When was the last time you saw Don King on TV saying “only in America” or saw a fantastic, thrilling fighter like Mike Tyson that knocked out most of his opponents within the first few rounds? Who even watches boxing anymore? Until recently catching an episode of The Contender on NBC, the last boxing match I had seen was Tyson versus Holyfield II.
When the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) made its debut back in 1993 that was all I ever watched. Back in the early days of the UFC there were barely any rules and no weight classes! It was awesome, a genuine, real-life Bloodsport where the 170 pound legend Royce Gracie overcame the enormous 275 pound Dan “The Beast” Severn for the championship in UFC 4. The UFC and Pride have since crossed over to the mainstream and the UFC now has its own reality show series called The Ultimate Fighter. The sport of mixed martial arts (MMA) is highly popular and will continue to grow by leaps and bounds. Below are few reasons why I think this trend will continue and why I think MMA is boxing’s worst nightmare.
- It’s the closest you can get to seeing a real fight
- More knockouts occur in the octagon than the ring
- More action and less “dancing” around
- Less rounds prevent prolonged lousy fights (3-5 versus 10)
- Greater variety of fighting styles (wrestling, kickboxing, martial arts, etc.)
Boxing will continue to be a heavily followed I’m sure, but with the help of great business models like the UFC, mixed martial arts fighting is destined to overtake it as the dominant combat sport. Furthermore boxing doesn’t allow this sort of thing (play video)…
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