For the
past few months I’ve been sharing my excitement about the
huge popularity of mixed martial arts.
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For the first time in history, a martial sport is taking its
place among the well-established mainstream sports. I am as
excited about the potential of MMA as Paris Hilton in a
house of mirrors. Indeed, this week’s Sports Illustrated
cover story positions the Oscar De La Hoya and Floyd
Mayweather Jr. fight as “Boxing's Last Chance.”
The article states that one of the reasons for boxings’ huge
decline in popularity is the “surprising emergence of mixed
martial arts.” MMA appeals to a “younger market of 18 – 34
year olds who are more interested in a leg sweep than a left
hook.” Boxing, according to the article, is being viewed
more and more as an old person’s sport, a sport of the past.
The L.A. Times has a number of articles also referring to
the end of boxing and the explosion of MMA. Also in the
Times, the first time that I can ever recall, an article
referred to martial arts as being far more organized than
boxing. You know the world is shifting when a mainstream
article in a major publication sees martial arts as
organized.
However, at a time when the sport is getting more attention
than ever, there are a couple of key pieces of the pie
missing. MMA lacks personalities and seems to be attaching
itself to a lower class population. Many of the fighters
even lack “likeability.” In the past week, I’ve watched The
Ultimate Fighter, UFC Unleashed, Bogdog, and IFL fight
cards. All had top-notch production value and huge build up
for each fight and fighter.
However, once the bell rang, it was just another fight
between two tattoos that don’t interest me as a person and I
wouldn’t let my daughter date if I had one.
I have rarely watched an MMA card and actually rooted for
one fighter over another because I liked the fighter with
the exception of Frank Shamrock or Carlos Newton. Frank, in
my eyes, is the best “face of the sport” we have.
Regrettably, he along with the gentle giant Dan Severn, who
is also a first class guy, may have come along about a
decade too early. Forrest Griffin seems like a genuinely
nice guy, but there is something a little Forrest Gump about
Forrest Griffin, though I am not counting him out. The guy
is a warrior and that’s important, but not enough. MMA
doesn’t lack warriors. It lacks articulate leaders who can
create interest.
What the sport needs is a Magic Johnson, Sugar Ray Leonard
or Muhammad Ali. We need someone with a high level of skill,
but also the charisma, class, and articulation to help the
uninitiated to understand that martial arts, at its highest
level, is about self-development.
Stars like this bring attention to the sport. People who
would never watch golf tune in when Tiger Woods is playing.
I am a Tito Ortiz fan, and he doesn’t lack charisma or skill
and by all indications is a good guy. But, he plays the bad
boy image in a cellblock full of bad boys. He’s the best of
the bad, and that part of the sport is wearing thin on this
fan and will be hard for mainstream sports fans to swallow.
How many dads are going to say, “Son, if you drop out of
school and fight in the streets, you can be just like those
MMA guys. Heck, MMA might even keep you out of prison. I’d
be so proud.”
I’ve never missed an episode of “The Ultimate Fighter,” But,
watching how these guys conduct themselves doesn’t’ make me
proud to be a martial artist. I actually hope people don’t
watch this show sometimes. When guys are peeing in each
others’ beds and ready to street fight each other for not
washing their dishes, as a martial artist, that’s
embarrassing. The current crop this season is particularly
disgusting. There is nothing like seeing Jens Pulver, the
coach of a team, wear his baseball like a gangster.
Young, impressionable men are watching this and starting to
role model these guys and that’s sad. Would you want your
son emulating Mike Tyson?
Some people say MMA is the best style because it only uses
what works. Well, what works is also respect and courtesy.
Your fight career may last ten years, but the benefits of
martial arts will last a lifetime.
In my eyes, MMA has discarded the long-term mental benefits
of the martial arts for the short-term tap out. It makes no
sense to join an MMA club to become a thug. Certainly,
that’s not the case for all MMA students, instructors and
fighters. There are many good MMA schools teaching respect
and personal development. But the street thug with more
tattoos than teeth is the image the sport is portraying to
the world and in the current world image is everything.
One of the biggest complaints about MMA from the mainstream
media is that it’s like human cockfighting. That’s a hard
argument to fight when the sports most visible stars act
like animals.
The sport needs to clean up the foul language and the street
thug look. The president of the UFC, Dana White, who is
clearly a sharp guy, might want to take a lesson from the
veterans of other major sports. You never see commissioners’
Paul Tagliabue (Former NFL), David Stern (NBA), or Bud Selig
(MLB) cussing on national TV like a 13-year old trying to
act cool. Even the lowest of the low, boxing promoter Don
King speaks with more class than White.
There is a tone of arrogance and disrespect when the leader
of our sport speaks to us with that kind of language. What
other high profile sports commissioner has to be bleeped out
every other sentence? Last week, in berating a fighter for
not making weight Dana White actually said something about,
“You’re not going to do that to the f****** fans.” I was
more than a little insulted. I’m one of those fans and I
don’t appreciate being called that. Not all fans of MMA are
from the streets.
I understand that part of the appeal is the edginess of the
sport and that’s fine. But I’m concerned that MMA is going
be cited as part of the problem of the overall coarsening of
society when so many of us have worked hard to make martial
arts part of the solution.
I know that it’s not the UFC’s job to create a better image
for martial arts, but for its own good, setting a higher
standard of conduct couldn’t hurt.
MMA is a rough, nasty sport, but so are football and rugby.
There are plenty of guys from the streets in other
mainstream sports, but most of them use the sport to elevate
themselves and their family to a better place. It’s hard for
me to say this, but even our distant cousin boxing has more
class than MMA is showing right now.
These are critical times for MMA. I hope they take this
newfound attention with responsibility and a long-term
approach that will secure its position in mainstream sports
and elevate martial arts as a great activity for personal
and physical development.
