Please take a few moments to rip this guy

[Rodja]

The Grand Rapids Press
Is UFC a sport or not a sport?

The so-called sport of ultimate fighting, which is little more than glorified street fighting, has become America's fastest-growing and most controversial form of televised entertainment. And the most repulsive form of television programming.

Here's what UFC fans have in common:

A. They're mostly Nean-

derthal males hiding in caves.

B. They're not nearly sophisticated enough to appreciate the sweet science of boxing, nor the infield fly rule, the pick-and-roll, the left-wing lock, the bump draft or the pulling right guard.

C. They still think the "Flintstones" is a documentary.

The macho world of mixed martial arts is a disturbing trend in sports programming, which, unfortunately, might get much worse before it gets better. It often attracts higher ratings than both NBA and Major League Baseball postseason games among the coveted 18-to-34 male demographic.

The pay-per-view numbers are staggering: Ultimate Fighting Championship's pay-per-view revenues were almost $223 million in 2006, compared with $177 million for boxing on HBO and $200 million for WWE pro wrestling, according to figures in a recent issue of Sports Illustrated.


Following the money

UFC and similar events can be found on the Spike cable network, on WXSP, which has turned to this garbage since losing Big Ten football and men's basketball and Detroit Tigers telecasts, and even on ESPN2 for a live weigh-in.

Shame on them.

The once-legitimate sport of boxing has become irrelevant, with its alphabet soup of sanctioning bodies and a heavyweight division that's not the same since Mike Tyson took a bite out of Evander Holyfield's earlobe.

That's not a high point.

It started the downward spiral for a declining sport that no longer appeals to young males, who'd rather spend $54.95 on a violent video game than a pay-per-view matchup.

Mixed martial arts isn't a sport. Judo is a sport. Karate is a sport. Those disciplines are showcased once every four years on a legitimate stage in the Olympics.

Mixed martial arts is a cultural plague.

I promise this is the last time I'll ever write about UFC or the knuckleheads that participate in this savage bloodlust for the purpose of TV ratings.

I've made a list of so-called sports cluttering the cable TV landscape that I'd much rather watch than sit through UFC's skull-bashing sessions.

Darts.

Spelling bees.

Figure skating exhibitions.

Billiards.

Cheerleading.

Eating contests.

Strongest man competitions.

Any talk show featuring Skip Bayless or Woody Paige.

No, I don't watch those ridiculous events, either.

I'd still like to think that traditional sports such as baseball, football, basketball, hockey and auto racing are the common threads that run through our culture.

Or boxing, for that matter.

Instead, it seems the next generation is preoccupied with the warped sensation of seeing the cult film "Fight Club" come to life in the form of combatants punching, kicking and mauling each other in a cage that's called the Octagon.

Shame, shame, shame.




Send e-mail to the author: [email protected]

I am getting so fvcking tired of these fat pricks insulting not only my sport, but also me.

 

[stxnas]

Whoa, whoa, whoa...you mean The Flintstones wasn't a documentary?

This guy is talking out of his ass. He is likely a long time boxing fan...he said mixed martial arts isn't a sport, but Judo and Karate are. Hmm, that makes sense. That's like saying there's no skill in catching a football, BUT you have to be a skilled athlete to be a wide receiver.

 

[Sir Savage]

I don't like to personally attack people, but he's an idiot.

 

[Rodja]

I don't like to personally attack people, but he's an idiot.

I don't either, but he is attacking an entire sport and it's fans (and I fall into both categories).

 

[tattoopierced1]

what a retard.

 

[jas123]

Yeah, this guy is one of the worst depressed boxing fans out there. I like how he says that auto racing is a real sport with good fans. I don't watch it at all, but there is certainly a portion of fans that only want to see crashes.

 

[zbtboy]

B. They're not nearly sophisticated enough to appreciate the sweet science of boxing, nor the infield fly rule, the pick-and-roll, the left-wing lock, the bump draft or the pulling right guard.

HAHAHA. Yes these are all much more technically difficult than a submission. Geez did i really think an arm-bar was a better show of athleticism than when an infielder has to catch a fly ball with runners on base (or not catch it since the hitter is automatically out)??....I'm such a fool. :blink:

 

[SteelEntity]

well he is getting a peice of my mind.

 

[Rodja]

HAHAHA. Yes these are all much more technically difficult than a submission. Geez did i really think an arm-bar was a better show of athleticism than when an infielder has to catch a fly ball with runners on base (or not catch it since the hitter is automatically out)??....I'm such a fool. :blink:

I guess he also forgets that the left-wing lock was one of the worst things that ever happened to hockey. It slowed everything down and led to the clutching and grabbing of the late 90's, early 2000's.

