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Should MMA be outlawed in the US?

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bloodydrake

Cool Smoke Luke
In all seriousness, figure skating is a pretty good example of an "impure" sport, as the victor is determined by incredibly subjective criteria, often in an environment rich with bias.

fuck ya its as corrupt! as corrupt can be..
Oh the judges don't' approve of your non traditional Music choice ..even tho you had the best technical and creative routine by far...you lose..

the second rate skater that skates to a very conservative traditional selection..wins..

SPIT!
 
When people say "pure" I believe they mean it in the sense that there aren't many rules that will determine a victor. Most fights are one by the toughest motherfucker in the ring, not by someone who can "game" the system's rules.

There are a lot of rules, though, and a high referee to participant ratio. You could make a better argument about running as a sport, but why would you? My point is this whole "pure" sport thing reeks of bullshit, which almost certainly means it is part of some learned discourse. "Purity" is "good," so if your sport is pure it is better than other sports, or something.

Just trying to add more thought into this conversation than:

lol no, OP's wrong, .gif of knockout arm reflex: DAYUM.

For the record, I've watched MMA and don't really care for it, but I don't give a damn if anybody likes it, and I sure as hell don't want it banned. But all the "the sport I like is better than the sport you like" stuff is dumb (at least this isn't a football/football thread).
 

akira28

Member
nude and greased up? I have a strong feeling that MMA's fanbase would drop significantly if this happened.

Probably stabilize and/or increase. I never got into MMA because it always seemed like two dudes writhing on the floor in combat. I prefer stand up, kicking punching, maybe some grappling, but I'm not into combat wrestling. So ground game counts me out.

I think Pure is a brand name of one of the MMA events or something. But of course it's all marketing. The organizers and owners spend a lot of money and time on perfectly crafting the image and positioning the sport so it seems exciting and new and better than anything else out there. It fits it's niche and it's target demo of young males 15-39 are probably all over it. Probably even moreso the younger gens. It's not for everyone, but you won't see fighting sports going anywhere.
 

ReBurn

Gold Member
Pretty sure underground death sports already exist in various elite clubs anyways.

In 100 or 200 years, who knows what sick entertainment people will want. AI will probably be advanced enough to have robots beat the hell out of each other by then too.

We already got robot wars.
 

Esch

Banned
Hell no to the OP.

Also this topic is reminding me why MMA fans can be so annoying. any fucking chance to post a gif. it could be a topic about embroidery and you guys would post 50 gifs of rampage punching some guy in the face. Or maybe thats just sports stannery in general.
 
Probably stabilize and/or increase. I never got into MMA because it always seemed like two dudes writhing on the floor in combat. I prefer stand up, kicking punching, maybe some grappling, but I'm not into combat wrestling. So ground game counts me out.

I think Pure is a brand name of one of the MMA events or something. But of course it's all marketing. The organizers and owners spend a lot of money and time on perfectly crafting the image and positioning the sport so it seems exciting and new and better than anything else out there. It fits it's niche and it's target demo of young males 15-39 are probably all over it. Probably even moreso the younger gens. It's not for everyone, but you won't see fighting sports going anywhere.

I'm confused. Are you saying that the male 15-39 demographic would enjoy seeing nude male fighting?
 
Any fucking chance to post a gif. it could be a topic about embroidery and you guys would post 50 gifs of rampage punching some guy in the face. Or maybe thats just sports stannery in general.

iAVN0kV2aW7Kz.gif
 

Esch

Banned
ironically no gifs in this thread have Rampage throwing a punch
I purposefully avoid looking at them just because they serve no purpose. You could have posted a gif of gray maynard humping a Liger and I wouldn't have noticed.

edit: wrestling gif is appropriate, i blame a lot of the lame aesthetic aspect of mma branding on that shit.
 
I purposefully avoid looking at them just because they serve no purpose. You could have posted a gif of gray maynard humping a Liger and I wouldn't have noticed.

edit: wrestling gif is appropriate, i blame a lot of the lame aesthetic aspect of mma branding on that shit.

668.jpg
 
So many people in this thread are extremely quick to say "herp derp, X sport is way more dangerous", yet they're missing the point of the OP's argument.

He's arguing the nature of the sport rather than the outcome of the injuries.

Yes. Thank you.
 
Probably NASCAR fans do.

Yeah, I'm only talking about the one experience I had and the conversations I had with people there. I don't even know anyone who watches NASCAR on television, and it wasn't an event in that league anyway.

When that first crash happened...wow. The whole place went apeshit. We were sitting with the wives of one of the drivers, and the wife of one of the guys who crashed was sitting a couple rows in front of us. Apparently their husbands were rivals. I found this out when the woman in front of us leaped up two rows right as the crash happened and tried to pull the woman we came with down the bleachers by her hair. I felt like I was on Springer.
 

Zeliard

Member
So many people in this thread are extremely quick to say "herp derp, X sport is way more dangerous", yet they're missing the point of the OP's argument.

