The Edmonton Sun recently wrote an article that described MMA as a flash in the pan and Boxing as the “Real Deal” when it comes to combat sports. While this nay-sayer article is better than others in that it tries to pick historical context on why MMA will not last, it still falls short on execution and here is why.
First off, the author tries to compare MMA to this form of combat called “Battle Royal”. Comparing MMA to battle royal is comparing apples to oranges. Battle Royals have been around since Roman times and usually involved more than 2 gladiator combatants where anything went as far as the rules were concerned.They were particularly brutal in Roman days and campaigned against heavily.
The name again surfaced in the U.S. in the late 1800’s and continued until around 1930. Before the 13th ammendment, they usually involved blindfolding multiple african american slaves and letting them fight no holds barred until only 2 were left standing and then taking off the blindfold and letting them finish off the battle. The purses were small but the winner got the purse.
In the 1900’s these fights again surfaced as undercards to Boxing matches and still involved african americans fighting multiple opponents until only one was left standing.
Taking the fighting rules into context, the “anything goes” rules of MMA is a thing of the past, unlike battle royal which never changed. Thirty six states now sanction the unified MMA rules with most of the others at least considering. Also, MMA doesn’t use the multiple opponent which is extremely dangerous. Even a bar room brawler will tell you that it is the punch that you don’t see from an unengaged opponent that usually knocks you out cold.
I can understand the author trying to explain that one similar novel gimick idea failed and that is why another novel gimick will fail but you at least have to have consistencies to make the comparison stick. So far, nada.
Secondly, battle royal had violent racial motives which MMA has nothing of and even comparing the MMA sport to this racial injustice where opponents were hog-tied and beaten is almost akin to libel and a character assassination.
MMA is actually a very international event where foreign champions are welcomed in the UFC, the current predominant MMA organization in the U.S., not spurned. Ever heard of George St. Pierre? Anderson Silva? Renzo Gracie? Bas Rutten? Karo Parisyan? All non-american heavily liked MMA combatants. MMA nowadays bridges the international and racial borders and brings these sects together, rather than emphasizing their inferiority and differences.
Thirdly, MMA does have history. The Gracies have been doing BJJ since the early 1900’s and there is a storied history there with the “First Family of MMA”. Also, by incorporating a bevy of other martial arts styles, those histories get incorporated into the MMA mythos. Ever heard of Muy Thai? A whole nation has it as a pseudo-religion based around fighting. Tae Kwan Do? I bet your kids have taken at least 1 class. Now BJJ. Did you know the military now uses this style as their combat 1 certification? So saying that MMA isn’t as “storied” as boxing is a joke. Martial Arts in some form or another, have been around as long, or even longer, than Pugilism.
What makes MMA the next boxing killer is the war outside the ring. MMA is winning the hearts and minds of the younger generation. It’s not about which sport is greater. It’s about mind share. Most of the people thirty-five and younger are talking MMA. Every month you can show up at a BW3 and the place is packed to the gills with MMA lovers. Tae Kwon Do / Karate gyms are at an all time attendance high. Some of the most searched terms on Google right before MMA fights, are the participants themselves. Boxing had one huge match in 2007 and one of the most talked about topics during the marketing hype was MMA.
That, my friends, is the recipe for staying around for generations to come. Win the mind share of the younger crowd and very soon they grow up and become adults teaching their children about whatever they enjoyed when they were younger. Boxing isn’t losing out because it’s a worse sport. It’s losing out because it has lost the hearts and minds of the younger and next generation.