 

[jas123]

well he is getting a peice of my mind.

Might as well attach a virus if you're emailing him.:cheers:

 

[Rodja]

Might as well attach a virus if you're emailing him.:cheers:

I like how you think...

 

[EESCHMan]

What a tard!

I wrote him...
is there an email address for the paper to write about this?

 

[stxnas]

For those of you that do write him please keep in mind that we don't want to prove his point for him:

Here's what UFC fans have in common:

A. They're mostly Nean-

derthal males hiding in caves.

B. They're not nearly sophisticated enough to appreciate the sweet science of boxing, nor the infield fly rule, the pick-and-roll, the left-wing lock, the bump draft or the pulling right guard.

C. They still think the "Flintstones" is a documentary.

 

[Rogue Drone]

Looks like a Tard?

:wtf: is that on your head?! :blink:

Acts like a Tard?

Sports Columnist, that's his speciality, who crudely insults a large fanbase with indefensible generalizations and ignorance.

It's confirmed, he's a turd covered in burnt hair or maybe Bigfoot's D**k. One thing's for sure, he'll never make "Anchorman" on the Network with work and a mug like that.

Count me as a content Neanderthal happily hiding in a cave, if this is the "Real" Sporting way to be.

I should rip him a new one by email, but being him is probably punishment enough. To paraphrase the line from "Animal House" -

"Fat, Ugly, and Stupid is no way to go through life, Son" :nono:

 

[stxnas]

Is that really his pic or did you just pull a bad come-over pic from the net?

 

[Rogue Drone]

That's a straight copy and paste from his ****ty little paper in his ****ty little city.

 

[ersatz]

Don't feed trolls and play into their game, just ignore them like the rest of humanity has.

 

[SteelEntity]

lmao whadda chump

 

[Rodja]

Don't feed trolls and play into their game, just ignore them like the rest of humanity has.

Intelligent rebuttal helps out MMA fans more than ignoring his article. I am so sick of these pro-boxing die-hards bashing MMA and it's growth over the past few years. I dislike many UFC fans, but insulting the sport is out of line. My fellow competitors and I bust our asses for many, many hours to prepare for our fights and I will not allow some fat piece of **** to disrespect my brethren and me.

He needs to learn about the sport before he writes an article bashing the fans and the athletes. I have noticed a trend towards bashing "Ultimate Fighting" as those tards like to call it and I will not stand for it any longer. It is as much a legitimate sport as boxing or any other event that goes through sanctioning body.

If you think that I am taking this personally, then you are correct. MMA is the hardest sport to train for and I wish that every one of its detractors would go to an MMA gym and train for a month and see how "unskilled" these competitors are.

 

[Iron Warrior]

That guy looks like he's never played a sport. He didn't even mention the most underappreciated tactic in sports which is the crack back block in football.

I'm recently getting into MMA as a fan because it's violent, skillful, and strategic. There's nothing wrong with that and that doesn't give him the right to categorize fans as unsophisticated neanderthals.

He is a retard because he would rather watch the spelling bee over MMA. It figures this fat slob would also prefer "competitve eating" over MMA.

I don't know why, but he seems like the Michael Moore of sports journalism.

OTOH, this is a sign that the sport is growing and getting attention. Having fat and un-athletic person bash the sport just validates the sport and takes away credibility from this slob.

 

[EESCHMan]

Intelligent rebuttal helps out MMA fans more than ignoring his article. I am so sick of these pro-boxing die-hards bashing MMA and it's growth over the past few years. I dislike many UFC fans, but insulting the sport is out of line. My fellow competitors and I bust our asses for many, many hours to prepare for our fights and I will not allow some fat piece of **** to disrespect my brethren and me.

He needs to learn about the sport before he writes an article bashing the fans and the athletes. I have noticed a trend towards bashing "Ultimate Fighting" as those tards like to call it and I will not stand for it any longer. It is as much a legitimate sport as boxing or any other event that goes through sanctioning body.

If you think that I am taking this personally, then you are correct. MMA is the hardest sport to train for and I wish that every one of its detractors would go to an MMA gym and train for a month and see how "unskilled" these competitors are.

Yes...basically I just wrote saying that I'm college educated, work as a programmer, blah blah...
That MMA takes more athleticism than boxing, and that most fighters are college educated (unlike boxing).
He went on to say that judo/karate/wrestling/boxing are sports, so I continued and said, Okay, so put those together and you get MMA!

