The Modern Day MMA Fan
Posted on December 27, 2010, 06:28 AM by overhand rightMMA is a relatively young sport. While it encompasses many martial arts that date back hundreds of years, the sport itself is only beginning to come into the mainstream on a global scale, mainly due to the efforts of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, who have held events everywhere from Abu Dhabi to Germany. I myself could be considered a member of the new generation of fans, first learning of MMA when UFC 93 came to Ireland. Since watching the event I've become obsessed with MMA, dedicating my spare time to viewing all the classic match-ups from over the years that i've missed out on. I've already learnt so much, watching everything from Strikeforce, to all-time greats competing in Pride and UFC cards stretching back to the dawn of the Liddell era.
In the comparatively short time I've been aware of the sport, it has become apparent to me that there are, for the most part, two types of MMA fans nowadays. Neither of which could be considered particularly favourable to the other in my opinion. Perhaps in time, with the continued growth of the sport, fans will eventually reach a stage where they are all well-informed and knowledgeable, not unlike the current state of worldwide appeal that soccer has achieved.
The first of these stereotypes I have encountered is the casual fan. These are usually people who have been introduced to MMA via the rising popularity of the UFC. The casual fan sits down once or twice a month with his buddies to have a few beers and watch some guys get their heads knocked off. They have probably never heard the words 'StrikeForce' or 'Dream' uttered, other than when Dana White decides to cut them down to size in one of his video blogs or post-fight interviews. What's worse is that the ones that are aware of other promotions constantly belittle them and consider them insignificant, having never given the variety of substitutes to ZUFFA-owned promotions a chance. This is one of the drawbacks of the UFC's ever-increasing global fanbase. They are selling Ultimate Fighting as the sport rather than the global sport of MMA, which, unbeknownst to a disturbing percentage of fans, does exist outside the now famous octagon.
As a result a huge portion of fans are completely ignorant of the great fights they're missing out on; the last Strikeforce card in St Louis would have been the equivalent of a wet dream for the casual blood thirsty fan. It is irritating to listen to this kind of fan, a robot that listens to everything that comes out of Mike Goldberg's mouth, it's as if the UFC is brainwashing these people into believing the Dana White philosophy of the only fighters worth a damn residing under the ZUFFA banner. Surely it's pure coincidence that he would say that about his own business. Hmmm.
The second breed of fan is a far more tragic one. Unsurprisingly, when something becomes popular, there will always be those who liked it from the beginning, before it was cool. This is no different with MMA. Hardcore fans took an interest from the beginning when MMA was still an underground movement in contrast to other sports, back when Pride was still around and flaunting possibly the most talent-stacked roster of fighters in living memory. They are the most dedicated of fans, constantly staying up to date with everything MMA, from the hottest prospects in the M-1 Selection Show to the announcement of the latest Sengoku card, they are MMA gurus and have my respect for their extensive knowledge and passion for the sport.
But here is where the tragedy lies. An unfortunate trend has developed among these hardcore fans that is visible on any Internet forum you wish to visit. As mentioned above, MMA has recently come into the mainstream and as a result, dedicated fans that took interest from the beginning are now looking for other ways to be different and independent from common opinion. This search for individuality has taken the form of a hate campaign against the UFC, its fighters and its fans. I compare it to music snobs; they liked a band (UFC) that used to be different and indie, but now that it's come into mainstream it has lost all appeal as it is no longer cool and trendy. So instead they hype up far more abstract and unknown bands (Sengoku, Dream etc.) to look even more indie. Hardcore fans are always critiquing every aspect of the UFC.
In the eyes of the hardcore fan: Dana White is a control freak that's destroying MMA and it'd be better off if he'd never been around, and let's not forget that he bought off the hardcore fan's favourite promotion, Pride FC. The fighters are overhyped and would get knocked or submitted in under a minute against any of the top guys in other organisations, oh and they've been brainwashed by the ZUFFA too. The fans are idiots because they jump on the UFC bandwagon and are feeding a malevolent, all-consuming company, the ultimate goal of which is world domination.
