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

[Frank23]

Former UFC heavyweight champion Josh Barnett said this in a recent interview:

MMA is a promotion, it's not really a sport. It's a sporting event, I guess. It's more akin to professional wrestling. If people wanna pay to see you fight, you're gonna get in the cage."
Read more:http://www.wrestlinginc.com/wi/news...lks-his-reaction-to-cm-punk-signing-with-ufc/

What are your thoughts on it?

Josh "The Warmaster" Barnett MMA Stats, Pictures, News, Videos, Biography - Sherdog.com

 

[SnowBlynd]

Definitely agree

 

[ThunderL1ps]

Josh is a much better fighter than pro wrestler.

 

[Loiosh]

Someone define "sport" for purposes of this discussion.

 

[EuRapaz]

I'd say more promotion than competition

 

[jwikked]

I guess that's true.

MMA fights wouldn't occur without a crowd.

Games such as Cricket are sometimes played in front of empty stands. They're playing it because it's a sport. MMA wouldn't be held if no one was watching.

 

[ib313]

Does't want to be associated with bicycling or fishing or baseball

 

[BruceLeeOnTRT]

Barnett should have never fought clean shaven. He looks like something out of a previous century

 

[SnowBlynd]

Someone define "sport" for purposes of this discussion.

If it involves grown men chasing a ball

 

[DrHouse]

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.

I guess that's true.

MMA fights wouldn't occur without a crowd.

Games such as Cricket are sometimes played in front of empty stands. They're playing it because it's a sport. MMA wouldn't be held if no one was watching.

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

 

[jwikked]

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

I'm not talking the highest level, I'm talking the lower level. Town level. A grade B grade. They play it for fun, no one gets paid. Sure, there's a few people there watching but they'd still be playing even if no one showed up.

 

[jimmyfingers]

there he goes again.
probably should stick with warhammer.

 

[DizzyYeahYeah]

Is that his reaction to the CM Punk signing.

 

[Kingfarthur]

I guess that's true.

MMA fights wouldn't occur without a crowd.

Games such as Cricket are sometimes played in front of empty stands. They're playing it because it's a sport. MMA wouldn't be held if no one was watching.

This makes no sense. Sports are played in front of crowds or not. The crowd doesn't matter. When Ken Shamrock fought Oleg Taktarov in an enclosed room, were they participating in a sport? Yes.

MMA is a sport, period. End of discussion.

Are you fucking kidding me? It's 2015 and people still think MMA isn't a sport?

You know, every time someone says or thinks something really stupid, I remind myself that there's a "flat earth society" that thinks the earth is flat and there's a hundreds of year old conspiracy to convince people the earth is round.

 

[ShakatheG]

I guess that's true.

MMA fights wouldn't occur without a crowd.

Games such as Cricket are sometimes played in front of empty stands. They're playing it because it's a sport. MMA wouldn't be held if no one was watching.

Same could be said for boxing

 

[CardonaLJ**]

there he goes again.
probably should stick with warhammer.

or magic the gathering

 

[Agnawedbone]

Not unless your consider boxing the same thing, otherwise it's just gibberish.

 

[AusMMAfan]

100% agree. It's the reason good fighters like Fitch and Okami get cut and draws like Rampage, Tito and Frank Mir are still fighting.

MMA, is same as other combat sports like Muay Thai, Boxing, kickboxing and are run by promotions.

This is a problem because there is never a governing body like FIFA.

(Too hungover to properly articulate the points I'm trying to get across but you get my drift)

 

[steny]

100% agree. It's the reason good fighters like Fitch and Okami get cut and draws like Rampage, Tito and Frank Mir are still fighting.

MMA, is same as other combat sports like Muay Thai, Boxing, kickboxing and are run by promotions.

This is a problem because there is never a governing body like FIFA.

(Too hungover to properly articulate the points I'm trying to get across but you get my drift)

Agree 100%. Josh is on point here.

 

[hto63]

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.