I'm about to get back into MMA Training (after 13 years!) 'cause I love the sport so much. I already know it'll be hard, but I need to get into better shape in my "old" age (I'm not that old!)

 

[stxnas]

Yes...basically I just wrote saying that I'm college educated, work as a programmer, blah blah...
That MMA takes more athleticism than boxing, and that most fighters are college educated (unlike boxing).
He went on to say that judo/karate/wrestling/boxing are sports, so I continued and said, Okay, so put those together and you get MMA!

I'm about to get back into MMA Training (after 13 years!) 'cause I love the sport so much. I already know it'll be hard, but I need to get into better shape in my "old" age (I'm not that old!)

LOL. Wow! He must have no inkling about the sport at to have said that. Even a neanderthal that knows MMA wouldn't have said that due to the anticipation of your response.

 

[zbtboy]

I guess he also forgets that the left-wing lock was one of the worst things that ever happened to hockey. It slowed everything down and led to the clutching and grabbing of the late 90's, early 2000's.

I'm a Devils fan so I can't really complain about that too much.

 

[Rodja]

I'm a Devils fan so I can't really complain about that too much.

The Devils were a trapping team more than a LWL team. It was the damn Red Wings that made the LWL prominent.

 

[somewhatgifted]

This man is easily intimidated and fears natural selection.

 

[Rogue Drone]

This man is easily intimidated and fears natural selection.

That pretty much sums it up.

These people miss the logical extension, as EESCHman pointed out, as the whole being as legitimate and greater than the sum of the parts and add gross generalizations about the fanbase, instead of simply admitting that realistic violence in a controlled setting offends them, this sport that is an intense natural progression beyond singular combat forms.

Fair enough, you are put off by the perceived savagery, say so, don't attack it from these illogical and slanderous angles.

Rodja,

When this thread has run it's course, you should forward a link to this to this guy, and we'll give him the chance to defend his assertions. Bet he won't, but it's the fair and possibly interesting thing to do.

 

[Rodja]

That pretty much sums it up.

These people miss the logical extension, as EESCHman pointed out, as the whole being as legitimate and greater than the sum of the parts and add gross generalizations about the fanbase, instead of simply admitting that realistic violence in a controlled setting offends them, this sport that is an intense natural progression beyond singular combat forms.

Fair enough, you are put off by the perceived savagery, say so, don't attack it from these illogical and slanderous angles.

Rodja,

When this thread has run it's course, you should forward a link to this to this guy, and we'll give him the chance to defend his assertions. Bet he won't, but it's the fair and possibly interesting thing to do.

My fear is that he would see the word "Anabolic" and have a new set of ammunition. Not only are we savages, but we are also juice-heads...

 

[jas123]

Why are we Neanderthals for wanting to see KOs or subs? Do boxing fans not want to see the same thing? I haven't heard any boxing fans that I know say that Mayweather-DLH was a great fight. Or is it the fact that the KOs come quicker because of the gloves? A couple strike quick KO has to better for you than getting knocked down 4 times in a fight, allowed to recover slightly each time, only to ultimately get KOed. If any studies have been done on this, please post them. Or have these people only seen clips of old early UFCs and don't understand how far MMA has come? Can these boxing fans just not get over the differences in the stance and what they perceive as sloppiness?

I can guarantee that my MMA fan friends and myself all are at least as educated as this guy and most of us are surely more. This is not necessarily a measure of one's worth, but I think it's fair to say that we aren't idiots.

 

[somewhatgifted]

Whats better a submission, a barrage of three or four placed knees or elbows with a quick ending once rendered unable to defend oneself...... Or hundreds upon hundreds of unrelenting brain cell popping, damage. Boxing in its very essence is far more barbaric with more of a likeness of beating ones head against a wall, than the skill quickness and versatility of MMA.
With the recend deaths in the boxing ring the commision has made heavier gloves mandatory for even light weight fighters....
do they not realise the heavier the glove the more sheer volume of punches a man could withstand. If they used MMA gloves guys would get KO'ed and save brain cells as opposed to the relentless punches of less than KO ability due to heavier larger surface area gloves. MMA's brutality and "neanderthal like" nature provide a safeness inconcievable to a boxing traditionalist. From a safety standpoint id rather theoretically get opened up by a cut or almost choked out than eat 600 punches.

 

[GuyverX]

I'd like to invite that guy for a few rounds in the ring.
How dare he insult one the toughest sports to hit the shores of the USA.
MMA takes just as much skill, dedication, perseverance, and heart as any other sport.
More than some of them.
In all actuality I think he might be jealous because he can't participate.
The nerve of some losers.



long live MMA fighting.
the warrior way of modern SPARTANS !!!!!!!!

