"If you're a true fan of the sport..."

SamboKing

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I was recently on a long flight for business to Hong Kong, and I was re-watching UFC 162 on my laptop. My "neighbor" in the seat next to me, an aussie peaks over and starts watching too. I'm like, whatever, enjoy.

After the video ends, he perks up, and starts discussing to me how he's been a life long UFC fan, and thanks me for letting him watch the video. :rolleyes:

Then he ask me about the upcoming fight between Maia and Shields. I casually reply, "Eh, I don't find either of them all that entertaining. I think Shields will win a decision but I probably won't be watching the whole fight."

He sort of gets huffy, and tries to explain how grappling is what makes the UFC different than brawling or boxing, which he finds primitive. He then says, "If you're a true fan of the sport, you would appreciate two world class grapplers trying to submit each other."

That's when I tuned him out and said I was going to take a long nap for the rest of the flight, and we left it at that.

Why do people think to be a true "fan" of any sport, you have to enjoy fighters who have a boring style. This isn't only true for MMA, it's for boxing I find too. For instance I don't enjoy watching guys like Wladimir Klitschko and his brother, or Floyd Mayweather, and I would never pay for any of their PPV events. But I do enjoy watching boxing, and MMA when there are fighters who have entertaining styles. But to be a "true fan" you have to love Jake Shields or Maia, or Machida? That seems kind of lame. I understand the grappling game, and I love rolling around on the mat myself for exercise, but I don't really enjoy seeing others do it for entertainment.
 
Stopped reading at 'I think Shields will win a decision.'
 
I was that guy on the plane. I meant no offense, I was talking in generalizations.
 
Fans of a sport, like any group in life, have individual cliques. I guess you were excluded from the "we appreciate all grappling, even if it is sometimes boring b/c the fighters don't seem to be doing anything to advance position, go for subs, or even land significant GNP" clique.

Oh well....
 
why don't you like Floyd Mayweather?

and i agree. that "you're not really a fan if..." cliche is tired and should be deleted from the mma lexicon forever, along with underrated, overrated, "good for the sport", and "deserves"

but i look forward to this fight.
 
how in the balls is boxing primitive?

but even more confusing is why you picked shields by decision.
 
Personally I prefer watching a great grappling match over a point style kickboxing fight. I mean it really depends though. Styles make a match up interesting. A lot of times 2 great grapplers will end up mostly boxing.
 
Personally I prefer watching a great grappling match over a point style kickboxing fight. I mean it really depends though. Styles make a match up interesting. A lot of times 2 great grapplers will end up mostly boxing.

well, sure. but that's not a fair comparison. wouldn't you also prefer watching to ko specialists in k-1 than a LnP mma bout?
 
You've been watching for over a decade. Have you ever questioned yourself whether you're a "true fan?".

I'm guessing you haven't, because it's bloody obvious you're a fan if you've been watching for that long.

There has always been a lot of elitism in MMA fans, but it mostly seems to happen to new fans who become slightly obsessed. They can't watch enough MMA, and they think anyone who doesn't have that level of dedication "isn't a proper fan".

Some fights are more anticipated than others. Thats how sport works. Most football fans get more excited over the superbowl than a mid season college game between two defensive teams.

We don't know how Maia vs Shields will play out..... it could end up being a classic like Randy vs Nog.... but it's extremely unlikely. Given their styles they'll probably either grapple extremely carefully (eg. Shields vs Mayhem), or they'll be afraid to engage at all in grappling and have a sloppy kickboxing match instead, like you often see when 2 high level grapplers meet.
 
What boxers do you like? Just out of curiosity.
 
Just admit it your not a fan of the sport, grappling is a huge part of MMA. You just want the.

images
 
why don't you like Floyd Mayweather?

and i agree. that "you're not really a fan if..." cliche is tired and should be deleted from the mma lexicon forever, along with underrated, overrated, "good for the sport", and "deserves"

but i look forward to this fight.

