Photo Credit: ESPN
As an avid sports fan, I pretty much find an interest or respect in any sport… And I don’t feel that bowling is necessarily associated with the Special Olympics haha. Back in high school, the new craze was the launch of MMA thanks largely in part to the UFC. At a time where it truly was no holds barred with nut shots perfectly legal in your arsenal of moves alongside fishhooks and eye gouging… The sport has developed tremendously in the last few years. UFC Middelweight Champion George St-Pierre is set to join a number of respected athletes from more traditional sporting realms in an upcoming ad with Gatorade. Who would have thought the most barbaric and legal sport in our current landscape would gain this level of respectability. I speak like the sport is mine, but I must say that I’m just somebody that is intensely interested in seeing two grown men attempt to choke, submit or knock the shit out of each other. I can’t get all technical and say what submission is what either. As well, I’m definitely not here to argue for the sport’s finer points, it is what it is… On a level of respectability and difficulty, I see no equal. Power and grace, toughness and technique all this are factors in an MMA’s development that sees few equals in other sports. I can’t think of another sport that stresses physical and technical traits as much as MMA. Despite coming from a soccer background, you can’t just press the panic button and kick the ball for a throw-in either haha. But you are essentially combining two of man’s most sought after characteristics in its greatest achievement of matching brains with brawn. For those who think it’s just a slugfest, soooo much more thought and tactics go into it regarding positioning.
Ok enough talk about why I like it cause it sounds newbish… but I did have an interesting conversation with my buddy Alval from HomeRoom. He mentioned a number of points regarding how big MMA had gotten and how far it has come along. He mentioned that MMA athletes are probably some of the greatest athletes on the planet (something to that effect, I don’t want to misquote). I politely declined that notion though. Many of these current MMA fighters come from relatively “obscure” sporting backgrounds. When I mean obscure, I mean largely that they aren’t among the most popular, well-developed and well-publicized sports around. Winning an NCAA Div 1 Wrestling Title is great and all but nobody really gives a fuck afterwards hence why Brock Lesnar went to the WWE. Beast of an athlete he is, but until MMA gains a certain level of respectability amongst the general public I can’t see MMA really have the best athletes across the table. Well de-sensitization goes a long way, you can de-sensitize a soccer mom into liking MMA down the line I’m sure. But until it reaches a point where kids are thrown into a cage before a batter’s box, your best athletes will continue to pick more popular, accepted and ultimately the most lucrative sports.
You know why America will never be all that great at soccer (not that many care I think)? Cause you’re going to be sending your absolute top-tier athletes to well-established professional leagues like the NBA, NHL, MLB cause that shit is well-accepted and it pays well.
In closing, why do all MMA-related clothing brands suck so bad while 10AC and UCS are light years better?