What I find most ridiculous about this recent shift in attitude towards the UFC is that, like them or not, they built MMA. Had the Fertitta brothers not been convinced by Dana White to continue investing in the company, the UFC would have folded and MMA would not have reached even a fraction of the recognition it has gained today. In the early days, MMA was heavily frowned upon and hardly accepted as a sport, rather it was seen as a barbaric showcase that should be outlawed. Using the Unified Rules, Dana White sought to get the Sport legalised in the United States, allowing MMA to branch out into new audiences and also paving the way for smaller organisations to gain a foothold. Without the UFC this website would likely not exist and you would probably not be reading this.
So a healthy balance must be struck somewhere between the brainwashed 'ZUFFA Zombies' and the hardcore fans. By all means, there is nothing wrong with being a well-read fan, it's important to support smaller organisations and it's good for the sport and the fighters for the UFC to have competition. A lot of entertainment can be derived from watching an adrenaline-fueled Dream event or the exciting matchups on a Strikeforce card. But you must be realistic and come to terms with the fact that Dana White and the Fertitta brothers deserves credit for all they has done for MMA and right now, and for the foreseeable future, the UFC is the top of the heap in relation to talent, depth, recognition and professionalism. So don't be hatin'.
Comments
I definetly see what you're saying. I however have liked UFC from the start and yes I have liked Pride and others as well but I made no mistake about the quality of recent UFC fights. I do however still have some problems with Dana and other org leaders that match make based on popularity rather than legitimate results. I still think MMA would grow fast enough if we did it right, it just wouldn't be quite as fast but it would be higher quality and the fans would not get sick of the slowly getting annoying matchups. All powerful Orgs need to be kept in check or else we will have 30 John Fitch scenarios at once and 20 Overeem/Werdum/Fedor ones. Overall I do agree about cooling it with trying to be ages ahead of everyone else trying to catch up. I am glad 97 made the impression it did on you.
thanks for the comment man. but i don't quite get what you mean by the fitch/fedor scenarios? are you referring to how fitch has been sidelined with regards to a title shot due to his often wrestling orientated performances?
I agree with what falcon is saying about the matchups. Dana is starting to make fights that to him will make more money than make fights for people who deserve them. Like Fitch.... come on. Just throw the guy a title fight geez. He deserves it. But anyways of course the "hardcore fan" appreciates what Dana has done for MMA but that doesn't mean they have to like every decision he makes nowadays. I think pointing out the problems with fans is such an easy thing to do especially when you see such a variety of them on sites like this one but its the fans that makes these fighters money and what kept MMA alive. I mean some of the fighters say they do it for the love of fighting but I guarantee that they won't fight in my backyard for free. I love the last comment though. So don't be hatin haha. If the whole world was that way it would be awesome.
Very nice article and very true indeed, i guess i would fall more in the Hardcore fan side, but i actually started watching MMA in the UFC.
and follow Pride after my first year as a casual fan.
contrary to what you said i do not hate the UFC , i admit i liked PRIDE 10 times more , but i dont hate the UFC or Dana White i just hate the fact that they are trying to make look the UFC as the whole sport because they feel they made most of the sport Mainstream.
when they took the UFC ( i mean zuffa) Pride was starting and i doubt the Japanese got inspire by the UFC. Since there was already Tournaments in Japan before the first UFC.
Also the fact they try to discredit everything outside the UFC.
countering Strikeforce events, talking trash about other fighters thats just not the way any fighter or promoter behavior should be associate in any kind of Martial Arts competition.
and the hyped a fighter gets it seems that his hyped as how good he really is = the draws he can get in PPV's sales. it seems its All about the money and not for the sport.
