Would You Watch More MMA if There Were NO Wrestling/Grappling/GroundFighting?

Just watch Lethwei (Burmese boxing). It's like thai boxing, but no gloves and I believe if you get knocked out you can rest for 5-10 minutes and then continue, up to 3 times if you want. Not 100% sure but Lethwei still kicks ass.

lool if you completely eliminate the ground game then it is no longer MMA. Having said that, I think there should be a time limit as to how many seconds one guy can have the other guy on the ground without any submission moves or meaningful strikes. Also stop the guys man hugging each other by the cage wall, it results in absolutely nothing, there are so few take downs from that position. I don't want to see 90% of a 5 minute round with both fighters rolling around on the ground but I understand the need for ground game in MMA, just tighten that **** up. Personally, what would make MMA even better is having better conditioned athletes, not guys who blow out after 10 minutes.

I have often wondered how much more successful UFC could have been if they eliminated all the "ground fighting" (wrestling, grappling, rolling around looking for a tap-out, ground & pound, etc.). If it were purely a stand-up striking game, with some sort of knock-down system. Only punches, elbows, kicks, and knees are allowed. Just about all of the fight fans I have had discussions with agree that the "ground game" in UFC is a major turn-off. Not many fight fans like to watch 2 guys rolling around on the ground looking for a tap-out, and nobody wants to see their favorite fighter being forced to submit from some lame-@ss armbar or w/e. So, I'm curious, how many of you would watch more MMA if they eliminated the ground-game completely and implemented a knock-down system? I'm a huge fan of MMA as well as boxing, and I know a lot of my friends like MMA too.. In Europe and South America MMA is huge, and I'm sure it's huge in North America too! You're point of eliminating ground game is illogical and ignorant! If there was no wrestling, Jiu-Jitsu and Judo etc, then it wouldn't be "Mixed" Martial Arts it would be "selected" martial arts! I like how you say "lame-ass armbars" would you be saying that if someone broke your arm in half with one? Boxing will always be my first and favourite sport but having trained in Muay Thai and BJJ as well as boxing, I can say hand on heart every single UFC champ would beat the breaks off every Boxing champ without exception, including Ronda Rousey messing up Floyd!

It wouldn't be MMA it would be kick boxing

I would watch It more but they would lose the closet homosexual audience and that's like 99% of UFC fans.

I was gonna vote but I didn't see the option "GTFO"

Naw, I like MMA as it is. Sure there are some fights that can be boring. No different than how some fighters can make boxing extremely boring. Need I remind anyone of Ruiz, Rigondeaux, Miguel Vasquez, Ward, Barthelemy, Mayfield, Dulorme, Ishe Smith etc.

It would be basically Muay Thai, which honestly a lot of the time is boring. More restricted rules = kickboxing which is better yet nobody gives two sh1ts about in America and it died in Japan where it used to be king.

Boxing, Kickboxing, Muay Thai, Tae Kwon Do, Kung Fu, etc. you know.. mixed martial arts, just without the wrestling and rolling around. NO TAP-OUTS. JUST KNOCK-OUTS. You know you're basically describing Kickboxing Right? :lol1:

no i love the take-down and all the submission technique. boxing now are gay

Never really liked k1 tbh and fighting with 6 ounce gloves wouldn't make it any better.

That's the main reason I don't really watch MMA. Striking is the best part, and boxing/muay thai are much better at it. So if you took the ground game out of MMA there wouldn't really be any point to it at all. What would be its purpose?

Without kicks, knees, and elbows too. That's true you were only allowed fists, forearms, backhands, palms and grabs. Throws, pushes, grappling and wrestling (while on your feet) were also allowed. What wasn't allowed were blows below the waist or use of feet or leges. Above the waist only eye gouging and fishhooking were grounds for DQ. Hairpulling was "dirty" but not grounds for immediate DQ. John L Sullivan (the first gloved champion) fought a few bare knuckle (although he hated it) and in one fight he almost lost because his opponent grabbed on to his mustache, twisted his head and started pummeling him. I would be really curious to see these rules revised.

Dude, that's why there's a sport called Kickboxing! Glory on ****e TV. Check it out sometime. Kickboxing is still different, and more limited than what I am trying to describe here. Kickboxers generally wear boxing gloves, which limits the type of strikes they can do with their hands. There are more ways to strike with your hands than just punching, like a short close-range open palm strike or a straight hand chop. These moves are used in some martial arts and can be very effective if used correctly. Kickboxing isn't Muay Thai and generally does NOT allow elbows, knees, or sweeping in most competitions, some allow knees. I like variety, and would like to see a variety of martial arts and styles pitted against each other without the ground-game, wrestling, and possibility of ending in a tap-out. That's all I'm saying. Remove that aspect from the UFC and I think it would be so much better. Imagine the possibilities.

Without kicks, knees, and elbows too. I'm talking about more than just Kickboxing here, full contact rules in American Kickboxing and International Kickboxing forbid striking with knees and elbows (rules vary by region, some allow knees). I'm basically talking about UFC without ground-fighting, stricter rules on holding/grappling, encouraging and focusing on more stand-up striking, etc. well just stick with boxing that's what you saying you want changed bout mma it's just boxing if you change all the boring stuff from that just boxing.. long live boxing!!! :boxing: :boxing:

i would mma is only interesting to watch for the first minute and a half after that it's like the cable services troll you and switch it to gay ****

Dude, that's why there's a sport called Kickboxing! Glory on ****e TV. Check it out sometime.

You do realize that boxing before gloves was basically MMA without the ground game. You could grab and throw an opponent - that was legal. You could forearm him - that was legal. You could throw him and forearm him as you were going down - that was legal. There was no ground game so you couldn't ground and pound and kick and stuff. At that point the round was over (unlike MMA) and a new one started 30 seconds later. I, for one, would really like to see how this would play out. Without kicks, knees, and elbows too. Kickboxing.. I'm talking about more than just Kickboxing here, full contact rules in American Kickboxing and International Kickboxing forbid striking with knees and elbows (rules vary by region, some allow knees). I'm basically talking about UFC without ground-fighting, stricter rules on holding/grappling, encouraging and focusing on more stand-up striking, etc.

I have often wondered how much more successful UFC could have been if they eliminated all the "ground fighting" (wrestling, grappling, rolling around looking for a tap-out, ground & pound, etc.). If it were purely a stand-up striking game, with some sort of knock-down system. Only punches, elbows, kicks, and knees are allowed. Just about all of the fight fans I have had discussions with agree that the "ground game" in UFC is a major turn-off. Not many fight fans like to watch 2 guys rolling around on the ground looking for a tap-out, and nobody wants to see their favorite fighter being forced to submit from some lame-@ss armbar or w/e. So, I'm curious, how many of you would watch more MMA if they eliminated the ground-game completely and implemented a knock-down system? You do realize that boxing before gloves was basically MMA without the ground game. You could grab and throw an opponent - that was legal. You could forearm him - that was legal. You could throw him and forearm him as you were going down - that was legal. There was no ground game so you couldn't ground and pound and kick and stuff. At that point the round was over (unlike MMA) and a new one started 30 seconds later. I, for one, would really like to see how this would play out.

So basically you are talking about Kick boxing. Basically, yea, kind of like Kickboxing.. but it could be so much more.