This summer had just about everything one could hope for in MMA. Fans that ventured online were even privy to a barrage of jabs from UFC fans toward other promotions that would have made studio wrestling fans in the 1990’s jealous (but to be fair some of them are probably the same people and for sure it is the same age group of college aged kids looking at the world for the first time and really having too much time on their hands). Now one of the reasons this blog was created was to offer opinion and analysis on MMA, a sport which we enjoy, but as my wife says just because she complains doesn’t mean she loves me any less. And after this summer the MMA world should hear its collective head bumping the ceiling/floor of the sports penthouse.
MMA, the couples event
The problem with MMA has nothing do to with the barbarian nature of the sport as ESPN would have you believe, nor the battles between promotions, nor Dana White or any other joker promoting the event. Simply, the sport is tough to bet on. I know betting goes on for this sport, but that isn’t the point, I just don’t think it will draw enough action to get serious money involved betting on the sport. Every other sport in America, or globally has a strong gambling following attached (except NASCAR which we will get to another day), heck even horse racing has its place yearly with the Triple Crown, and really there is no other reason to watch midgets ride beasts of burden in a circle other than to wager on it. A sport needs to entertain the masses yes, but it also needs the masses to wager large sums of money on the outcome.
And that is where MMA falls short. You can gamble on the fights, sure, but sometimes the outcomes are a little murky at best. The decision to stop a fight comes from the referee, via tapout, or the scorecards at the end of the fight. There are no 10-seconds of being knocked down as with traditional boxing. And that is the rub, fights are stopped for the safety of the fighters, and soon if there is an injury such as a cut leading to blood pouring in the eyes. Look at the cloud of confusion around the Kimbo Slice vs James Thompson, or even the fight on the under card with Robbie Lawler vs Scott Smith ending with an unintentional poke to the eye. There are plenty other examples, from quick stops, to bizarre scorecard outcomes across the sport. Now imagine the super-fight of the century pitting Fedor vs Randy Couture ending because the ref incorrectly judged whether or not one of them could continue fighting, or BJ Penn vs Georges St. Pierre having to be stopped due to an eye poke. Sure the fights are still interesting, exciting and all of that, but would you really throw down serious money on the outcome of a fight if you knew premature or unfortunate stoppages happened a little more than once in a while?
Add the possibility of that to the same types of things that always threaten to make MMA as boring or as docile as traditional boxing, such as judges decisions, and you have a sport that can exciting to watch, but can never have the added attraction of “action,” to give it a prominent place in the sports world. If that sounds crazy, look at the tons of press and positive coverage something like horse racing gets from major news outlets. ESPN camps out at each Triple Crown event, broadcasts Sportscenters, Mike and Mikes, PTI’s and anything else around those events. Give a horse some ‘roids or have to shoot it while on the track, no problem, Hank Greenberg or a host of other racing experts will be there to justify. The money being wagered on that sport talks, no one wants to rock that boat.
Now look at ESPN covering MMA. Other than to pimp it as a carnival side-show with dreams of legitimacy, you really do not hear much about the sport. Regardless of what you think about Gina Carano, or Kimbo Slice, if you want to talk about the sport and its emerging popularity, that isn’t where I would start. There are a ton of great fighters and great stories all over the MMA landscape, but ESPN just wants to talk about girls fighting or make sure you know some guy had to work as a bouncer in the porn industry to keep his family fed. PPV events go completely unnoticed by all major media except for the guy on Fox Sports Radio, who will talk about it some from 2am EST-6am EST on weekends. Maybe I am wrong, but I find it a little odd that a sport like MMA with so much care and attention given to the fighters is still treated in that manner, but for horseracing a horse can get a cap in its ass “euthanized,” and we would refer to it as the “Sport of Kings.”
On second thought it has nothing to due with gambling on the sport and its appeal. I have never seen a horse with “Condom Depot,” written across its butt.
August 18, 2008 at 9:45 am
Interesting take on the state of MMA, I’d like to know what you think of my blog http://bighubb.blogspot.com/