While some of the world still debates whether or not the UFC and mixed martial arts (MMA) are legit, Dana White and MMA's biggest brand are prepping for the biggest night in MMA history. Dana White, UFC's brash mouthpiece, will be out to prove that his sport is not only legit but more popular than any other pay-per-view event in the world as he preps the UFC 100 on Saturday night July 11th in Las Vegas. And if you know Dana White at all then the next sentence is going to surprise you more than anything. The key to the UFC's success thus far (and potentially in the future) is education first and foremost.
What exactly does that mean? Well if you consider that the criticism of the UFC usually includes the words "human cock-fighting" and some ill-advised comment about how Mike Vick went to jail for lesser offenses involving dogs instead of humans then you would understand. When you live in a world where UFC and MMA have such an uphill battle image-wise while boxing gets a free pass because it is "the sweet science" it can get frustrating as an owner. And Dana White has taken the job of education and put it on his shoulders.
Mr. White's claim isn't that the sport isn't brutal and violent at times. His claim is that the sport is the next evolution of fighting. It is a fighting sport with lots of rules that allow combatants to use any number of martial arts, wrestling, and other fighting styles to compete. It was the foundation of the sport back in the dark days where UFC gets the worst of its reputation. Back in those days fighters from different disciplines including kung fu, karate, wrestling, boxing, jiu-jitsu, and kick boxing came together to try to decide which style was "the best." In hindsight it seems silly.
As it turns out, as the sport has developed there is no right answer to the question of which discipline is the best. Ultimately with the strict rules that have been adopted over the last decade or so, the best discipline is a combination of many of the disciplines together. College wrestlers get into MMA and quickly learn that their skill sets must be supplemented with boxing and kicking like a kick boxer. Guys who get into MMA with a background in jiu-jitsu quickly realize that they better learn some wrestling techniques or additional boxing footwork.
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Article comments
1 - Matthew T. Sussman
UFC is trying to prove itself. I've heard this a lot. But to whom? This is what I never understood. Some people just don't plain like fighting sports.
And for the 18-35 male demographic, which I'll blindly assume is their biggest bracket, is legitimization really something they treasure? I've heard soccer fans say they don't care if soccer is popular in the US or not; they like it, and that's what matters.
2 - MMA
MMA is only gonna keep growing. brownsugar's son is a perfect example of how MMA has already won over the young demographic just like it captured my attention when I was a teen back in the early 90's.
3 - Mixed Martial Arts Fighting
Awesome site and great posting!