Larry Merchant on MMA

I was a wrestling fan in my early teens (WCW vs. NWO ftw), I've always liked martial arts and boxing, I'm still a boxing fan but the alphabet soup titles and inability to put big fights together kills me. Say what you will about the UFC, but at least if we clamor loud enough for a fight it will usually happen.

LOL at people getting title shots too quickly. Champs in the UFC fight a lot more and thus need more challengers, and just because you don't have to beat up 20 jabronis to start fighting real contenders doesn't mean you aren't deserving. I much prefer the UFC where your career isn't over after 1 loss like it can be in boxing. How many times have you watched mid level boxers who weren't actually that good but both had records of 20-0, or (even worse) someone who's 25-0 is fighting someone who's 10-25? Is that better than a guy who's 10-3 against the best competition in the world fighting for the title ala the UFC? I think not.
 
Sublime722 said:
Ill try:

Me: Hey, you look familiar. Do you play poker in los angeles?

Larry: Takes off sunglasses* Im Larry Merchant from boxing

Me: Ohhhhhh, ok. I recognize a lot of people from when I used to work at Larry Flynts Casino.

Larry: Always looking for a mark right *laughs

Me: No no, I just remember faces

Me: I watch a lot of boxing, MMA, kickboxing. So, what do you think of MMA, it seems to be picking up steam as the leading combat sport

Larry: What is it about MMA that makes it more appealing that boxing

Me: I like the idea of a more well rounded approach to anything in life.

Ugh...I cant do the whole convo...People are starting to come into the gallery
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that's when the sex started.

thanks for the discussion, tho. cool you met him even though i hate the guy.
 
He has a point about the instant gratification...MMA does have that excitement over boxing.

Boxing has far more problems than that though.
 
The Soothsayer said:
I don't think the MMA and boxing fanbases overlap as much as others assume. It's an altogether different product. I would theorize that more MMA fans are grown-up pro wrestling fans.

The diversity in movesets, the cohesive marketing, the monthly PPV's, the merchandising, and the favorite-fighter mentality are all very similar between MMA and pro wrestling.
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i completely disagree, most mma fans i know utterly hate pro wrestling lol.
 
The Soothsayer said:
I don't think the MMA and boxing fanbases overlap as much as others assume. It's an altogether different product. I would theorize that more MMA fans are grown-up pro wrestling fans.

The diversity in movesets, the cohesive marketing, the monthly PPV's, the merchandising, and the favorite-fighter mentality are all very similar between MMA and pro wrestling.
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I loved Wrestling when I was a kid and Still use some Ric Flair lines on the ladies at work haha , But boxing will always be my true passion as I boxed as a Amateur for over a decade , but Boxing is so crappy these days it hurts , I love mma but I miss the old Pride days and Fighters that went after it
 
countrytime86 said:
i completely disagree, most mma fans i know utterly hate pro wrestling lol.
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I remember watching Hogan back in the day but never took wrestling with me out of childhood. Martial arts on the other hand, have been a lifelong constant. And six months of BJJ completely ruined any sort of sport, fake or otherwise, that didn't have it.
 
Uchi Mata said:
I was a wrestling fan in my early teens (WCW vs. NWO ftw), I've always liked martial arts and boxing, I'm still a boxing fan but the alphabet soup titles and inability to put big fights together kills me. Say what you will about the UFC, but at least if we clamor loud enough for a fight it will usually happen.

LOL at people getting title shots too quickly. Champs in the UFC fight a lot more and thus need more challengers, and just because you don't have to beat up 20 jabronis to start fighting real contenders doesn't mean you aren't deserving. I much prefer the UFC where your career isn't over after 1 loss like it can be in boxing. How many times have you watched mid level boxers who weren't actually that good but both had records of 20-0, or (even worse) someone who's 25-0 is fighting someone who's 10-25? Is that better than a guy who's 10-3 against the best competition in the world fighting for the title ala the UFC? I think not.
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I agree good post
 
dont fuck with larry merchant man... remember if he was 50 years younger he would kick your ass
 
countrytime86 said:
i completely disagree, most mma fans i know utterly hate pro wrestling lol.
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Did they always hate it though? Even before discovering mixed martial arts?

My friends and I hate pro wrestling today, but it was our religion when we were in elementary school.
 
Fijeeto said:
Agreed. I stopped watching pro wrestling after discovering MMA in the 90's. Most of my friends that are MMA fans were also pro wrestling fans. In fact, I can only think of two that actually enjoy boxing.
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Totally agree, and I have a similar experience. I was introduced to UFC by when Ken Shamrock came over to WWF in 1996 and was hyped as this demon-winged ass beater. I'd seen some fights, but I didn't really get into MMA until Ken made his return and Tito ate his soul.

It's ironic to me that I hate wrestling now, have for about 12 or 13 years, and love MMA. Literally everyone I know that likes MMA used to like wrestling and moved on when they got a little older and realized how silly wrestling is.
 
Cool. I like Larry Merchant. He's right that title shots tend to happen too quickly in MMA, but I think the underlying problem is that fighters are rushed through the ranks. It decreases the overall quality of the fights. It's bad for the sport. Boxing, on the other hand, sometimes goes to the opposite extreme, which is just as bad.
 
Larry is the man. He could've said MMA sucks and I'd still praise him. That's how great he is.
 
Fijeeto said:
Did they always hate it though? Even before discovering mixed martial arts?

My friends and I hate pro wrestling today, but it was our religion when we were in elementary school.
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ya, i wonder about that myself. many mma fans rip on wrasslin, but all of em seem to know something about it. is it because every kid grew up watching wrasslin and some of those kids became mma fans as adults, or did only some kids grow up watching wrasslin, including all soon-to-be mma fans???

but ya, count me as one of those who is totally and completely flummoxed about how & why adults can watch it. but there is no doubt that many do. including a couple friends & family. they can't really explain it in a way that makes sense to me either. i went to a cousin's house a few years ago and he had it on, and when i asked him why, he just said "cuz it's entertaining". next thing i knew some huge Islander guy had stuck his ass in another dude's face, called it the "Big Stinky" move or something, dude fell over (from being unable to breath i guess) and got pinned, and my cousin and his wife thoroughly enjoyed it. color me confused.
 
If Larry were 50 years younger, he'd kick Mayweather's a**.
 
For the record, I was a huge pro-wrestling fan until I was 15 or 16.
 
SeattleFightFan said:
ya, i wonder about that myself. many mma fans rip on wrasslin, but all of em seem to know something about it. is it because every kid grew up watching wrasslin and some of those kids became mma fans as adults, or did only some kids grow up watching wrasslin, including all soon-to-be mma fans???

but ya, count me as one of those who is totally and completely flummoxed about how & why adults can watch it. but there is no doubt that many do.
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Absolutely agree.

I'll be flipping through and stop on their product for 5 or 10 seconds, and I honestly wonder if it was always that ridiculous (it was always ridiculous, but was it THAT ridiculous?) or did we just grow up? Back in the day Bret Hart and Sting and Diesel and Undertaker were what my friends and I lived for. Now it's an absolute mystery to me how adults can watch it. Crazy stuff. It's interesting how many people share those views, too.
 
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