Who thinks MMA/UFC/Pride type of fights are suitable or desired for mainstream entertainment? Is this merely a blood sport or is it really a sport at all? My personal opinion is that MMA, while having skilled fighters and exciting bouts, is not the best thing for prime time entertainment, and is better suited for cable channels and away from the mainstream channels. The reason is: Often times, the better fighter loses because of the rules... For example: A fight starts... Fighter A quickly takes control of the match, bloodying the face of Fighter B with devastating strikes. In fact Fighter A is winning so easily that if he wanted to he could actually MURDER the other guy on a stage surrounded by thousands of people. But instead, since the fight isn't getting called by the Ref, he proceeds to whack away at his defeated opponent, striking him instead in the mid section, or back of the head, instead of directly in his face... READ: Fighter A is showing mercy to the defeated Fighter B by not KILLING HIM. The round finally comes to a close and the Fighter B is pretty messed up, but he's one tough man so he comes back at it in round 2 and eventually wins the fight with some jujitsu tap out arm-bar type of maneuver. Fight is over. Fighter B is victorious because the fight wasn't called in round one and Fighter A is shocked that he lost. If it was a street fight or a Roman gladiator fight, then Fighter B would either be dead or a vegetable for the rest of his life; instead his over inflated ego will be inflated even more, he'll get paid more, and people will think he is such a bad ass, when really Fighter A is a much better fighter. Obviously not all the fights are like this, but I've seen enough of them to know that things like this happen all the time and its pretty dumb when it does happen... thats just my opinion though! whats yours???
Most of the MMA fights I've seen if one fighter takes that level of control of an opponent the refs will call the fight. I believe most of the refs are fighters themselves and recognize when such a level of control is established. As far as the rules screwing over a competitor that could be said about any sport. The strongest and fastest doesn't always win in football nor the teams with the tallest players who can jump the highest. Rules are a part of any sport and success in a sport depends on the ability to master those rules as much as raw physical ability.
I'm a fan of MMA, but would I want my kids watching it? Hell no...IMHO, it shouldn't be on primetime...it's not wrestling where things are rigged..or is it?
again...have you seen the regular violent programming that CBS has? murder, rape, and death is par for the course at cbs. mma is less violent than their regular programming.
I think a better poll is to find out how many people will actually believe the fights are real and not staged. I guess they will look more believable that Pro Wrestling.
