OK, first of all you must know that I just love all fighting sports - MMA, boxing, wrestling, judo, kick boxing, Muay Thai, you name it. Second, I think MMA is the best fighting sport ever, so I am not in any way biased against no holds barred contests. Plus, every guy (or gal) who steps into a ring has my utmost respect. I have stepped into the san shou ring myself (amateur fights, both national and international) and I know it takes some serious guts to do this.After having cleared all these, let me try to explain the reasons I believe UFC seriously sucks!
1. To begin with, the level of competition in most UFC undercard fights plain sucks!
This is a problem endemic to MMA and the UFC organisers cannot be held totally responsible for it, but let's face it people: MMA is a new sport and there just aren't that many good fighters out there. All MMA great champions up to now were top level competitors in some other fighting sport - wrestling champions, BJJ champions, sambo champions and so on. Still, the champions of other fighting sports who are willing to step into the MMA ring are few, so we're kind of left with a number of mediocre fighters that make it to the UFC fight cards just because those cards have to be filled up some way! When you go to a local judo tournament, you expect to see local level judo players. When you go to an Olympic judo event, you know that you will see the best judoka on the planet! It is not the same with the UFC, where there are some really impressive main events, but there are also undercard fights that compete for the title of "the longest 15 minutes of our lives". Until there's a big number of high level, pure-bred MMA fighters out there, I'm afraid that the amateurish slug-fests in the UFC will be much more than the breath-taking fights.
2. The fans suck too!
I must admit this: I am a die hard Pride FC fan. When the UFC bought Pride with the sole intention to close it down, I was disapointed. It's not as if the Japanese organisers were not doing good old showbusiness, but they did know how to insert some nobleness to the whole MMA package. And, they managed to gather tens of thousands of people in a stadium, that literally held their breath when Sakuraba was making a transition from a Kimura to an armbar. The UFC organisers just manage to gather a few thousands that start booing the moment a fighter tries to take a breather. This is a sport, you total morons! If you just want to see people bashing each other's faces, go to a bikers' bar and start a fight!!! But you wouldn't wanna do that, would you now?
3. Guess what: the stupid cage sucks!
The cage is a remnant of the UFC's early days, when "two men entered, one man left". Now NHB is supposed to be a sport, people, and rings makes for a much better spectacle than the stupid chicken fence! If the fighters are on the ground and get close to the ropes, you bring them back in the center of the ring when everybody can see what happens - end of the deal. Is squashing one another against the fence supposed to be spectacular or is it indicative of a high degree of skill?
4. What? No Russian fighters? This Sucks!
After the fall of the Eastern block in the early 90's, Russian fighters started a crusade to prove they were among the best in the world - and they did (isn't that why Americans lost all interest in heavyweight boxing?). Well, I haven't seen any Russian names for some time in the UFC fight cards, have you? For crying out loud, the best ever heavyweight in MMA is Russian and the last true UFC heavyweight champion was a forty year old light heavyweight!!! And you're still wondering who would win in a fight between Tim Sylvia and Andrei Arlovski - as if anybody gives a s**t!
5. And as if these weren't enough, we have to put up with Bruce Buffer's voice!
The guy speaks as if he's sucked a whole tank or reverse helium! It does not give an epic tone to the event, it's just plain weird!
6. Please, don't get me started on Joe Rogan!
Look Joe, this is how it works: when a guy rushes into a counterpunch seventeen seconds into the first roung and goes down like a log, it does not constitute an "awesome" fight, not even a fight for that matter... We know UFC is paying you to be part of the hype, but would it be that hard for you not to treat us as if we're blind idiots? And if I hear once again that "this is the most important fight in the fighters' career" I'm going to gnaw off my arm! What about those stupid questions you ask the fighters right after the contest is over? The guys are panting and IF they've won they just want to thank their trainers, families and friends. Just let them do it and get it over with! Please UFC people, Joe Rogan is a good comedian, but get a fighter to do the commenting of the fights, will you?
7. The trademark phrase by which each referee starts a fight REALLY sucks!
When Big John McCarthy groaned his now famous "Let's get it on!" in 1991, it was kind of original. Every other ref trying to come up with a catch phrase looks as if they're trying too hard. What's wrong with plain old "Fight!" or "Go!". Perhaps someone should consider saying "Freeze right there buster!" or "Don't you make a f*****g move!" instead of "Stop". Once again people, IF it is a sport and not a plain spectacle, the referees are supposed to use the exact same commands.
Well, that's all for now. Next time there's a UFC broadcast on cable, I'm sure there's going to be more where that came from.
As usual, make sure you protect yourself at all times, especially when watching TV,
Spyro Katsigiannis