He's arguing the nature of the sport rather than the outcome of the injuries.

Relative to the "nature" of boxing? How about kickboxing? Where do those fit in?

This thread is really helpful in ferreting out the stupid.
 

Esch

Banned
Yes. Thank you.

And you see it as complete psychotic bloodsport instead of exhibition of competitive martial skill, complete physical fitness, and courage. It's obviously a matter of perception. There is truth in both sides of the spectrum. But like others have said the same is true for any aggressive full contact sport whether scoring points is the objective or combat

So none of the fanbase in this thread takes you seriously.
 

UFRA

Member
Relative to the "nature" of boxing? How about kickboxing? Where do those fit in?

How am I supposed to know? I'm just stating what the OP was obviously trying to argue. I'm sure he doesn't feel boxing or kickboxing are good sports either. I just found it annoying that everyone was attacking the OP about safety comparisons with other sports when clearly that wasn't his main point.

Why is it that people are so defensive about these sports? Is it so hard to believe that a sport where the main attraction is a fight might be questionable to some people?

This thread is really helpful in ferreting out the stupid.

That's a nice touch.
 

tass0

Banned
Martial artists competing in regulated contests in a sport safer than the most popular sport in the US.

I don't see why it would be.
 

Plywood

NeoGAF's smiling token!
The nature of the sport is scoring points based on how well you can land a shot and run anyway from your opponent. Just ask current interim welterweight champ Carlos "Natural Born Killer" Conduit.
 

TheNatural

My Member!
The nature of the sport is scoring points based on how well you can land a shot and run anyway from your opponent. Just ask current interim welterweight champ Carlos "Natural Born Killer" Conduit.

Easy to do with a shitty C rate wanna be boxer like Diaz.
 

Monocle

Member
Other sports are equally or more dangerous than MMA, and violent entertainment takes more vile forms than strictly regulated fights between trained athletes. Personally, I'm more disturbed by torture porn and guro. If there's a case to be made for outlawing MMA, it hasn't shown up in this thread.
 

soultron

Banned
No one is forcing you to watch. Children and anyone who is opposed to UFC cannot access it unless they're up late the odd time it's free, in a sports bar, their parents bought the PPV, or they have unrestricted access to the internet. (The latter two cases are probably shitty parenting.)

There are many countries that host and televise martial arts events.

There is discipline and respect amongst a lot of fighters. Some are douchebags for the camera, playing a villain. But hey, that's kind of like boxing!

Honestly, if you have any foresight, UFC will conclude its time in the limelight and go back to being a semi-obscure sport once people get tired of it. Just like -- sorry for saying this UFC fans, but I really believe this -- poker did with WPT and all that in the mid-'00s.

And if you think UFC is bad right now, you should've seen it in the '90s. That shit was fucking brutal. The sport has come a long way -- it was forced to clean up its image and add rules to further protect fighters.

Next time, OP, do some reading. I barely watch UFC and I know all this.
 

Esch

Banned
The nature of the sport is scoring points based on how well you can land a shot and run anyway from your opponent. Just ask current interim welterweight champ Carlos "Natural Born Killer" Conduit.

i was talking about aggressive scoring-based sports like football, hockey, rugby.... some of which are just as damaging to the human body as any combat sport.

EDIT: MMA is going to continue to get more popular. You can see the increasing evidence of its influence in every martial arts system being taught today and the sports derived from those martial arts. It's not going to fall off. Its only real barrier is the lack of a standardized training system and infrastructure for youth to train in it. Instead people start off in one martial art and then broaden their training. MMA's growth and survival will depend on how it can be pitched to kids.
 

Zeliard

Member
How am I supposed to know? I'm just stating what the OP was obviously trying to argue. I'm sure he doesn't feel boxing or kickboxing are good sports either. I just found it annoying that everyone was attacking the OP about safety comparisons with other sports when clearly that wasn't his main point.

Why is it that people are so defensive about these sports? Is it so hard to believe that a sport where the main attraction is a fight might be questionable to some people?

The OP is asking for it to be banned because of its "psychotic violence" and also implies that people who enjoy it aren't civilized. If it isn't a troll, and it really is so over-the-top it probably is, it isn't particularly hard to see why people would become defensive.

And its safety relative to other popular sports is also kind of a critical point if one of the main strikes against it is comes down to violence.

That's a nice touch.

Between people bringing up hilarious anecdotes, nebulous arguments like "a line has been crossed!", and attempts to impugn the morality of an entire fanbase, yes, it's been quite effective in that regard.
 
How am I supposed to know? I'm just stating what the OP was obviously trying to argue. I'm sure he doesn't feel boxing or kickboxing are good sports either. I just found it annoying that everyone was attacking the OP about safety comparisons with other sports when clearly that wasn't his main point.

Why is it that people are so defensive about these sports? Is it so hard to believe that a sport where the main attraction is a fight might be questionable to some people?



