Saturday, September 6, 2008

MMA vs. Boxing

So I've had this debate with a couple of people over the last week, and now I want your response. Which is better, mixed martial arts or boxing?

I think MMA is much more exciting to watch and think boxing is 10 -20 years past its prime. Here are the advantages for MMA
- 3, five-minute rounds. Except for championship matches all fights are 3 rounds. Not 12 long slow rounds like boxing
- Promotes of free tv. But showcasing good young talent on Spike, they have been able to bring name recognition to their fighters from people besides those that fight on PPV
- less dancing. Boxers prance. MMA fighters are always punching, kicking, elbowing, kneeing or working on a submission hold to end a match quickly. Boxers prance for 12 boring rounds.
- White guys. White guys are actually good in MMA. Forrest Griffin, Chuck Liddell, Randy Coutore, Georgre St. Pierre, Matt Hughes are all world champions and white. That never happens in boxing.
- Great fighters actually fight each other. Because the majority of world class fighters are with UFC, you always get the best fighting each other, and there is only 1 recognized world champion as opposed to 3 or 4 in boxing. The last big name fight in boxing was Mayweather - De La Hoya, and they were too old and only fought because they got paid $20 million each.

So since no one else can make a post, at least reply to this one with your thoughts. MMA - 1 Boxing - 0

9 comments:

phishbone23 said...

I believe a good boxing match is much better than a good MMA fight. Granted, they are more rare, but I guess I'm old school. MMA can still be susceptible to the boring Jiu-Jitsu hug for extended periods of time as well.
I vote boxing
1-1 (tie)

kevthegreat said...

You know my answer, Mikey. Let me address your points, one by one:

First!
3, five-minute rounds. Except for championship matches all fights are 3 rounds. Not 12 long slow rounds like boxing
Ummm, boxing has anywhere from 4-12 3 minute rounds. Faster and more rounds help strategy to come into play as the fighter gets to talk to his corner men between rounds. There is also strategy in the length of fights. Are you someone who is going to give it all from the start and go for an early or mid round knockout, or are you going to try and drag it out and wear down the other guy? I love that part of boxing.

kevthegreat said...

Promotes of free tv. But showcasing good young talent on Spike, they have been able to bring name recognition to their fighters from people besides those that fight on PPV

This sentence is an abomination of the English language and I really don't know what you are trying to say. If you are saying MMA is better than boxing because it is on non-ppv channels, then you obviously don't watch ESPN on Wednesday and Friday nights. If you did, you'd see boxing.

kevthegreat said...

Less dancing. Boxers prance. MMA fighters are always punching, kicking, elbowing, kneeing or working on a submission hold to end a match quickly. Boxers prance for 12 boring rounds.

Ring management is a big part of boxing. Watch some old Ali fights and tell me "prancing" is boring.

kevthegreat said...

White guys. White guys are actually good in MMA. Forrest Griffin, Chuck Liddell, Randy Coutore, Georgre St. Pierre, Matt Hughes are all world champions and white. That never happens in boxing.

I didn't realize you've joined the Klan, but the shaved head makes more sense now...

Scholander said...

it's hard for me to say, since neither is really on my radar. I haven't seen a boxing match since Tyson lost the title, and I've never actually seen a UFC bout. Boxing seems to have fallen completely out of the mainstream since selling it's soul to ppv. Though, actually I just remembered, I watched that boxing reality show that was on NBC few years ago, and it was fucking awesome. Did anybody else see that?

kevthegreat said...

Great fighters actually fight each other. Because the majority of world class fighters are with UFC, you always get the best fighting each other, and there is only 1 recognized world champion as opposed to 3 or 4 in boxing. The last big name fight in boxing was Mayweather - De La Hoya, and they were too old and only fought because they got paid $20 million each.

Ok, now you finally get to a legitimate complaint. Yeah, it's tough in boxing. Once someone gets a belt they are not forced to fight the best. It has killed the Heavyweight division, but at the same time many of the lower divisions have flourished because of it. The best have to fight the best to make good money in those less popular weight classes. YOu want to know who the best fighters are? The authority right now is Ring Magazine's rankings: link

kevthegreat said...

Yeah, DrX, The Contender was great! They had a second season on ESPN, and it was just as good. I think it's dead now, though.

kevthegreat said...

And you know what, many great fights aren't on PPV anymore. HBO and Showtime have very solid fights. It's somewhat good boxing is going underground a bit, since the best fights aren't all PPV anymore.

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