I just dont like his style sometimes. A friend invited me over earlier this year I think, for him to fight "Ghost" Guerrero(sp?). I know the guy is skilled, and I appreciate his dedication to his job, but I couldn't pay attention to the fight because it was putting me to sleep.

I also can't stand Bernard Hopkins. His fights also give me that drowsy feeling.
 
After the video ends, he perks up, and starts discussing to me how he's been a life long UFC fan, and thanks me for letting him watch the video. :rolleyes:

Yeah, what kind of dick thanks you for something?
 
your neighbor was right.

If you only look for entertainment and don't enjoy the technicality of all sides of the sport then you don't really like the sport...

Look at baseball... If I say that I only like baseball when there are homeruns and that single hitters with high base presence pencentage are borring... what will people tell me? That i'm not a true baseball fan if I can't appreciate the game as a whole...

Am I a real soccer fan if all I care about are goals? True fans will tell me that soccers is not just about scoring a goal... If it's what I like I should watch 10years old kid play soccers where the game ends 12-9... Elite soccer players learned to play defense, thats why the game ends 2-1 and not 12-9... same thing with MMA... fighters are now more well rounded and their defence is better...

Chuck liddel maybe was entertaining but not very smart as a fighter being finished 6-7 times... Chuck was like the 10 yo soccer player playing all offense and no defense
 
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There has always been a lot of elitism in MMA fans

That's all it was. If you don't enjoy certain match-ups while someone else does, it's not a problem. Not all people are the same.
 
You seem salty or maybe it's just the way you're selling the story.

The guy was likely thrilled to have found another fan of an increasingly niche sport (my friend circle who will watch with me has gone from 20 with the TUF explosion back to only my finance). Having gone from begging people to watch Pride with me, to running out of floor space at the house back to cuddled up on the couch with the boss I would have jumped at the chance to talk MMA with someone.

People take the "true fan" thing a bit too liberally, but to say the only aspect that differentiates MMA from boxing or K1 is boring to you does beg the question of why you even watch...?
 
The TS and the guy on the plane can both be right. Grappling is an enormous part of the sport and generally speaking, pure fans will likely enjoy it. It's like a pure baseball fan saying he doesn't like good pitching (because home runs are fun) or the running game in the NFL, because deep passes are more exciting. Purest, old school fans like it all, because it's all part of the sport.

TS can be right because Shields really is a snoozer to watch. Generally, grappling can be very exciting. I tend to think Maia is one of those guys (I really enjoyed his domination of Fitch).

TS could have just said there are exciting and boring grapplers, just like boring and exciting strikers.
 
You've been watching for over a decade. Have you ever questioned yourself whether you're a "true fan?".

I'm guessing you haven't, because it's bloody obvious you're a fan if you've been watching for that long.

There has always been a lot of elitism in MMA fans, but it mostly seems to happen to new fans who become slightly obsessed. They can't watch enough MMA, and they think anyone who doesn't have that level of dedication "isn't a proper fan".

Some fights are more anticipated than others. Thats how sport works. Most football fans get more excited over the superbowl than a mid season college game between two defensive teams.

We don't know how Maia vs Shields will play out..... it could end up being a classic like Randy vs Nog.... but it's extremely unlikely. Given their styles they'll probably either grapple extremely carefully (eg. Shields vs Mayhem), or they'll be afraid to engage at all in grappling and have a sloppy kickboxing match instead, like you often see when 2 high level grapplers meet.

Yeah I actually was a bigger PRIDE fan when that was around. Not sure if anyone still remembers how good PRIDE was back in the early 2000s, but it was absolutely the best MMA promotion at the time.

But yeah, I guess I'm not obsessed with every fighter, nor do I enjoy every style. I love the sport, but guys like Jake Shields, Maia, Machida, and a few others really put me to sleep. I actually do like Nate Diaz, and his brother Nick, BJ Penn, Big Nog, all of whom are excellent grapplers.

I still consider myself a true fan, just not a fan of some of the prolonged hugging on the ground. I think Shields vs Maia is going to be a really sloppy slap fest, with some takedown attempts, but I don't see an ADCC grappling masterclass breaking out.
 
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