Pre-ramble:
Sure, the point of both sports is to inflict physical damage to your opponent using a mixture of pure strength, explosiveness, technique, and heart. MMA and boxing both require incredible discipline and focus to be able to compete at a high level.
MMA is the brash young hothead raging through puberty. Boxing is your father or grandfather, drawing on a remarkable tapestry of history to bring the sport into present context. He needs to embellish, of course, because the haze of cigarette smoke in Madison Square Garden is long gone. He tells you about the reliability of the Studebaker and recalls fond pre-launch memories of the Edsel, while MMA is drawing Millennials into its embrace like a super-duper bug zapper placed in the middle of the Florida Everglades under the guise of Operation: Kill Mosquitoes.
1. Marketing
Dana White and company have built a behemoth with incredible staying-power out of a bunch of magic beans they purchased from Jack at the local market. If anyone remembers early UFC matches, there were no weight classes, even fewer rules, and each fight was a solitary 5-minute round for all the marbles. Now, UFC is gaining momentum like a runaway freight train on a Teflon track. Watching UFC matches immediately reminds this writer of the Jean Claude Van Damme movie Bloodsport.
2. Competition
The UFC is like having a Kumite just about every week. Not only that, but there are always tons of contests, including the prelims, which are often just as entertaining as main-card fights. Throw two people into a cage with a few rules and you’re going to have a feral mindset (spiced with guile and technique) that elevates competition.
One of the biggest gripes we hear that people have with boxing is that fighters and their promoters can avoid threats to unblemished records or their championship belts, sometimes for years at a time. We’re still waiting for Manny Pacquaio to fight Floyd Mayweather in one of the most wanted bouts in history – and it’s not happening. If these legendary fighters were in the UFC we probably would have had a trilogy at this point. Again, think about that. If UFC fans were foaming at the mouth for a specific fight is there any doubt that Dana White wouldn’t make it happen? Superman and Batman will square off on the big screen before Mayweather and Pacquaio will stand toe-to-toe.
3. Judging
Did it seem to you that boxing seemed to enjoy its longstanding monopoly a bit too much? The IBF, WBO and a host of other three-letter ditties are corrupt and a long history of head-scratching decisions proves it.
Does it happen in the UFC? Sure, and it might happen more as the organization establishes a cadre of bright stars. Jon “Bones” Jones v. Alexander Gustaffson left a lot of people thinking that the Swede beat the champ, but it was such a close and incredible fight, that whatever complaining came out of it was short-lived.
Can they avoid the perception that the sport is rigged, something that boxing has struggled with for a long time? This columnist thinks UFC can get past some crappy decisions because there will always be quality fights. Not just quality fights, but the fights the fans want to see.
Business 101 – satisfied customers = repeat customers.
4. Violence
The Purge and its sequel, currently in theaters everywhere, is a hyperbolic exploration of how Americans seem to crave violence. There is some truth to that statement. Our most popular sport involves metahumans clad in armor trying to knock each other senseless on the gridiron.
Not only that, but White and the rest of the wizards at the UFC have structured their sport along the lines of football, America’s new national pastime (RIP baseball). From the weekly fights to the computer-generated images of robots smashing one another, the imagery of UFC contests is reminiscent of football. Face it, as a society we seem to crave violence more than at any time in memory. MMA delivers on that violence on a weekly basis and UFC cards seem to always have at least one instance where a fighter meets an incredibly violent end.
Some might disparage the level of violence in the UFC. Senator John McCain from Arizona famously called MMA “human cockfighting”. Is it barbaric? Yes! But MMA competitors, like boxers, are incredibly trained, world-class technicians. They aren’t just tough guys (and gals) off the street fighting. Think better versions of these guys:
5. Promoters, Fans, & Perception
We guess we're going to beat this horse until it flat-lines. The UFC doesn’t have promoters. There are no Don Kings, Bob Arums, or Oscar De La Hoyas. Aside from the occasional PED positive test, there really aren’t any shenanigans to worry about with the UFC. What you see is generally what you get.
The UFC is basically judge, jury, and executioner on all things in the sport. Who fighters fight, when they fight them, and whether they can fight in the future are all under the jurisdiction of White and his inner circle.
With this monopolistic control (within the sport), competitive balance is ensured. And that’s great for the fans and their perceptions about the sport. As previously mentioned, boxing is hemorrhaging younger fans. The Contender – which this author really enjoyed – was an attempt to bring younger fans into the boxing fold. Even Sylvester Stallone and his post-modern Rocky shtick couldn’t save that show from crashing into a solitary iceberg in open water.
The perception is that boxing is your father’s Oldsmobile. Due to the proliferation of MMA gyms and the UFC’s popularity, you’re seeing young kids who might have been drawn to boxing, training to become UFC champions one day.
One Last Thought
Jon “Bones” Jones and Daniel "DC" Cormier will step into the Octagon on September, 27, 2014. This will be Jones’ second fight since his epic battle against Alexander Gustaffson (if you haven’t seen this Micky Ward- Arturo Gatti type match what are you waiting for?). It’s also a rare fight that has Jones listed as only a slight favorite (-160). He’s been as reliable as Mike Tyson in his prime.
Great (and scary) pre-fight banter.
Check out the full incident here: http://mmajunkie.com/2014/08/video-hot-mics-catch-daniel-cormier-and-jon-jones-and-a-death-threat