a mixed martial artist has to be the jack-of-all-trades, ready to out-strike or out-wrestle their opponent. The term “mixed martial arts” was born when people realized that the UFC was no longer a style x vs style y competition, but a showcase of the skills of athletes.
There are many ways for people interested in MMA to watch events. For Belmont students living on campus, Spike TV airs several UFC shows, and the VS Network has World Extreme Cagefighting (WEC) in its regular lineup. In May, Elite XC’s first “Saturday Night Fights” will be live on CBS. Most UFC events are still on Pay-Per-View, which are sometimes ordered by sports bars and restaurants. There are also other events that can sometimes be found on cable channels and the internet.

 

I don't know about the "most fights end with a hug" part, but it looks fine otherwise. Good luck

 

Also "jack of all trades" isnt really a compliment. The saying goes "jack of all trades, master of none".

 

I don't think jack of all trades is derogetory. In fact, it's kind of my job description.

One-trick-pony is another story.