Your opinion on MMA these days?

[bushido_man96]

After training against other professionals on a daily basis, a self defense situation against a bunch of untrained people is actually a fun and entertaining event.

Man, that's just wrong, but funny...

All true, but still not always applicable to the street for those who care more about that. No one wants to get stuck on the ground with one guy for a long time in real life. MMA is great, but it's its own art and sport.

I agree here, but even a RBSD syllabus can't be considered all inclusive, either. The more exposure one can get, then the better off one can be.

the very old mma fights used to have high level karate and judo masters fighting in gi's (karate suits) but now all they wear is a pair of spedoes or shorts

On a side note here, in the ancient Olympiad's version of MMA, Pakration, the competitors fought naked, as did the Boxers and Wrestlers. Speedo = good idea.

Take the time to learn what the ground game is all about, and you'll understand just how incredibly complicated and technical it really is. Even something that looks brutish and raw such as wrestling is very beautiful and technical when you understand exactly whats going on and how moves are set up.

I'll admit, when I first watched the first UFC videos, I used to fast forward when it hit the ground because it was "boring."

The ground game isn't the only phase to fall prey to this feeling, either. In UFC 98, the Evans/Machida fight was referred to as rather "boring" in the first round, with the two fighters taking time to guage each other, exchanging few blows standing up. I think it was obvious that they were testing each other, calculating their next moves and such. The same things happen when the fight goes to the ground, as well. More stand-up fighters can appreciate the guaging that goes on in stand-up, but don't see it the same on the ground.

Everyone likes to see a knockdown, drag-out fight, as well. But at times, you get one or the other.