I may be gerontophilic...

R

rdmize111

White Belt
@White
Joined
Aug 18, 2013
Messages
84
Reaction score
0
So it seems in many fights I'm just for the old guy regardless of anything. Not all the time but in many cases I have hated a guy or a least wasn't a fan. Suddenly out of nowhere I find I'm cheering for them

Example:
I hated BJ. For a long period I hated him more than any other fighter. It mostly stemmed from TUF and the way he treated Jens. What a dick! The whole thing at fighter selection... I'm also a big GSP fan so... blahhh blahh blahh 'nuf said.

Now comes the Rory fight. I find myself wanting BJ to tool this "kid". I literally start cussing at the screen when Rory starts showboating. "Who the fuck do you think you are you POS?!" "Do you know what that guy has done for you little fuck?!"

A second example could be Sakuraba. I'll not go into why I disliked him for fear of missing the point but while I didn't "hate" him I would say I disliked him.

Flash forward to Sakuraba vs random Gracie kid I don't know from Adam. Again I'm talking to the TV. "yeah well FUCK YOU! he beat up your whole family!"

There are more examples but I think you get my point. I sort of seem to randomly start cheering for guys as they get older.

Am I alone? (not in the talking to my TV part, I know that means I'm crazy and also that I'm not alone in it).

If you have a psychology degree feel free to tell me what fucked up part of my head makes this happen.
 
Well I have 3 psychology degrees, but you don't even need one to see what's going on...it's not a fetish for older fighters, but fear of the unfamiliar that you are dealing with. You probably root for the older guys because you don't know the backstories of their younger counterparts at first. But in time, you will be pulling for them as well. I think that's where a lot of people started off hating Jones; he beat the guys that a lot of people already were fond of. See the related phenomenon known as "Pride fetish."

Fear of the unknown and fondness of the familiar. Nothing too deep about this phenomenon.
 
Rucks said:
Well I have 3 psychology degrees, but you don't even need one to see what's going on...it's not a fetish for older fighters, but fear of the unfamiliar that you are dealing with. You probably root for the older guys because you don't know the backstories of their younger counterparts at first. But in time, you will be pulling for them as well. I think that's where a lot of people started off hating Jones; he beat the guys that a lot of people already were fond of. See the related phenomenon known as "Pride fetish."

Fear of the unknown and fondness of the familiar. Nothing too deep about this phenomenon.
Click to expand...

Simple to you as Ohm's Law is to me. Not everyone knows Ohm's law. Anyways awsome. Not having had a lot of time to think about yet, I think you are 100% correct!

THANKS!

EDIT: Did I forget to add that I like old man sex?... JK. Thread title was kinda a joke
 
I sympathize, in my opinion we older fans associate the older fighters with our own youth and a "better" time for MMA (i.e. early 2000's UFC/Pride era). I do the same thing, however there is an entire new stable of interesting fighters. I seem to pick guys through the prelims and follow them, unfortunately none of them have struck gold
 
Rucks said:
Well I have 3 psychology degrees, but you don't even need one to see what's going on...it's not a fetish for older fighters, but fear of the unfamiliar that you are dealing with. You probably root for the older guys because you don't know the backstories of their younger counterparts at first. But in time, you will be pulling for them as well. I think that's where a lot of people started off hating Jones; he beat the guys that a lot of people already were fond of. See the related phenomenon known as "Pride fetish."

Fear of the unknown and fondness of the familiar. Nothing too deep about this phenomenon.
Click to expand...

I have 9, and from an Ivy League School nonetheless, not from.. La Salle or wherever you got yours. Sounds like a pasta dish.

It's clear as day TS is suffering from reverse body dysmorphia.
 
Rucks said:
Well I have 3 psychology degrees, but you don't even need one to see what's going on...it's not a fetish for older fighters, but fear of the unfamiliar that you are dealing with. You probably root for the older guys because you don't know the backstories of their younger counterparts at first. But in time, you will be pulling for them as well. I think that's where a lot of people started off hating Jones; he beat the guys that a lot of people already were fond of. See the related phenomenon known as "Pride fetish."

