In defense of Brazilian fighters...

[jeremyemilio]

I see a lot of snide remarks floating around about the performance of Brazilian fighters in the wake of the new anti-doping policies and procedures, but there are other (better, IMO) explanations.

Namely, the country has been through a lot over the past few years.

Their economy is in trouble.

Their political system is in turmoil.

They're in the midst of a health crisis with the Zika virus.

Nations that go through these types of things generally fall off in other areas, such as athletics.

Is normal.

Nations are awarded the Olympics for a variety of reasons, but I think people forget that the reason Brazil was chosen was because at the time it was a bit of a global socio-economic darling. Things have changed dramatically.

 

[Arm Barbarian]

 

[Ever Watchful]

I believe Brazil hasn't been doing well because their fighters have been hit or miss. So you were almost right.

 

[Primitivo]

 

[TheRassler]

Father Time is undefeated.


Basically, they're all old as fuck.

 

[Rhood]

Sounds just like America

Welcome to reality

 

[cumafish]

Brazil has failed to develop a rigorous LNP base for its youth combatants.

 

[jeremyemilio]

Well, yeah, I know that people don't initially see these sorts of connections, but they exist. A poor economy may not have any noticeable effect on an individual fighter, but take a group of fighters, put them all into the middle of a poor economy, and that's inevitably going to have spin off consequences for some of them (spouse loses a job, brother needs a couch to crash on, training partners can't afford to hang out with you in the gym all day anymore, et cetera), which in turn is going to do harm to the overall performance of the group in terms of winning percentage.

Same goes for health scares and political upheaval.

 

[Arm Barbarian]

Well, yeah, I know that people don't initially see these sorts of connections, but they exist. A poor economy may not have any noticeable effect on an individual fighter, but take a group of fighters, put them all into the middle of a poor economy, and that's inevitably going to have spin off consequences for some of them (spouse loses a job, brother needs a couch to crash on, training partners can't afford to hang out with you in the gym all day anymore, et cetera), which in turn is going to do harm to the overall performance of the group in terms of winning percentage.

Same goes for health scares and political upheaval.

 

[maxi diablo]

They need to recruit their pro boxers or something.

 

[jeremyemilio]

Father Time is undefeated.


Basically, they're all old as fuck.

I agree. But this is related to the point I was making. Where are the younger Brazilian fighters coming up to take their place?

Social, political, economic conditions factor into these things.

 

[NinjaSquid]

wtf is this shit

 

[GSPOAB]

 

[Selukrid612]

Sounds like a Brazilian excuse to me.

 

[CouchStud]

Brazil did so well for the same reason Japan did so well in MMA. They were the pioneers and first adopters of MMA and the rest of the world had to catch up. It would be as if only Brazil and Japan played soccer and every other country was just starting to learn the game, would you be surprised if Brazil won nearly all the World Cups? But 10 years later you'd expect everyone else to catch up and now they no longer have a monopoly no champions.

 

[jeremyemilio]

wtf is this shit

Ya know what?

 

[Bewareofdawg]

I agree. But this is related to the point I was making. Where are the younger Brazilian fighters coming up to take their place?

Social, political, economic conditions factor into these things.

Aldo is like 27

 

[mmmjojo]

The game has evolved in a sense that you need to have access to quality coaches in all facets of MMA. And the reality is that America gives you a better chance of success in the sport. We have better boxing and wrestling coaches than most. Even Brazilian BJJ trainers are coming here to provide a better living for themselves. Muy Thai and kickboxing are still not as good here as it is in Europe and Thailand but there's still access to it here. The sad reality is the world is falling behind because they lack world class training in certain areas.

 

[mmmjojo]

Brazil has failed to develop a rigorous LNP base for its youth combatants.

Lol. Yeah, in a sense.

 

[Headkicktoleg]

Pederneiras is basically just a pharmacist. That's the problem.