 

[GuyverX]

Looks like a Tard?

:wtf: is that on your head?! :blink:

Acts like a Tard?

Sports Columnist, that's his speciality, who crudely insults a large fanbase with indefensible generalizations and ignorance.

It's confirmed, he's a turd covered in burnt hair or maybe Bigfoot's D**k. One thing's for sure, he'll never make "Anchorman" on the Network with work and a mug like that.

Count me as a content Neanderthal happily hiding in a cave, if this is the "Real" Sporting way to be.

I should rip him a new one by email, but being him is probably punishment enough. To paraphrase the line from "Animal House" -

"Fat, Ugly, and Stupid is no way to go through life, Son" :nono:

looks like he has a little too much dht and estrogen conversion there.

 

[thesinner]

I'll bet he's just another 2 bit writer who barely made it through journalism school, just trying to get some shock-appeal to pay for another week of TV dinners and Twinkies. Nothing to get worked up about, just a lonely man trying to keep afloat by pulling others down. (Although judging from that picture, he looks like he'd float rather easily )

 

[Rogue Drone]

This guy has tabulated and chronicled the number of boxing deaths over the years.

Journal of Combative Sport: Boxing Fatalities, Svinth

Bareknuckle and times of lesser medical treatment aside, one can see that for ~6.5 year period between July '00 and December '06, there were 406 deaths.

AFAIK, there has only been one death as a result of an MMA match, a fighter in the Ukraine, and, I believe, that was a NHB match before the safety rules in places like today's UFC where in effect.

MMA fighters bleed from the skin cutting of lesser padded gloves, which puts some people off, but that's superficial versus the internal damage that's being done by the sustained beating of boxing.

 

[jmh80]

'Tis not a sport because the honorable uber-chemical engineer Jmh80 doesn't watch it.

(However - I don't watch all sports. I can't watch basically all women's sports - except to look for hotties. I can't take regular season NBA or baseball - only playoffs. I guess I'm really just a football fan with a sprinkling of golf. I don't watch hockey at all - so I'm saying that's not a sport either. Same goes for tennis, NASCAR, and open wheel racing.)



Rogue - I bet this guy wrote an article describing Miami Hurricane fans in much the same way. Except we don't live in caves - we live in the ghetto and have knife fights every day.
:type:


The take-home message here shouldn't really be "is MMA a sport?" - it should be (yet again) that the media panders to certain groups just to sell newspaper/magazines/commercials.
We see this time and time again with steroids. Totally retarded, asinine, not founding remotely in science ("science? WTF is that" - media).
I'm not surprised in the least at how this article was written. The agenda is clear: create publicity (of some sort) via controversy by you folks.

 

[Rodja]

This guy has tabulated and chronicled the number of boxing deaths over the years.

Journal of Combative Sport: Boxing Fatalities, Svinth

Bareknuckle and times of lesser medical treatment aside, one can see that for ~6.5 year period between July '00 and December '06, there were 406 deaths.

AFAIK, there has only been one death as a result of an MMA match, a fighter in the Ukraine, and, I believe, that was a NHB match before the safety rules in places like today's UFC where in effect.

MMA fighters bleed from the skin cutting of lesser padded gloves, which puts some people off, but that's superficial versus the internal damage that's being done by the sustained beating of boxing.

Also, that fighter did not receive medical clearance to compete, but the promoter ignored it. I can't remember exactly, but I think he had a heart condition.

 

[ersatz]

Intelligent rebuttal helps out MMA fans more than ignoring his article. I am so sick of these pro-boxing die-hards bashing MMA and it's growth over the past few years. I dislike many UFC fans, but insulting the sport is out of line. My fellow competitors and I bust our asses for many, many hours to prepare for our fights and I will not allow some fat piece of **** to disrespect my brethren and me.

He needs to learn about the sport before he writes an article bashing the fans and the athletes. I have noticed a trend towards bashing "Ultimate Fighting" as those tards like to call it and I will not stand for it any longer. It is as much a legitimate sport as boxing or any other event that goes through sanctioning body.

If you think that I am taking this personally, then you are correct. MMA is the hardest sport to train for and I wish that every one of its detractors would go to an MMA gym and train for a month and see how "unskilled" these competitors are.

While I agree with the general concepts of what you're saying it's wasteful here. It's not an open debate or conversation so you won't be able to show him for the fool he is. He will glance at the email and see it does not align with his beliefs and promptly ignore or delete it. It's not going to change his perception one bit. Now if you were debating him on a public forum that would be different. I personally wouldn't waste the time on him but that's me.