That's a nice touch.

he says specifically in the post that it's different between boxing and mma because mma crosses the line. So he says it's a bloodsport a step away from Roman gladiatorial combat and that's not meant to call into the question the safety of the sport? If he thought the sport was safe he wouldn't want it to be outlawed, that wouldn't make any sense. If I'm arguing that sportscar should be outlawed it's not because I think they're ugly, unsightly, and speak ill of the people who drive them. He's making an uneducated claim on a single sport and if he does feel that way about all combat sports, the issue is with him not the sports. People are defensive because it's an ignorant desire to rid an incredibly popular sport based on false information and perception.
 

soultron

Banned
EDIT: MMA is going to continue to get more popular. You can see the increasing evidence of its influence in every martial arts system being taught today and the sports derived from those martial arts. It's not going to fall off. Its only real barrier is the lack of a standardized training system and infrastructure for youth to train in it. Instead people start off in one martial art and then broaden their training. MMA's growth and survival will depend on how it can be pitched to kids.

I can totally see this happening, especially with the recent FOX Sports deal. But more than that, I see UFC eventually falling off. I just have a gut feeling. Just like how boxing had its heyday. Boxing is still huge, but I don't think it's nearly as big as it once was.

I'm not meaning to say that UFC sux or that they're not making smart business moves (they are), it's just that I feel everything has a peak and eventual decline before it levels off. I'm willing to accept that I will most likely be wrong. And that's a good thing for dedicated UFC fans, right?
 
Are you implying the Romans weren't civilized? They were one of the greatest civilizations of all time. Difference is, they admitted their decadence instead of trying to live some quasi-puritan lifestyle. We're humans and we have urges. We like sex and violence. And we do enjoy watching people beat the crap out of each other. Most MMA matches boil down to the two fighters hugging each other on the ground anyways.

I can totally see this happening, especially with the recent FOX Sports deal, but I see UFC eventually falling off. I just have a gut feeling. Just like how boxing had its heyday. Boxing is still huge, but I don't think it's nearly as big as it once was.

I'm curious if a lack of big stars is the cause or symptom of that. I can't think of any big boxers from the last decade, whereas everyone knows about Mike Tyson, Muhammad Ali, Joe Frasier, etc.
 

Esch

Banned
I can totally see this happening, especially with the recent FOX Sports deal, but I see UFC eventually falling off. I just have a gut feeling. Just like how boxing had its heyday. Boxing is still huge, but I don't think it's nearly as big as it once was.

Yeah, boxing had its issues based on PPV seclusion, promotion fuckery, the amateur system, and governing organizations but MMA doesnt really suffer nearly as much from such issues. So why will it decline? and when?

i liked the sport more when it had rules closer to pride
 

Angry Fork

Member
I don't like it and don't think it's right, but if they want to do it then that's their decision. I choose not to watch it.

We should spend our efforts getting rid of stuff that's still legal like horse racing where the animals entertaining have no say in the matter and horses are tortured/die all the time. Circuses and animal entertainment (when it poses harm for the animal) in general should be gotten rid of before talking about violent sports involving people.
 

FyreWulff

Member
No, but it should be more tightly regulated. And Dana White is a horrible human being.

Just like boxing though, the bigger guys will eventually be picked off by other more lucrative and less dangerous sports.
 

Zeliard

Member
I can totally see this happening, especially with the recent FOX Sports deal. But more than that, I see UFC eventually falling off. I just have a gut feeling. Just like how boxing had its heyday. Boxing is still huge, but I don't think it's nearly as big as it once was.

I'm not meaning to say that UFC sux or that they're not making smart business moves (they are), it's just that I feel everything has a peak and eventual decline before it levels off. I'm willing to accept that I will most likely be wrong. And that's a good thing for dedicated UFC fans, right?

Boxing helped to sink itself though with things like the demarcation of championship belts and the difficulties in getting those champions to fight each other. The basis behind UFC, generally-speaking, is that the best stay in there and pretty regularly fight each other within their weight classes. The UFC has a fairly ruthless way of cutting any fighter who loses 3 or even sometimes 2 fights in a row (unless your name is Dan Hardy), so that helps keep things fairly consistent in terms of general skill level.
 

soultron

Banned
Yeah, boxing had its issues based on PPV seclusion, promotion fuckery, the amateur system, and governing organizations but MMA doesnt really suffer nearly as much from such issues. So why will it decline? and when?

i liked the sport more when it had rules closer to pride

I really can't tell you when or why (because I don't know the sport nearly as well as anyone who's a dedicated fan), it's just personal speculation when comparing to other (trending) sports.

e: Zeliard made some great points as to why it will probably avoid most of Boxing's pitfalls.
 
trent listen i am a total advocate of nonviolence and believe in the power of words and all that but that doesn't change the fact that some people like to watch two dudes beat the shit out of each other. and the free market allows it. i think it's ok be to legal.
 
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