Thats right, Fitch is being sidelined even though he smacked everyone else like they were novices and his only loss was against the champ. Fitch has a record nearly as good as AS. As far as Overeem/Werdum/Fedor, I am talking about how the matchups are being made. Why does Werdum not face Overeem and why is everyone trying to give Fedor the Title shot? Why wasn't Rogers and Fedor fighting for the fake belt at least while the Reem was out and about without injuries? Who cares about the fans wanting this and that unless it makes sense. If it doesn't make sense it will become a joke to be number 1 contender. Why was Fedor going to get a title shot and then when he lost going to get one anyway and why is Overeem fighting someone else besides Werdum now? Why hasn't Fedor fought very much? It just gets annoying when everyone does what they want instead of having organized and relevant matchups according to stats and order.
ah yeah i see what you mean. i think most of the time that illogical match making is more prevalent in strikeforce, the only time i've really seen a complete mismatch in ufc is the couture toney fight. i'd love to see fedor fight reem but logically werdum should be fighting him first, even though fedor should have fought reem once he beat rogers.
Basically what you are saying is that all MMA fans suck. Hahaha!!! I agree overhand right! No I'm just kidding.
This article sucks. You are assuming everyone who hates zuffa does so because it's trendy. The truth is it's because they go around bashing fighters (even fighters signed with them) and organizations. Not only bashing, but like in the case of Fedor and tap out, they directly cost Fedor a lot of money by forcing tap out to not sponsor him. That kind of stuff is completely ridiculous,
I am not a fan of Zuffa but nobody forces tapout to do anything. If tapout wanted they could by all means sponsor Fedor but they want to deal the most money not just money. I don't like the tyrannical system associated with UFC but tapout can do what they want and because Dana said he won't have it they bowed in fear they will lose the UFC money. They cowered at power.
A little too black and white man. There is at least a third type (if not dozens) of fan. I love watching UFC fights. I think the UFC has many (not all) of the best fighters in the world. I bash the UFC because they have a trash talking ego maniac for a pres/public face and put on fights based on popularity not legit rankings.
I have to disagree with you here.
I bet that you think you know everything? Your article has some good information but it doesn't make any sense to me.
Basically, you are writing to say nothing.
If you think that the UFC helped the sport to grow so much then you are confused. The sport would have grown itself, there's no doubt about it. Especially if Pride was still around.
I believe you are yourself one of those UFC zombies as BSL calls them which I have to agree with him.
And no we don't need something between those two categories of fans. You think we true MMA fans are just gonna sit and watch Danna White make everyone think that UFC = MMA? Never. This is bullshit. Wake up there's other organizations and fighters out there.
And don't talk shit about BSL, he says the truth. I agree that he goes a little bit too far though sometimes but you can't hate him for that. It is just a reaction to Danna White saying random bullshit about other organizations and fighters. Danna Liar is a marketing master, you need to realize that. He's not there to promote MMA, he's there to promote he's business and make money of your asses.
If you think that the UFC helped the sport to grow so much then you are confused. The sport would have grown itself, there's no doubt about it. Especially if Pride was still around.
Here's the thing though...would it really? Almost every promotion outside of the UFC that has tried to 'go big' has failed horribly. Pride crumbled. Even K-1 is looking shaky, with the Dream brand in particular in jeopardy of not seeing 2012. Bellator has lost millions. Strikeforce are a shambles and essentially a content provider to Showtime.
I'm about as far from a Zuffa Zombie as they come - but if people are going to talk about facts - actual cold, hard facts - they clearly and absolutely support the UFC's way of doing business.
It's funny that one of the main reasons the boxing industry has been seeing hard times recently is exactly the thing that the UFC does right, yet people still criticize them for it.
Boxing has for years been beseiged with fights that are either unfair or completely uninteresting to the viewing public due to their ranking system. Hellishly boring fighters can squeak their way up their divisional ranking, effectively forcing sanction bodies to order champions into title matches that nobody wants to see, let alone pay for.
So then you have a catch-22 - do you promote an uninspiring fight that nobody will buy and will likely turn out horrible, simply because a challenger has 'earned his spot', or do you have the champ vacate his belt to take on a more attractive opponent, thus making a mockery of the whole system? Either route is rocky.
To give the UFC credit, they cater to the whims of those who buy their PPV's, not the online critics who critisize the Jackson camp for being boring yet demand that John Fitch gets a title shot and don't even pay for the fights anyway.
The UFC are far from perfect, and there is much fun to be had outside of their organisation; these are facts. At the same time, we probably wouldn't be having this discussion if they weren't around and for all the fun that they are, the smaller promotions have some far bigger issues than the UFC.
