Posted: 3/3/2007 3:05:00 PM EDT
Why does boxing seem to be dominated by black and hispanic fighters while UFC/MMA seems to be dominated by white fighters?  I know there's exceptions to both but it just seems like a lot of the top MMA/UFC are white while there's hardly any white top boxers.  Edited. |
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For the time being, it's a cultural thing. Boxers typically come out of tough neighborhoods where the sport was a way out of gangs, drugs, etc. Many MMA fighters have college degrees and come from a middle/upper-middle class background. Chuck Liddell has an accounting degree from UC San Obispo. BJ Penn was born into an extremely wealthy family in Hawaii and didn't have to work so he had time to train and so on. Rich Franklin has a masters degree in math and was a high school math teacher. Many of these guys also wrestled in college. For the time being, MMA is a thinking man's sport. We'll see if that changes as it becomes more mainstream. |
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Personally I think MMA has gone into the toilet as more an more "white" bar room meat heads have joined the sport. I preferred it more when it was mostly Asian and Brazlian dominated. All the fighters are starting to look and fight the same. It's boring. The amount of flailing fists like 5 year olds is becoming more common, and generally the skill level appears to be going down as more roid heads join the sport UFC sucks. |
Why would the skill level drop? If good high-quality fighters were better than college-wrestlers-turned-brawlers then shouldn't the wrestlers/brawlers get their asses smeared across the mat more? |
You're retarded! There's more educated fighters in the sport than ever. And by meatheads, I guess you mean weightlifters?! Conditioning/skill is just about everything. Sure they lift weights, they do not train like bodybuilders.
If you like losers, then sure, but other than the Gracies, most Asians and latinos lost. Boxing/wrestling (essentially greek and roman army hand-to-hand combat training) combos have won more fights than any Asian martial art.
That's about as anti-reality as you can get. They fight the same because it works! USMC is teaching modern groundfighting as it's H2H program (without the 'rules'), which is what MMA is. "Flailing fists"? I'm not sure what you mean, but spinning backfists don't work in a real fight. Short tight jabs work. No fun to watch, but they work. I spent over 20 years in Martial Arts training. I realized that the first 12 years or so spent training in Asian martial arts (karate, tae-kwon-do, judo/jiu-jitsu, kendo/kenjutsu etc) were a waste. Western martial arts (boxing, wrestling, MMA, fencing) are much more effective! Effective fighting IS boring to watch, because it's efficient and effective. The sport had to become less-brutal (rules) to survive, since crybabies (lobbyists and lawyers) in the US couldn't stomach bloodsports. |
I maintain my position. Modern UFC is shit, and Pride is quickly going the same route. I'd rather watch old UFC 1-5 footage. Spend your time how you see fit. But if I want to watch meat heads flail at each other I can just visit main street when the bars start closing. I returned to boxing watching long ago because MMA is so horrid these days. |