Fear of the unknown and fondness of the familiar. Nothing too deep about this phenomenon.
Click to expand...

I think people didnt like jones because he was/is cocky not because he beat popular guys.
 
I seem to become fans of fighters after they take serious beatings, I was never a big fan of BJ untill he was slayed by GsP and toughness that Shogun showed against Jones and Henderson made me a fan.
 
marcusnz80 said:
I think people didnt like jones because he was/is cocky not because he beat popular guys.
Click to expand...

Not true. People were high on him before he fought for the belt. After Shogun things went downhill and maybe because he did get cocky or changed afterwards.

Anyways. I empathize for the older fighters but most of the time I'm indifferent if they lose unless I like them. But usually I do like the veterans over the youngsters.
 
You warm to the things you're familiar with.

The only psychological problem here is what the hell you had against Sakuraba.
 
It may have something to do with how old you are. If you're of working age and perhaps not getting on very well career-wise then you might support the old guard as they're analagous to your own position.
 
Could be something to do with wanting to see the 'lower' fighter to beat the 'higher' fighter. Most old guys don't fight as good as they did in young age so its more exciting to be supporting them. Underdog and oldie are similarly held social perceptions. both are expected to lose. To prove something wrong is exciting.

Second it that it could be something about familiar/unfamiliar. Not having the comfort of knowing who exactly a fighter is and choosing the one you know.

Of course I am bullshitting.
 
Gatts said:
You warm to the things you're familiar with.

The only psychological problem here is what the hell you had against Sakuraba.
Click to expand...

I didn't watch Pride and only knew him as the guy that sat in the Cage like a 2 year old after he got screwed.

One of the 1st pride events I did watch was him getting KO'ed by Wandy and at the time I just got the feeling he didn't deserve the fight. Not sure if I had made the connection at that point that he was the same guy from UFC Japan or not.

Regardless I love him now. That make up for it? How about if I watch Severn vs Shamrock 2 times back to back as penance?
 
Rucks said:
Well I have 3 psychology degrees, but you don't even need one to see what's going on...it's not a fetish for older fighters, but fear of the unfamiliar that you are dealing with. You probably root for the older guys because you don't know the backstories of their younger counterparts at first. But in time, you will be pulling for them as well. I think that's where a lot of people started off hating Jones; he beat the guys that a lot of people already were fond of. See the related phenomenon known as "Pride fetish."

Fear of the unknown and fondness of the familiar. Nothing too deep about this phenomenon.
Click to expand...

lmao what's it called when somebody has to announce that they have 3 degrees? You couldn't just come in here and start your paragraph differently?
 
Off topic but I don't think it is worth a thread...

The very 1st thing I ever saw of pride was a guy sort of in airplane crash position, on his knees with his head to his knees.. all balled up and the second fighter dropping Knees into the back of his head from standing.

I had a hacked D-TV card (I know. it was stealing and I would not do it again. Not joking) and just flipped it on this Pride thing to check it out. would have been around 2001'ish.

I think it might have been Wandy and Sakuraba from a previous fight.. but really no clue. Not even 100% it was Pride but I think so.

Any of you have any clue what fight that may have been? I know vague.. but worth a shot.
 
Last edited:
Oleg Salenko said:
I have 9, and from an Ivy League School nonetheless, not from.. La Salle or wherever you got yours. Sounds like a pasta dish.

It's clear as day TS is suffering from reverse body dysmorphia.
Click to expand...

Nine degrees barely lands a job as a middle school counselor anymore. Since they are Ivy League, it will at least be a nicer middle school.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Forum statistics

Threads
1,236,596
Messages
55,429,514
Members
174,775
Latest member
shawn_bogart

Share this page

Back
Top