Nick Diaz: Ring vs Cage

[Obitronix]

Do you prefer the Ring or Cage? Only comment if you've watched MMA in both. Here's an old school Nick Diaz video where he talks about fighting in a Ring versus fighting in a cage (spoiler, he likes the Ring). He makes great points. 2:36 is where it starts:

 

[RudimarChute]

Ring is better because it gives me Pride nostalgia.

 

[FrontNakedChoke]

Ring.

The cage adds an unrealistic element to fighting. Does anyone really enjoy wall & stall?

 

[LiveFreeorDie]

Defiantly prefer the circle cage to anything with corners. Love the look of the ring the most, but it has some disadvantages for MMA grapplers and advantages for strikers. Maybe a little smaller cage would be best.

 

[Dutch Rudder]

As a fan who use to go to local events (KOTC/Apex) and always get ringside seats, cages SUCK to watch a fight in. You can't see shit...

 

[Sonny Qc]

they should fight on a "stage" like the Movie Bloodsport.

 

[Holyherb420]

Wasteland. Where are all the pride fanboys coming from?? @jeicex

 

[jonathan274]

they should fight on a "stage" like the Movie Bloodsport.

Or Metamoris

 

[broncoboxer2]

I like both.

Some of the greatest combat sport athletes in history have fought in a ring, from John L. Sullivan to Jack Johnson to Sugar Ray Robinson to Mike Tyson to Rickson Gracie to Fedor Emelianenko. All of them and countless other amazing fighters have fought in a ring.

I don't like how easy it is to fall through the ropes and onto a cement floor, though (Bernard Hopkins, anyone?).

The cage stops that (usually--I seem to remember two fighters accidentally pushing through the cage door...). However, the cage does allow wall and stall and a whole host of techniques and strategies that simply wouldn't exist without it.

Bottom line: I'm fine with both.

 

[Obitronix]

Wasteland. Where are all the pride fanboys coming from?? @jeicex

Pride isn't the only MMA company that used a ring.

 

[IsNormal]

The ring is shit because of the ropes.

When you have to pause the action because grappling leads to scooting to the edge of the ring and getting a rope on your head, or someone is falling through the ropes, it's just painfully obvious that it's not suitable for MMA.

Aside from the ropes I do agree the ring has multiple other advantages. It's great for standup fights. But the ropes ruin it for MMA.

 

[accolyte1022]

 

[Superman Elbow]

The ring causes way too much bull shit of people grabbing it and trying to escape , just make it a huge circle, like a wrestling match but make it much bigger and if a dude keeps getting shoved out than it just adds to their opponent "octagon control"

 

[Obitronix]

The ropes means that the ring is shit.

When you have to pause the action because guys are scooting out below the ropes while grappling or someone fell through you know that they're fighting in something that wasn't meant for MMA.

I think repositioning fighters away from the ropes is better than fighters using the cage. At least in the Ring, they are put in the same exact position on the ground. No easy escaping. That whole thing about fighters falling out of the Ring is overblown. It hardly happens. Plus, as Nick Diaz says, the Ring looks better and commands more respect from the public.

 

[Sleepdancer]

Nick always had crappy footwork, so the smaller the space the better for him I imagine. The only ring based Diaz fight I've watched is the Gomi one and he annihilated him back when it meant something.

 

[KingBeef]

they should fight on a "stage" like the Movie Bloodsport.

I think they should fight on a scaffold hoisted 50 ft in the air a la WCW Starcade '86

 

[KingBeef]

 

[MRT]

ring, for all the reasons mentioned...visibility, less running, no wall and stall, using cage to get up, pressing opponent against it, repositioning fighters, etc.

I agree that an open space with boundaries would be ideal...it's been done that way since the beginning of time in many combat sports, and many still use it.

The ring has given us some iconic moments though and the nostalgia factor is indeed high:

 

[Obitronix]

The ring causes way too much bull shit of people grabbing it and trying to escape , just make it a huge circle, like a wrestling match but make it much bigger and if a dude keeps getting shoved out than it just adds to their opponent "octagon control"

A Ring is as close as you can get to a fight environment within a set of rules. The ropes are there to confine the fight without adding the extra elements you get in a cage.

 

[TheChance]

FLASH!