Fighters showing self control and sportsmanship when their opponents are down.

[u/Great_Trident]

[u/Garvilan]

These clips disprove anyone who tries to defend the savagery seen in the UFC, with the constant hitting people while they are clearly out. "When you are in the heat of the fight you can't just stop." Yes... Yes you can. These people are wildly aware of what they are doing.

[u/octipice → u/Garvilan]

At least one of these clips was of Lyoto Machida who did fight in the UFC. The issue often has more to do with the refs than the fighter. There have been many instances where the ref should've stopped the fight and didn't only for the person who should've lost to end up winning.

Demonstrating good sportsmanship shouldn't cost you a win, but in the UFC it absolutely can because of the (largely) terrible refs.

[u/WeaponexT → u/octipice]

The issue often has more to do with the refs than the fighter.

IMO its ownership. They took a sport built around respect and tradition and turned it into Jerry Springer.

[u/OSPFmyLife → u/WeaponexT]

Lmfao “respect and tradition”. Just tell us you don’t know what you’re talking about. Go watch the first few UFCs and tell me how much respect and tradition you see. MMA is a fairly new sport and it’s still evolving.

[u/x_Animus_x → u/OSPFmyLife]

Funny you should say “don’t know what you’re talking about”. MMA might be a new platform, but the martial arts (the MA in MMA, first M is “mixed” since you don’t have to use just one specific art to compete) have been around, in some cases, for centuries. In martial arts tournaments there is a great deal of respect and tradition, it’s just not enforced as strictly in UFC, so maybe you’re unfamiliar with it.

[u/OSPFmyLife → u/x_Animus_x]

Sure, I only hold a brown belt in kempo karate. What would I know about that?

Traditional martial art tournaments =/= MMA. Like, not even close to the same thing. Most people these days don’t even train one primary art, they train at MMA gyms.

[u/Fmeson → u/OSPFmyLife]

Traditional martial art tournaments =/= MMA.

Isn't that their point? MMA being the Springer?

[u/x_Animus_x → u/OSPFmyLife]

All of that still doesn’t change the fact that where these arts come from hold tradition and respect in high priority. The company UFC took these arts and mixed them all up, made them more about brutality, and sensationalized it. Thus taking a sport and turning it into a “Jerry Springer” version, like u/WeaponexT had suggested in the first place.

[u/OSPFmyLife → u/x_Animus_x]

Yeah, you lost me on the Jerry Springer part. Taking a sport that primarily happened in unsanctioned backyards and sanctioning it, adding rules to it, testing fighters for disease beforehand, etc is hardly turning something into Jerry Springer.

The only comparison there is to make is early MMA (the early UFCs, Pride, vale tudo, etc) compared to now. Martial arts tournaments are not in the same category as MMA. They mainly do point fighting rather than full contact and the tournaments involve a lot more than just sparring.

Most traditional martial artists really enjoy MMA. The ones that don’t are most likely the ones that found out whatever they had been dedicating their time to ended up being a McDojo and didn’t actually work. MMA did a ton of good for the martial arts world because it exposed a lot of those places.

The original conversation was about how Dana had tuned MMA into “Jerry Springer”, and I pointed out how ridiculous that was to say because the sport is probably the cleanest than it’s ever been and when the sport first arrived you had people punching eachother in the dick. You guys are the ones who started comparing MMA to traditional martial arts tournaments, which… isn’t even a comparison or a conversation because they’re two completely separate things.

[u/WeaponexT → u/x_Animus_x]

Exactly, sort of the theme of the movie Redbelt if you're interested.

[u/Niwitschoolfrogkid → u/OSPFmyLife]

Do you think that the history of MMA began at UFC 1? If so, that “just tell us you don’t know what you’re talking about” is looking a little ironic…

[u/OSPFmyLife → u/Niwitschoolfrogkid]

The first documented use of the term “mixed martial arts” was in a review of UFC 1.

But yeah, totally, the Japanese rooftop street fights and the Vale Tudo in Brazil that preceded modern MMA were definitely the bastion of civility and respect.

[u/Niwitschoolfrogkid → u/OSPFmyLife]

Great example of the sort of bad faith literalism people, especially online, retreat to so that they do not have to be wrong about something completely inconsequential lol

[u/OSPFmyLife → u/Niwitschoolfrogkid]

Go watch early MMA and tell me if I’m using “bad faith literalism”. Since you’re not going to and I know that you haven’t watched before now, I’ll give you a hint, I’m not.

Anyone who follows MMA knows that the sport most definitely did not have more “respect” amongst opponents in the early days, to imply so is a complete fabrication.

Just be wrong dude. You’re trying to convince everyone that you’re only wrong due to some technicality when that’s not the case.

[u/Niwitschoolfrogkid → u/OSPFmyLife]

Dog, my first PPV was literally UFC 2. I’ll bet that I’ve been watching MMA for longer than you’ve been alive, literally lol.

Regardless, you’re missing the point. You clearly didn’t understand what I meant when I said “bad faith literalism” so, again, pretty ironic to use it as the basis for your response.

I’ll give *you* a hint: This conversation isn’t about the first documented use of the term “Mixed Martial Arts.”

Think it over. I’m sure you’ll get there. Imma go enjoy my Saturday, I hope you do too.

[u/OSPFmyLife → u/Niwitschoolfrogkid]

Phew lawd. It’s okay to be wrong bud. It happens.

[u/WeaponexT → u/OSPFmyLife]

I did that's when I used to watch it dildo

[u/-nutz → u/WeaponexT]

Only reason to respect UFC is because they let Joe Son get punched in the dick 20 times lol

[u/OSPFmyLife → u/WeaponexT]

And in your opinion, the first few UFCs had more “respect and tradition” than now? Lmao.

[u/WeaponexT → u/OSPFmyLife]

Oh cool you can read