UFC Heavyweight Josh Barnett: MMA is a promotion, it's not really a sport.

It fits the definition of sport perfectly.
 
Fighting for entertainment was a sport back in ancient rome. It's sport when it's just wrestling, just boxing or just jiu jitsu. And it's still a sport today.

MMA really is just a list of rules and a legal framework that allows cagefighting under those rules in an official capacity. And cagefighting was not invented by the gracies. And existed a loooong time before people ever thought making the fights fake and add some drama would sell well.

And I don't really see too many other similarities between MMA and pro wrestling, at least naturally.
Because on the other hand the way things are run...sure, quite the circus show and I would agree with him, same with boxing.

This is true, but you wouldn't have the mma model you do today if it wasn't for pro-wrestling.
 
Josh is just plain wrong. MMA may be a business, but that doesn't mean it's not a sport. That's like saying Boxing isn't a sport because the more marketable fighters get the most attention and the biggest fights.



If they were consistently completely empty, there would be no professional leagues or cups. All professional sports are dependent on them being financially viable.

Prize fighting (including boxing) has always been a different beast than most other sports. Even if you take out the marketability aspect, the fight game is about creating compelling match-ups.

That's different from other sports where who you end up competing against is more a matter of performance and scheduling and circumstance.

Tournaments make for more sport like conditions... but that's why a lot of promoters really don't like tournaments.
 
Niche sport that at some point most of us will get bored of or grow out of.
 
MMA is the promotion, UFC is the sport. Don't you stupid fans know by now?
 
Sounds a bit butt hurt imho. Sure the ufc is in the $$ making business can't blame em.
 
He's right. Most people don't see the appeal in two people fighting in a ring and/or cage.
 
It's a sport, and no amount of waxing philosophical from a cone tittied steroid junkie is going to change that.
 
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