Feature: Single Blog Takedown

"I like a man who grins when he fights." --Winston Churchill, 1941.

My father raised me on the classics of boxing: Ali-Frazier, Hearns-Hagler. Sadly, the representative fight of my generation ended up being Tyson-Holyfield II. I despaired that the sweet science had been reduced to a dude's ear getting spit into the third row.

Then I saw Bonnar-Griffin.

Like so many others, I had been led to believe the UFC was for psychotics, a no-holds-barred carnival of bloodlust. Sure, Forrest gushed plenty that night, but all I saw was two guys, fighting for recognition while being beaten beyond it. When's the last time I saw that in a ring? I still love boxing, but I had a feeling that I'd be watching plenty of fights inside those eight caged walls going forward.

In today's MMA, you need brains and skills to go with an iron jaw and a vocabulary that doesn't include "surrender". (A personality doesn't hurt, either.) Maybe you don't know a triangle choke from a square dance... or maybe half your closet is filled with Tapout and Affliction. Either way, there's something to enjoy about MMA for everyone. Hopefully I can convince you of that.

And failing that, we can all just make fun of Brock's tattoos.

Columnists

Matt DeTura Matt DeTura

Articles in this feature

Sports Highlights