Is the UFC considered a sport?

[chaddurbin]

nothing will surpass pride in my eyes...when sakuraba was taking on the gracies, silva at his very beastly peak, fedor becoming an ice-cold machine, cro cop nogueira etc etc...but ufc have good marketing and they are definitely the face of MMA when it's all said and done.

[D. Bergin]

Well to be technical, I would say MMA is a Sport and UFC is a Sports Organization.

[ChiefBenderForever]

Since Tyson quit boxing the door was opened for something new to come along, so hard to believe how big it's got and how far boxing has fallen. It has grown so fast they really need to be careful so it doesn't implode on them.

[David W]

Originally Posted by JohnnyHarmonica

Since Tyson quit boxing the door was opened for something new to come along, so hard to believe how big it's got and how far boxing has fallen. It has grown so fast they really need to be careful so it doesn't implode on them.

Bingo.

Boxing is dead, as their have been no noteworthy heavyweight fights in over a decade.

Without heavyweights, boxing suffers.

MMA has picked up the slack.

[Exhibitman]

Sure it is a sport, just not one I find to be particularly enjoyable to watch. Not that it's too rough, just too sloppy. The fights I've seen end up with a lot of grappling on the canvas, which I don't find to be artful or interesting as a spectator. As far as boxing being dead, hardly. The top PPV events are all boxing and it generates a lot of money. Pacquiao v. Mayweather next spring will likely double the PPV buys on the biggest MMA event ever. The two also have different demographics. MMA is whiter, younger and more America-centric than boxing.

BTW, anyone see the Williams-Martinez fight on HBO tonight? Holy crap, what a war! The two best middlweights in the world going toe to toe for 12 rounds.

[D. Bergin]

Originally Posted by Exhibitman

Sure it is a sport, just not one I find to be particularly enjoyable to watch. Not that it's too rough, just too sloppy. The fights I've seen end up with a lot of grappling on the canvas, which I don't find to be artful or interesting as a spectator. As far as boxing being dead, hardly. The top PPV events are all boxing and it generates a lot of money. Pacquiao v. Mayweather next spring will likely double the PPV buys on the biggest MMA event ever. The two also have different demographics. MMA is whiter, younger and more America-centric than boxing.

BTW, anyone see the Williams-Martinez fight on HBO tonight? Holy crap, what a war! The two best middlweights in the world going toe to toe for 12 rounds.

Thank you.


It's amazing that in a dead sport like boxing, Miguel Cotto and Manny Pacquiao just split about a $40 million dollar purse for a non-Heavyweight fight.

The top MMA attractions usually earn less then a million a fight. Usually well under.

Also, you want to talk about exploiting fighters. Dana White makes Don King and Bob Arum seem like philanthropists in comparison.

[rhettyeakley]

I enjoy watching both boxing and MMA, each for completely different reasons.

I like boxing for the classic strategy. I appreciate when a fighter has the chance to systematically take apart a lesser opponent over the course of a fight-something that a fighter rarely has the opportunity to do in the shorter MMA fights (although some MMA fights are longer than 3 rounds)

I like MMA for the interesting matchups that can occur--take tonights UFC fight between Roy Nelson and Brendan Shaub- experience vs. athleticism. MMA certainly is the modern incarnation of Gladiatorial competition--where they would purposely match up different style fighters for an interesting fight. However, when you have two grapplers fighting it gets pretty dull-it's like watching olympic wrestling.

Like I said I love 'em both and don't really understand why boxing fans have such a problem w/ MMA as you can appreciate it for what it is--something completely different. On the flip side I don't understand MMA fans that think boxing is boring-- sure, it can be, but so can a bad MMA fight. I don't agree that MMA is becoming popular at the expense of boxing. I think they can both co-exist and be healthy. However, I still think boxing gloves should be reduced in size slightly.
-Rhett