MMA Revisionist History

Remember when MMA was way better?
The fighters were way worse...
There were far less weight classes...
There were far less events...
Talent was more scattered and the best didn't fight as often...
The rings girls had way better asses...wait what (true)

I have a feeling that a lot of people liked MMA when it was new and en vogue, and now that the novelty has worn off its grown stale with them. I think the better talent, additional weight classes and more events make MMA far better than its ever been, even if...

the rules are worse...
the cards are watered down...(with big names anyways)

And as far as the cards go, some of the best cards are the ones that look the worst on paper. Did anyone was the Macao card on Fight Pass? Incredible fights, yet a bad card on paper.

 

Well I agree on a few points especially the ring girls.

 

1. Weak piss belt thread
2. I'd say less weight class is a good thing
3. Yeah all the "lock down" contracts keep the talent happy The talent use to float between promotions so I wouldn't call that scattered.
4. At the end of the day I'm not worried about ring girls, I'm more concerned about actually getting pussy
5. Terrible thread, WASTELAND!

 

True say about the ring girls, Arianny and Brittney are beat.

 

You know, all the arguments about "less weight class", "less events" and other stuffs don't really hold up. Try to bring the argument to boxing and see how it holds up. MMA is still growing, and it is experiencing growing pains. Gives it time.

 

me too. Ring girls nowadays are made of plastic.

 

Fedor

 

I really enjoyed MMA from 2005-2010. Lots of big names, good stacked cards, few weight classes.

Problem is, MMA is so saturated, the fad has worn off a bit. It's still popular and a staple in sports, but it won't reach the heights it gained in 2008-2009. Dana is trying to make the UFC like the NFL, weekly shows on free TV and PPVs. He wants people to watch the UFC as religiously as the NFL all year long.

 

The UFC sent Chuck into the PRIDE GP 2003...

... that was one of the coolest tournaments ever.

Compare it to the Monday Night Wars in Pro Wrestling, or the nationalism we see in the Olympic Games; competition between organizations is a good thing.

Right now there is one promotion much higher than the others.
Now it is simply about the fighter in each division instead of a collection of fighters under a banner.

The remedy is to align yourself with fighters from a locale or fight team.
When that is not enough, just watch old fights.

 

I thought this thread was going to be about all the posters that shit talk about fighters that were at their best 5-10 years before they ever started watching MMA.

 

i think it was better during the pride era. maybe it's because i was younger then and i just got old, but i really was into it once upon a time

 

Some people can't fathom a world where Takanori Gomi was a top P4P fighter.
Miguel Torres was a top P4P fighter.
You might have three cards in a row with your favorite fighter on it.
UFC/PRIDE weekends.

 

More ppv and more weight class do not equal better MMA.

MMA use to be way better when there were two competing or gs.

 

The talent pool is much deeper. but fighters are not better today. If that were so, Couture would not have lasted as long as he did.

 

I don't get the mentality, I got into watching MMA a long time ago but there were still fighters that were before my time in terms of when they were at their best, I wanted to be educated on them though. The first time I watched MMA was on VHS at my friends house, it was Ken Shamrock vs Dan Severn 1 but I didn't really get into watching MMA till around 2002.

 

I'm a huge Pride guy and was one of the most vocal of pride fighters>UFC fighters, having said that when I rewatch pride fights an events I realize pride wasnt as awesome as it appeared back in the day. A lot of fighters that were pride legends I look back on and realize current fighters are definitely more talented. Pride Shogun while very fun to watch was essentially a sloppy brawler who improved his striking a great deal in the UFC. I also bought into the hype of a lot o guys in pride due to the mismatch factors and thought certain guys were unstoppable. I thought Cro cop was going to dominate the UFC when he came over, I was dead wrong, but rewatching his pride fights I see a solid but extremely flawed fighter that I couldn't see as a teenager.

 

Fans hate it now because they have small brains and can't remember all the names/rules/weight classes

What was good about the old days is that you tended to see style vs style... which for many is more compelling than two great fighters with talent in several styles.

 

I don't get it either. I started watching roughly the same time you did, and I always respected the predecessors because that's how the new guys got their name... By beating the old dogs.

If beating the old dogs didn't mean anything, what does that make the new fighters taking their place? Hype?

 

*fewer

 

NFL has an off season though.