Mixed Martial Arts – it’s not the fighter, it’s the fans

Last week I had a conversation with my coach about the Rousey vs Nunes fight. He was very honest in his response and said he doesn’t really like to follow the sport of MMA, so he didn’t watch the fight. I respect that, coming from a 3rd degree Brazilian Jiu Jitsu blackbelt. I knew he had a meaningful reason as to why he felt this way, so I had to ask what was it?

*side note*

Ironically, earlier that day I had commented on an article going around on Facebook as to “3 Reasons BJJ still isn’t mainstream in the US” My response was:

It’s hard. It takes time. There are no shortcuts or cheats to get good at it. It requires critical thinking and and a lot of time to acquire a deeper understanding. Most people don’t have the tenacity or patience for it. Most people are uncomfortable with their personal space being invaded. Many people don’t like the idea of other people’s sweat on them either. Plus it’s still associated with the “Just Bleed” UFC guy, so many people think we’re lunatics. There’s a variety of reasons but it’s still growing. It takes 100 years for a sport to become mainstream in a society, so we’re roughly in year 23 in the US.

*end side note*

I was ready for my coach’s answer. He didn’t like how fighters have to talk trash to sell a fight, he didn’t like how acting like a jerk gets you rewarded, and he especially didn’t like how Jiu Jitsu fighters have to change their styles in order to get people to watch their fights.

I’d have to say that I 100% agree. I hate that people need to “sell out” so to speak, in order to play the game. In order to make themselves more marketable. In order to make all the blood, sweat and tears in training finally pay off. In order to warrant all that time spent away from family. I get why the fighters do it, but it’s not their fault.

To Coach I replied: “it sounds more like you don’t like the fans. It’s the fans who respond to all of those things. It’s the fans who are not educated in Martial Arts – let alone Jiu Jitsu. The fans in Japan are dead silent during MMA fights – PRIDE in particular. They know what they’re seeing and respect the technical aspect because the more than likely train.”

Coach had an “Ahha!” moment and agreed.

The only time you’ll see an educated fan in the US is at the Pan Ams, The Worlds or any other major BJJ tournament. They watch intently, studying their training partners who are competing, focusing on their coaches who are competing, or simply watching famous black belts work their mat magic in real time. *see Image 01

Image 01: World Champ Frances Tejano – Cobrinha brown belt (left), Marshall Lipps – Rey Diogo Brown Belt (center), and David Koda – Rey Diogo Black Belt (right) look on at the 2009 Worlds in Los Angeles

Not to say BJJ fans don’t get rowdy every now and again, but it’s an incredibly rare occurrence. We all know how small a community JJ is, and it’s not Copacabana in the 90s anymore either! There’s a common respect we all have, the humility – the Jiu Jitsu. There are certainly rivalries within the sport between respected clubs or black belts, but at the end of the day we all do and love the same thing.

Image 02: What rectal bleeding looks like in realtime

With that said, it’s this guy (see Image 02) who MMA/UFC is catering to. How to get this guy to spend his money on PPVs, beer, Fightpass etc.. How to get this guy to tune in to FOX, or Spike or whatever. Typically, this type of guy has never trained a day in his life, religiously plays Call of Duty, and his main source of entertainment is the WWE. I’m not saying anything is wrong with any of those things nor am I generalising…nah fuck it I AM generalising because grown men who watch WWE baffle me. When I was a kid, sure I used to watch Hogan battle Ultimate Warrior…but now I’m a grown-ass-man who trains Jiu Jitsu, so if I want to watch fighting I’ll watch fighting – not an Hombre Novela loosely based on fighting, where all the stars are grown men in Speedos. Fine. To each their own.

Moving on.

It’s this demographic that spends the money. It’s the same demographic in film. 18-35 year old males spend their money on entertainment. They’re the ones going to see Transformers vs Ninja Turtles Episode XXVII four times in a single weekend. It’s these guys any MMA organisation are targeting. I get the business aspect of it, but it’s unfortunate.

There are reasons we still bow before stepping onto the mats. There are reasons we still bow to our instructors and training partners, there are reasons we remove our shoes before stepping onto the mats, there are reasons why images of Carlos, Helio and hopefuly Carlson one day will be on every BJJ academy wall, there are reasons why we love to train Jiu Jitsu.

We learn so much about ourselves and those around us when we train BJJ. MMA fighters do as well, although their wiring is a bit different, they too experience the same comradery we BJJ practitioners experience.

It’s unfortunate that a good guy/gal has to act like an asshole to get people to watch their fights. And the fans buy into it. They really believe Chael Sonnen or Connor McGregor or Ronda Rousey are jerks because of how they act on camera. People are WAAAYYY different in real life. But those same guys really think The Undertaker and Triple H hate each other, but seriously those guys are drinking beer in their limo’s after “the fight”, banging stripper moms and doing copious amounts of HGH.

So why, as a society, do we allow MMA artists to change who they are? Aren’t they supposed to be our role models as well? If the UFC/MMA wants to play with the big boys, should they have a code of conduct just as any other major sport does in the US? NFL, NBA, MLB players would be fined and suspended if they carried on like some MMA fighters do. Imagine if Lebron James had to trash talk hisself to get on the court with Steph Curry? It WOULD be awesome I know, but we forget there are kids looking up to these guys. I worshiped MJ, Magic and Bo Jackson growing up – I’d be horrified if I saw them conducting themselves in that manner.

Sure – I love to see a good fight. But how do I define a good fight? It’s not 2 guys or girls in a cage swinging like crazy, and whomever can get punched in the head more loses. That’s good excitement, but I’m more interested in seeing technique. If both fighters implement a technical game plan – on the feet or on the ground – and it were a good scrap as well – I’d call it a good fight.

So what’s happened to the spirit of Martial Arts in MMA?

As I mentioned on the FB comment, it takes 100 years for a sport to become mainstream, and we’re only in year 23. I think once a large portion of the population begins to train in BJJ or MMA, we’ll start seeing a more educated crowd. But in my humble opinion, it’s BJJ’s job to carry on this spirit of Martial Arts, to teach that respect, honor and everything else that comes with it in hopes that one day, every seat in Madison Square Garden will have someone with those same values in it, watching the highest level of competition on display.

P.S.

Additionally, Meryl Streep, Mixed Martial Arts IS an art.

1st day of art school 20 years ago I learned never to compare my art with other peoples art, never fall in love or become complacent with my art, and art is an individual path unique to each person. What I’ve learned practicing BJJ – a component of MMA – is that the path of Jiu Jitsu is exactly the same as my path as an artist. It is my own. Both require a tremendous amount of commitment, practice, humility, trial and error, both are an expression of self, and both are equally rewarding. So please Meryl, don’t rope us all in with the “Just Bleed” MMA guy, because we’re not like that. #stopMMAshaming yes I’m making it a thing.

P.P.S.

Coach did say “there’s nothing like seeing a fighter trained in BJJ – who does what we do – be true to the art and fight as a BJJ fighter should.”

Soooo I’ll leave you with this: