Ah yes, the old ‘MMA looks gay so you’re gay if you like it’ argument.  For what it’s worth, I’m of the opinion that sexuality is a spectrum with no one 100% on one end or the other. Wherever it is I land on that spectrum, I can confirm I have never gotten an erection watching MMA (male or female contestants). I have also never gotten an erection while sparring or rolling (male or female partners).  It’s strange. It’s almost like MMA and sexuality aren’t actually closely related.

Fair comment about some fights being difficult to watch.  Being a referee must be a nightmare job.  You have a split second to decide if the guy is unconscious or not and jump in.  I still prefer that to having the fight stopped everytime a fighter goes down, only for him to stand up again, and then get knocked down again.  Is it worse to get partially knocked out and then get hit more on the floor? Or is it worse to get partially knocked out, go down, take a few seconds to recover, get up and then get knocked out properly.  I don’t know the answer to that and I don’t want to start going all whataboutery.  If there was a way of doing full contact combat sport without the risk of head injury I’d be all for that but I don’t think we’ll find a solution anytime soon.  Unless they use the same technology that they’re going to use to police the Irish border post-Brexit.

I don’t mind blood.  I don’t like it but I don’t mind it.  You’re not going to die from blood loss in the ring but you might die, or have your life shortened, by head trauma.  I would actually like fights to be bare knuckle.  Wrapping and gloves aren’t there to protect the other fighter’s head, they’re there to protect your hands allowing you to spend more time hitting your opponent’s head.

By the way, from now on, whenever anyone wants to frame an argument for ‘the average MMA fan’, could you maybe just go ahead and call him a strawman instead.

It’s got nothing to do with being ‘gay’, it’s just pretty dull for the casual observer who can’t really see the skill in it (I realise there is some, it’s just not particularly evident to those who know nothing about the sport).

As for removing gloves.. I agree it would probably make things ‘safer’, but also further discourage striking leading to even duller fights Imo.

If they want to grow the sport the ufc need to consider what the casual fan wants to see, as ultimately its my 20 quid ppv money they need to work hard to attract, not the hardcore fans who will pay for every show going regardless.

People who follow a particular sport appreciate different things to those that tune in once in a while. As a boxing fan for example I enjoy a mayweather defensive masterclass, but to most its dull as hell.

Sorry – didn’t get to the end of your post; bit too wordy. Especially for a MMA topic.

i did get to the bit where you said your not 100% heterosexual … each to their own I say. Maybe there is a link between sexuality and MMA after all though.

with no one 100% on one end or the other.

Ooh Matron.

Anyone who thinks the ground game is boring needs to go and watch some high level grappling matches. It’s absolute chess and a joy to watch two absolute experts try and outwit each other

I wasn’t responding to anything you said about it being gay, tpbiker, just the casual homophobia that always seems to creep into any discussion involving grappling.

I think that pretty much any sport is boring until you get into the technicalities.  I find most sports really boring to watch but I’m sure if I took the time to learn more about the intricacies I’d appreciate them more.  That’s not just true for sport, it goes for, wine, coffee, fashion design, architecture, https://xkcd.com/915/  pictures of Joe Biden eating a sandwhich, etc

If it really was as simple as knockouts being spectacular and grappling being dull the K1 would be way more popular than MMA.  That’s simply not the case.

I can’t back this up with any data but I would imagine that the vast majority of martial artists don’t watch MMA.  Instead of trying to attract them the UFC is going after spectacle and controversy and trying to generate drama.  If they weren’t so greedy for short term profit and let these things build organically by having transparent rankings and a clear route to the top, plus more emphasis on how each individual martial art fits into the mix, then it would create a long term loyal fanbase.

I have very little hope that’s going to happen.  But like I said, I am looking forward to seeing Ryan Hall fight again.

No it’s not.

The fights before mcgregor vs khabib were much more interesting, shame about pettis braking his hand since they both looked like they were having a great time.

My favourite part of MMA is when that bloke comes on here and tells everyone that the UFC guys are all lame, and that him and his mates are all CEO’s of big companies on 350k a year and regularly break each others jaws when sparring.

Anyone who thinks the ground game is boring needs to go and watch some high level grappling matches. It’s absolute chess and a joy to watch two absolute experts try and outwit each other

If you know anything about the sport I’m sure it is. But if you don’t, nor are prepared to invest any time to learn the technicalities and skills involved, but rather switch on, pay your 20 quid, and watch two folks have a fight.. Then I think most ‘casuals’ would prefer the stand up game.

Certainly most criticism of mma I’ve heard, from those that don’t know anything about it, is it invariably ends up with 2 guys rolling around on the ground.. Ie if you don’t know anything about the technicalities it’s not great viewing or particularly exciting.

I can’t back this up with any data but I would imagine that the vast majority of martial artists don’t watch MMA.

I know a handful of serious martial artists; a few of them watch the occasional fight, none of them follow MMA. They’re mostly too busy/not keen on violence.

To be fair, MMA isn’t a great deal from any other sport in that respect – to the average casual, the TdF is blokes riding bikes uphill, F1 is blokes driving cars in circles, the World Cup final is blokes kicking a bag of wind about. If you just like striking, see how long you can be arsed to watch, say, some world-class Tae Kwon Do – me, I’d have fallen asleep inside three minutes.

My favourite part of MMA is when that bloke comes on here and tells everyone that the UFC guys are all lame, and that him and his mates are all CEO’s of big companies on 350k a year and regularly break each others jaws when sparring.

Possibly my favourite thread of all time

John Kavanagh on Joe Rogan podcast right now

@boardinbob what thread was it? Can’t seem to remember which specific UFC thread it was….

Classic thread, can’t find it now.

Love the casual observer’s thoughts on MMA being a bit of a wrestle on the floor…  Just like extreme Red Bull Rampage mtb’ing is “just riding a bike down a bit of a hill”.

I can’t back this up with any data but I would imagine that the vast majority of martial artists don’t watch MMA.

LOL

Have you got any data on the vast majority of martial artists not being 100% heterosexual?

or was Brucewee wrong on that one too?

You seem very concerned about this, is there something you want to share with the group? Perhaps it’s related to the confusing feelings you experience when you watch men wrestle? 😂

Found it, can’t paste the link on my phone ffs.

Thread title is ”Did Aldo take a dive”

any data on the vast majority of martial artists not being 100% heterosexual?

I feel, as the person asking the question, you really need to speak to one of the UFC figthers you query…. (lol)

https://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/ufc-content-did-aldo-take-a-dive/

There’s the link for ya Tom. Long thread.

[edit]ooh, I “contributed” to that! 😆 All this “I don’t watch a sport, because..” stuff is really fascinating isn’t it.

wanmankylung seem to be everyone’s fave on the old thread anyway.

Your LOL was a bit cryptic @aphex_2k, but I’m going to go ahead and assume you think the vast majority of martial artists do watch MMA. So let’s try to back that up with some data.

UFC 229 was the largest MMA event in the world so far with just short of 3 million PPV buys.

The World Karate Federation has 10 million members.  Even if the WKF represented every martial artist on the planet then not even 1 in 3 watched the largest MMA event ever.

When you then add to the WKF all the other governing bodies for Karate (WAKO, IFK, WUKO, etc) and then add all the governing bodies for boxing, wrestling, BJJ, TKD, Judo, Sambo, Shoot fighting, etc then you begin to realise that the percentage of martial artists who watch MMA is actually minuscule.

I’ll change my original statement to say that the vast majority of martial artists don’t watch MMA and I have data to back it up.

Zilog6128 – nothing confusing about my uncomfortableness watching two men wrestle and wriggle around on top of each other .. it’s a similar uncomfortableness I feel seeing a man and a woman engaging in tongue in mouth type kissing … it’s something best done in private.

