Two weeks of vacation and a slow news week has kept me from ranting as much as I’d like, but things are back in order and the weight of the world is back on my shoulders.
Big thanks to Dafs for filling in and unloading on the masses in my absence.
By the way, kudos to us for making a brief cameo appearance on the latest installment of Showtime’s Fight Camp 360.
Rant #1: You haven’t lived until you’ve been on the receiving end of an email campaign from angry UFC fans.
I guess I touched on a nerve with my take on Brock Lesnar’s loss and what it says about the UFC product.
I won’t go into any great detail regarding the content of the emails, but about 95% of them ended with a desire on their part to “teach me a lesson” about MMA by “kicking my faggot ass.” Much respect to Mike Prosia, who was the only one of the many to offer a civil and adult criticism.
Just for the record and in case anyone cares, here are a couple of issues that I’d like to clarify and/or expand upon in the Boxing/UFC debate:
* I know that comparing boxers to MMA fighters is like comparing the NFL to the NBA to see who the better athletes are. But, let’s humor this elite boxer vs. MMA star debate:
Most MMA supporters will make the argument that their guys will simply take down the boxer and be done with him…and, if it gets to the canvas, then, yeah, they’re probably right…However, an elite boxer is trained in balance, precision and foot & hand speed….hand speed, by the way, that would be even more enhanced by wearing the smaller gloves…To take down the boxer would assume that the MMA fighter would actually have the speed and get within grappling distance of the fighter…I suspect that the fight, in most instances, would be over long before the MMA guy can take the boxer to the canvas…Nobody in the UFC could handle the speed, endurance, and precision of an elite level boxer…you’d see a lot of sharp jabs and movement, lunges and flops on the canvas from the MMA fighter…then a pinpoint shot would end it…Wrestling is an awesome and highly-skilled discipline, but it requires an at least semi-willing participant…Basic footwork would stop most lunging attacks…The fact that all fights start in the stand-up position is also a big plus in boxing’s favor…Just look to Anderson Silva as an example of what some VERY basic boxing tactics can do to a high end MMA fighter. The changes in direction, feints, etc wreak havoc on someone not skilled in boxing.
* The main point of the article was to highlight the fact that the UFC machine was basically exposed for the smoke and mirrors con that it is. While boxing has its problems, it at least maintains a touch of class and dignity by ensuring that the fighters actually behave like legit athletes and learn their craft before being sold to the public as world beaters and elite competitors. The UFC elite is seemingly determined by how many t-shirts they can sell just as much as what they do in the octagon.
The UFC was exposed as a shady organization run by pure marketing concerns and handled more like Monday Night Raw than Monday Night Football. Exposed was the fact that the UFC talent pool is so small and their rankings process so fabricated that a pretender was sold as an elite with the fans just eating it up.
Brock Lesnar was a name Dana White & co. could sell and they pushed him to the very top, even after losing his debut bout and despite the fact that he was nowhere close to being a complete fighter.
“In the UFC the best fight the best,” is what their fans say. I say that, with all the market-based rankings assignments and game show-style matchmaking, the fans of the UFC have absolutely no idea whether the best are really the best or just the most marketable to the UFC’s key demo group.
Rant #2- I hate to beat on a dead horse, but why would there be a need for an interim champ when the actual champ is healthy and making regular defenses?
Raul Garcia beat Luis De la Rosa in Colombia over the weekend for the vacant WBO interim minimumweight championship. However, WBO full champ, Donnie Nietes, has been the title holder since 2007 and made a title defense just two months ago.
Even more discouraging than the greed of the sanctioning bodies is the ignorance and gullibility of the media and fans who refer to these bogus bouts as “world title fights.”
Rant #3: I’m sure glad I resisted the urge to write some vanity article with a catchy Halloween-themed title…No rant here, I’m just glad to not be a douche.
Ok, that’s all for this week’s edition…I assume the venom will flow more freely as we get closer to the Unholy Trinity of Boxing as Pacquiao faces Margarito.
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