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Skill, heart, violence, superstars, the hype outside the cage, or something else?
@Ares Black was telling off someone in a thread a few days ago and his thoughts got the wheels turning in my mind. (Love ya, Ares, not ragging on you.) Today, in a thread where someone said they don't like Poirer or Gaetsche, people were jumping in to berate the dude for not appreciating their heart or violence, and those comments helped clarify my thoughts on the matter.
I'm not looking for great fights when I watch the UFC: I'm looking for an incredible display of skill. I see great fights all the time, full of heart and violence. I watch Rizin, PeeFellator, ONE, UFC and recently started dabbling in KSW and they deliver a ton of great fights. I've been involved in the local MMA scene for years and have seen a ton of fighters lay everything on the line for minimal reward. I've seen bluebelts in BJJ tournaments blow me away with their desire to win.
I know a ton of people here love the drama and hype outside the cage as much as anything that happens inside the cage. That doesn't interest me at all.
I'm looking for skills. Being able to display skill at the highest level and under great pressure.
After Pride folded, the UFC had actually lived up to their hype as being the superbowl of MMA in the sense that they did have the most skilled fighters on the planet, but that is rapidly deteriorating. Most fights in the UFC are indistinguishable from amateur fights I could watch in a ton of other places. The number of skilled fighters outside the UFC is only growing.
I don't care about heart or fighting spirit unless it's someone truly, truly exceptional, like Sakukraba.
To me, heart isn't taking a huge beating with the same disregard for personal safety as two suicidal meth-heads fithting outside a Waffle House. I care about a fighter's heart when they're doing what Mark Coleman did in the Shogun rematch because that was goddamn inspirational to me. That's a fight I actually look back at for inspiration during hard times and I can't see people doing that for Poirier vs Gaetsche.
I want to see skill, ring generalship, and improvisation that only the best in the world are capable of, and that's something that's hard to come by because there are only a few dozen fighters in MMA who can deliver that. So, yeah, it is very noticeable to me when the UFC cards stop delivering these things. I wasn't interested in ONE for the longest time because I wasn't interested in a lot of stand-up with a bit of MMA and grappling, but then I realized that the UFC was giving me a lot of shitty kickboxing with a bit of MMA and grappling mixed in. So that's when I started watching ONE because at least then I'll get to see high-level kickboxing.
A lot of the time, I watch UFC cards because the PBP threads are so enjoyable. Without you guys, I probably wouldn't watch much UFC. I'd be watching the other orgs and dropping in for cards with fighters I'm interested in.
This started as a question and turned into a rant. Sorry about that. The question is: what do you like about MMA?
@Ares Black was telling off someone in a thread a few days ago and his thoughts got the wheels turning in my mind. (Love ya, Ares, not ragging on you.) Today, in a thread where someone said they don't like Poirer or Gaetsche, people were jumping in to berate the dude for not appreciating their heart or violence, and those comments helped clarify my thoughts on the matter.
I'm not looking for great fights when I watch the UFC: I'm looking for an incredible display of skill. I see great fights all the time, full of heart and violence. I watch Rizin, PeeFellator, ONE, UFC and recently started dabbling in KSW and they deliver a ton of great fights. I've been involved in the local MMA scene for years and have seen a ton of fighters lay everything on the line for minimal reward. I've seen bluebelts in BJJ tournaments blow me away with their desire to win.
I know a ton of people here love the drama and hype outside the cage as much as anything that happens inside the cage. That doesn't interest me at all.
I'm looking for skills. Being able to display skill at the highest level and under great pressure.
After Pride folded, the UFC had actually lived up to their hype as being the superbowl of MMA in the sense that they did have the most skilled fighters on the planet, but that is rapidly deteriorating. Most fights in the UFC are indistinguishable from amateur fights I could watch in a ton of other places. The number of skilled fighters outside the UFC is only growing.
I don't care about heart or fighting spirit unless it's someone truly, truly exceptional, like Sakukraba.
To me, heart isn't taking a huge beating with the same disregard for personal safety as two suicidal meth-heads fithting outside a Waffle House. I care about a fighter's heart when they're doing what Mark Coleman did in the Shogun rematch because that was goddamn inspirational to me. That's a fight I actually look back at for inspiration during hard times and I can't see people doing that for Poirier vs Gaetsche.
I want to see skill, ring generalship, and improvisation that only the best in the world are capable of, and that's something that's hard to come by because there are only a few dozen fighters in MMA who can deliver that. So, yeah, it is very noticeable to me when the UFC cards stop delivering these things. I wasn't interested in ONE for the longest time because I wasn't interested in a lot of stand-up with a bit of MMA and grappling, but then I realized that the UFC was giving me a lot of shitty kickboxing with a bit of MMA and grappling mixed in. So that's when I started watching ONE because at least then I'll get to see high-level kickboxing.
A lot of the time, I watch UFC cards because the PBP threads are so enjoyable. Without you guys, I probably wouldn't watch much UFC. I'd be watching the other orgs and dropping in for cards with fighters I'm interested in.
This started as a question and turned into a rant. Sorry about that. The question is: what do you like about MMA?