Zilog6128 – nothing confusing about my uncomfortableness watching two men wrestle and wriggle around on top of each other .. it’s a similar uncomfortableness I feel seeing a man and a woman engaging in tongue in mouth type kissing … it’s something best done in private.

Bizarre and quite telling that you equate the two so equally.

@dezB,  that thread is hilarious 🙂

It’s nice to see Mooman’s clueless-ness extends beyond his views on Brexit

The clueless-ness is really indifference to Brexit and to MMA … so I guess you actually kinda have a point in regards to a similarity between the both👍

And I too think there are similarities between the two topics and yourself too. Just like you love to hold onto your Brexit obsession – I bet you also like to hold onto and wriggle around with bare chested men like they do in MMA too.

so I guess the similarities are really uncanny eh BorinBob😗

The clueless-ness is really indifference to Brexit and to MMA …

Your dedication to posting on topics you’re not interested in is noted but really, you don’t need to trouble yourself.

I love the ‘its gay’ argument.

Sure theres nothing more masculine than getting ragdolled by a three stripe white belt before the blood that serves your tiny homophobic brain is cut off.

Your girl would be creaming mooman.

Ah, mooman. I’m sure those posts sounded witty in your head, but…

BruceWee

Yeah but, Karate’s not like a “real” martial art though is it? Has anyone done a kata to defend multiple attackers? Better off with a pointed stick.  ;o)

Zilog6128 – nothing confusing about my uncomfortableness watching two men wrestle and wriggle around on top of each other

Interesting. So watching two men “wrestling” invokes some kind of sexual response from you? Wow.

You know in many countries it’s quite normal for men to hold hands, or embrace while walking. It’s not gay or owt. I think you’re trolling just a wee bit. Or maybe, as you say, it’s your “uncomfortableness”.

… looks like the MMA fans got their claws out; wrong time of month I wonder?

i apologise if I’ve offended you tough-typing martial artists. But the wrestling MMA is not a great spectator sport for the casual fan … if it was I guess wrestling would have been huge like boxing many years ago .. because wrestling and judo have been practiced for many many years competively.

And as for the gay label; if you read through the thread it has only been mentioned by fans of MMA … so I guess it’s an insecurity associated with the sport.

Dirk Pumpa & Dirty Lyle … hmmm? If there were a gay following of MMA though – I can imagine those two names being 1st choice😣

… looks like the MMA fans got their claws out; wrong time of month I wonder?

You’ve possibly over-baited your hook there.

Assuming I am right in thinking that’s a rudimentary attempt at trolling, of course.

@dezB,  that thread is hilarious

I thought the thread got less and less funny as it gradually became obvious that the poster was quite unwell.

Little bit like this one really.

I happened across it last night while channel flicking. Couldn’t be bothered to watch through to the McGregor fight, but did see the Lewis – Volkov one.

this huge black guy was hitting this guy in the face as hard as he could as he lay unprotected on the floor.  He was knocked out, but still sustained a couple more horrific blows.

That description sounds horrific but still barely covers the brutality of it. Ref jumped in quickly but as well as the KO he was hit half a dozen times more full in the face while he lay there by a 19 stone / 6’4″ man mountain. I didn’t get an erection, instead I think my balls ascended into my stomach and are still to come down.

Jeez.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IjhWGDtLt-U

he was hit half a dozen times more full in the face while he lay there by a 19 stone / 6’4″ man mountain

Well for one thing, he was bigger than the supposed 6’4″ “man mountain”. For another he was clearly bleedin askin for it.

Quite hard to masturbate over, I must admit.

I managed!  It’s all in the wrist.

Yeah it’s a brutal sport.

One that sticks in my mind was the G&P in one of Fedor’s fights with Nog in Pride. Nog was in the corner trying for a submission and Fedor was just raining down punches to his face. He didn’t get KO’d but his face was mashed.