UFC: Ultimate Fighting Championship

[shurikengirl]

The UFC is an inaccurate portrayal of the styles it represents.

 

The UFC is supposedly meant to bring together all MA styles to see which is best in one on one combat, pitting one against the other.

 

Of course, there will never be a *best* all-reigning completely superior style, but certainly some are more suited to one on one combat than others. Or even *gasp* all-around -better- than other styles. (My opinion is that, yeah, some styles are definently better than some others. But let's not get into that.)

 

Anyway, while the UFC is a very attractive idea - taking the best fighters of many styles and seeing which style gains more wins - it isn't a very good measure of the true capabilities of different arts.

 

If you look at the results of the fights, the overwhelming majority of wins are from grapplers, especially Brazilian jiu jitsu. This is because of the size of the ring - it's pretty small. Striking type arts have less room to move around in, making it easier for them to be grabbed by grapplers.

 

It's quite apparent that the truth of the martial arts is that there are three major determining factors to the outcome of a fight:

 

1 The fighters themselves

 

2 The arts

 

3 The circumstances

 

Grapplers will have a natural edge over strikers in small spaces. And I'd imagine it's the opposite in wide open spaces.

 

My point is, you -can't- judge an art based only on it's history of wins. You -can't- say it's mostly the skill of the fighter, and not the art as much.

 

There are too many factors to take into account.

 

If the UFC truly wants to know which arts are generally better arts, then they have to be more serious about it and fight in a variety of environments.

 

It'd be so cool if there was a fighting championship that really took all factors into account and looked at the different arts, then analyzed them, almost scientifically. Will we ever know the truth? Without the glitzy masked wrestling crap?

 

 

 

 

[BlueDragon1981]

The UFC is geared towards grapplers. Certain strikes that are used in some arts arent aloud. However these people trian in various arts usually so that is going to show that the only way to prepare is to do learn more than one art, since none of them are perfect.

[shurikengirl]

Almost forgot...lookit this site for more info:

 

http://members.aol.com/ThaiRing/nhb.htm

 

 

[spinninggumby]

Don't mean to diss on the UFC further either but I have recorded footage of very very fake fighting on the part of the winning fighter/contestant. It's not even that hard to spot amidst all the punching, but if your VCR has a slow-motion option then the scandal becomes apparent and painfully obvious.

 

 

[three60roundhouse]

If you watch the first two or three UFC's, the UFC was just a big chance for the Gracies to "break" their game....in Royce's first fight in the octagon, he gained mount and the opponent tapped right then! Yes, it has become geared more towards grappling, fixing may be going on, blah blah blah. The contest was originally started with good intentions.

[G95champ]

I tend to like the UFC. No its not style vs. style because to be a good fighter you got to cross train and its clear that some arts gear you towards fighting a lot quicker than others. However with that said I think for the most part it does a good job.

 

I do wish they would go back to the rules at first and allow kicks while the person is down, holding the fence, and the no time limit.

 

The rounds are ok I like to watch the ground work but a fresh start keeps it exciting as well.

 

 

[Eye of the Tiger]

Looks really cool. I think there is gonna be a show here in England on pay per veiw. I don't know if you can actually get UFC here in England, if so which channel???

 

 

[Jack]

Sky Sports - either 1 or 2. It'll be on tonight (Thursday) so keep an eye on the papers and a finger on the recorder.

 

 

[Don Gwinn]

I enjoy UFC for what it is, and all it is is a sport. Like football or rugby.

 

Originally the concept was supposed to be to pit different arts against each other, but it quickly became obvious that the fighter mattered more than the art and that there were certain skills everyone had to have, so if you watch a "modern" UFC you won't hear much about different arts, like "Judo vs. Sambo!" If a guy is going to fight a kickboxer and doesn't know striking very well he'll train with a kickboxer for the weeks leading up to the fight. That's fine, but if he knows kickboxing well enough to use it in internation competition, he's practically a kickboxer, right?

 

Striking does have its place in the Octagon, but yes, grappling dominates. I notice they've hardened the mats, which were a big source of complaints for strikers in the early years. More importantly, as you point out, grapplers can use their most effective techniques without seriously damaging someone.

 

But no matter what you do, someone will think of a way that it isn't "real" fighting. If you overcame that and made it like "real" fighting, you'd have gladiators instead of fighters and I wouldn't watch it.

 

Still, Bas Rutten, Vitor Belfort, Pat Miletich, Matt Hughes. . . . . these guys might take exception to the idea that a striker doesn't get a chance in UFC.

 

I say "Bring back Tank Abbot!"

 

 

[G95champ]

Last time I saw Tank fight Vetor Belfor warmed his ears up. LOL.