At the end of the day, real fans enjoy fights - regardless of the logo on the mat.
I think its funny you mention the UFC adn Dana a leader in profesionalism. Get at me .
i disagree with this post....
the grudge between the old fans and mainstream mma isnt simply a hate on dana white, it goes against the principles of what the UFC is doing in terms of trying to reimagine MMA history. This goes from discrediting and actively trying to tarnish non UFC fighters some of whom are the sports greatest and legends to limiting the sport of MMA.
the discrediting of fighters is not even based on logic or even facts i.e. fedor hasn't anyone since the late 90s (he made his mma debut in 2000), Brock Lesnar is the baddest man on the planet, shane carwin has KO'd everyone he has ever fought, all great UFC stars fight 3 times a year, Fabricio Werdum is cut because of his performance and not his personal willingness to not sign a contract because he felt underpaid, Fedor refused to fight Lesnar (fedor and M-1 continously offered 1 fight contract), Cain Velasquez is Mexican and more
what these things say and mean is that the UFC is so confident, that the they believe the fans and the media are too stupid to look up a fact and call them out on it. and thats insulting to everyone including guys like the OP, myself and bloodstain lane who have been following this sport so closely.
the reality is that MMA will NEVER be under a single promotion. the sport is too flexible and profitable and marketable to be monopolized. because of this, not co-promoting events and sharing fighters just limits the sport...everyone wanted to see brock vs fedor, they could have made it happen like Chuck fighting in the Pride tournament, but the UFC is afraid that their lies about their fighter's ability and their lies about discrediting the other promotion/fighter will be revealed. its the UFC who is holding back fights like JDS vs Overeem, Rogers vs Carwin, Fedor vs Cain, Dan henderson vs anderson silva rematch, King Mo vs Rashad Evans, Rampage Jackson vs Mousasi, Feijao vs Little Nog etc etc. The UFC has no integrity or PROFESSIONALISM. how is granting a 3-1 newcomer professional? how is bashing legends of the sport professional? how is talking shit about your own former champions professional? how is having a guy who is the president of the company, act like a jackass all the time and mouths off garbage be professional?
We @ teamtakeover all have our own opinions and many of us including lane never claimed to be truly non bias. we have guys we like and guys we dont. most of us have some universal likes and dislikes i.e. the growing trend of decision fighting and the crappy unified rules. this leads to people and hardcore fans criticizing fighters and camps. a lot of us hate greg jackson because he is a decision fighter factory and the rules reinforce this boring and clearly wrestling favored fight style. in the old days a ground fight was a ground fight and a stand up fight was a stand up fight...guys didnt clinch for the hell of clinching and "controlling" AKA another word for stalling nearly as much as they do today. I personally feel that the Japanese rule set and judging criteria is better suited for MMA.
we @ teamtakeover do not hate MMA and we have even acknowledged the UFC's contribution to MMA and so has lane in his videos. we hate the way the UFC is run and how they are promoting the sport and trying to reimagine its history with a blanket of lies and hyperbole. that being said, there were ufc fights i enjoyed this year and there will be UFC fights we will all enjoy @ teamtakeover next year and the year after. but that doesn't mean we aren't going to call the UFC out when they produce a new lie, bash a legend, put on a terrible event and actively try to sabotage other promotions.
Quick post... You want to be a writer and you end sentences in prepositions?
Oh and you need to do your homework on mma; watch it for a few more years before you begin writing articles on shit that's way over your head.
Looks like the LowKick.com staff deleted my post. Well, so much for freedom of expression. I thought you guy's said, "don't be hatin'?" I think LowKick should spend less time bashing hardcore fans who's "attitudes towards the UFC have changed" and more time keeping their promises to fans like the one they made in the Fedor thread below. Excuse me, LowKick, where are the answers to the Fedor questions you made everybody ask 2 months ago? We're STILL waiting for an update. Thanks.
Copy and paste link to work:
http://www.lowkick.com/UFC/LowKickcom-Community-Alert-
Fan-QA-with-The-Last-Emperor-Fedor-Emelianenko-10541