All you TMA dick riders talking about the 'spirit' of martial arts (complaining about 'stalling' in BJJ and wrestling, effective and riskless standup victories, basically effective gameplans that give you a dominant victory over your opponent) and being the biggest tough guy character for the fans. Get out of here, everyone entered the game for the money, so you should be winning anyway you can, bonus points if you damage up your opponent and get a finish (this also is better for 'business') Dominance is winning consistently, not being exciting on and off to please fans. Just thoughts after many years reading Sherdog and looking at the direction MMA has taken. It's about the money now, and there's nothing wrong with that. 30-27 or first round KO, it's about who can make it to the top. Isn't that game in and of itself respectable?
I don't think everyone gets into it for the money. Plenty of fighters like Liddell or Florian had University degrees prior to entering the fight game. They could have easily taken a much safer road to a good life. Fighting was a way bigger gamble. But they chose to fight because they love it. With that said, yeah I agree with all the LNP bullshit. If a fighter can't get up, it's his own damn fault. There's a good fucking reason most elite fighters can standup from bottom without a whole lot of issue.
Yeah but how long ago was Florian and Liddell's younger primes, game's changed since then. dude's are in it for different reasons, and all I see is bitch ass fans (not saying you) and bitter old 2nd gen MMA fighters hating. respect the grind.
I still think you find some more old school fighters. Guys like Glover probably pursued it as both a means of money and a passion for fighting. A guy like Condit or Cain also give off that old school mentality. I mean Cain said his biggest issue with wrestling was that no punches were allowed. He almost didn't wrestle his last year at ASU he was so anxious to fight. But I do agree, there has been a mentality shift on average. And I'm sure a lot of guys know winning the belt may be unrealistic, so they need to win the fights they can anyway they can.
i agree I think they start training because they love it but once you start making it to the top its all about the money , prime example being someone like GSP
Well, it's prize fighting. Always has been. The Gracies weren't too worried about the prize aspect as they already had money. Take a look at most great fighters in the history of prize fighting and see where they come from. Generally speaking, they're not the most affluent people.
I don't know if it is still true, but I'd heard several years ago that MMA had the highest percentage of people with university degrees of any sport in the United States. Or perhaps it was just the UFC as a league (when compared to the NBA etc.) I suppose this might be influenced in part by the high number of wrestlers, who tend to actually finish college.
Yea, it is all about the money. But just winning those 30-27 UD's ain't enough sometimes. Fitch had a lot of wins, didn't he? And he's now Broke Fitch full time because nobody wanted to pay to see him "fight". Okami and Shields, same thing, they have a lot of good wins on their resume, but their earning potential is way lower than guys who would lose an mma match against them right now. Because this is entertainment, and most people don't want to pay money to see a guy restrain another guy, they want to see a fight.
Bullshit. You're not gonna make much money if no one wants to see you fight. The biggest moneymakers tend to be the most exciting fighters... guys like Fitch, Shields and Okami get cut as soon as there an excuse to cut them. Guys like Sam Stout who has never been relevant at LW sticks around forever because he comes to fight.
A lot of the Americans have degrees, especially the wrestlers. I would imagine the NFL has a higher % of graduates though since you have to stay 3 years in college before going pro, a small % of NFL players leave college for the draft early. Basically only because of the set up though. NCAA Football is like the developmental league for the NFL
Yeah and that's what's wrong. Winning over everything I got no beef with guys that put asses in seats being paid more in bonuses and show pay, but let's not get our priorities twisted. Winning consistently is the goal in this sport.
