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Steve Bunce, a British boxing writer, wrote a piece on the UFC's coming UFC 70 in Manchester.
Anway, I'll cut and paste the article. The important part, some comments by Dana White, is in bold
Anway, I'll cut and paste the article. The important part, some comments by Dana White, is in bold
Live wire
By Steve Bunce
Boxing is under threat as the Ultimate Fighting Championship launch their raid on Britain
YOU HAVE seen the posters and watched the adverts but the words are over and the fighting about to thankfully begin. During the last six months, the Ultimate Fighting Championship, or UFC, have been planning a raid on Britain. On Saturday, at the MEN Arena in Manchester, just under 16,000 people will watch 10 mixed martial arts fights under the UFC's ubiquitous banner.
It is not boxing but they do box, it is not wrestling but they do wrestle and it is not strictly any martial art. It's mixed martial arts and it takes place inside a caged octagon, a trademarked piece of genius by the UFC. In America, the fans love it; it is killing boxing at the box-office and it's not doing it slowly. The war for fans' hearts and minds and dollars, and now pounds, is as ruthless as the UFC's mini epics can be savage.
But, it is not about ending boxing's solid and traditional grip on contact sport and the subsequent record-breaking pay-per-view figures. Well, that is the tune the UFC bosses hum but it is hard not to see the UFC's stunning rise as a direct threat to boxing as we know it.
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"Let me tell you what the UFC can do and what boxing can no longer do and I'm talking about the US here. The UFC can get the gringos," said Bob Arum, perhaps the greatest old-fashioned promoter who put on Muhammad Ali, Sugar Ray Leonard and Marvin Hagler and launched Oscar De La Hoya and Floyd Mayweather.
Arum refused to say much more. However, his silence and several high-profile defections in the US of promoters and officials, support the feeling the UFC, who are such an omnipotent brand within the world of mixed martial arts that they are often mistaken for the sport itself, are battering boxing into submission.
Boxing in the UK has fired off several dismal defences, with one columnist claiming it is better because boxers punch harder and can therefore do more damage. That is one of the sport's dumbest defences. Fighters die on a regular basis in the ring and no one should be bragging about the impact of a punch from an eight-ounce glove in comparison to the padded mitts the UFC's fighters wear.
At a recent lunch at the Savoy in London a tiny band from the UFC, which included Marc Ratner who for 20 years worked for the Nevada Athletic Commission and ran boxing in Las Vegas, outlined the UFC's plan for world domination. It is simple: Put on even fights. This makes perfect sense and, is obviously the element sadly lacking in so many nights of boxing.
In the Nineties, the UFC nearly fell off the radar when bans in several states and bad coverage of violent conflicts led to a drop in attendance and a loss of TV exposure. In 2001 the brand was acquired by a forward-thinking group of men. They had planned to go into boxing promotion but fell in love with the UFC and they set about rebuilding the brand and winning back the athletic commissions in states where they had been dropped; then they went after fans. They promised to give good value and not to protect anybody.
At the Savoy I was sitting with veteran boxing writer Colin Hart. He turned to me at one point and said: "Are they having a laugh?"
I shook my head: "Colin, they don't protect anybody," I said.
It was his turn to shake his head because in boxing we have grown accustomed for our future stars to be fed no-hopers for two or three years. That is not the UFC way. The problem for the UFC will be sticking to their principles when a glory fighter comes along.
And so, next week in Manchester the fans will be there. Sure, they were there for Ricky Hatton and Nigel Benn and Mike Tyson and Naseem Hamed. But, next week there is not one carefully stage-managed main attraction. The fans (it is available also on Setanta pay-per-view) are there because it is the UFC. Shows in Belfast, London and possibly Glasgow are planned this year.
Next week a former member of Croatia's anti-********* squad, Mirko Cro Cop, fights Brazil's Gabriel Gonzaga over three rounds of five minutes. They each weigh about 15 stone and stand 6ft 2in in their bare kicking feet. The Octagon is 34ft across, with mesh walls of about 7ft. It looks spectacular.
I'm not a major fan yet of the actual fighting. It gets very technical when the fighters go to the mat and are no longer punching or kicking each other. But, it is not just two men having a street fight, which is boxing's main argument. If only a street fight had broken out in Cardiff last weekend when Joe Calzaghe, Amir Khan and Enzo Maccarinelli all won without breaking a sweat or taking a clean punch.
Each UFC fighter brings to the octagon several specialities from a list of the fighting arts. Lancashire's Michael Bisping, who travelled to Las Vegas and won the million-dollar UFC reality show, relies on his boxing experience, while Gonzaga is skilled in Brazilian ju-jitsu, which is basically all the nasty grappling that takes place once a fighter is on the mat. Cro Cop is just mean. Biting is banned.
"We are not here to end boxing. That is not what we are doing. I love boxing, most boxing. But the sport has done little to help itself. It has not moved on. The UFC have," said Dana White, one of the trio of men responsible for the phenomenon.
Too true.
By Steve Bunce
Boxing is under threat as the Ultimate Fighting Championship launch their raid on Britain
YOU HAVE seen the posters and watched the adverts but the words are over and the fighting about to thankfully begin. During the last six months, the Ultimate Fighting Championship, or UFC, have been planning a raid on Britain. On Saturday, at the MEN Arena in Manchester, just under 16,000 people will watch 10 mixed martial arts fights under the UFC's ubiquitous banner.
It is not boxing but they do box, it is not wrestling but they do wrestle and it is not strictly any martial art. It's mixed martial arts and it takes place inside a caged octagon, a trademarked piece of genius by the UFC. In America, the fans love it; it is killing boxing at the box-office and it's not doing it slowly. The war for fans' hearts and minds and dollars, and now pounds, is as ruthless as the UFC's mini epics can be savage.
But, it is not about ending boxing's solid and traditional grip on contact sport and the subsequent record-breaking pay-per-view figures. Well, that is the tune the UFC bosses hum but it is hard not to see the UFC's stunning rise as a direct threat to boxing as we know it.
advertisement
"Let me tell you what the UFC can do and what boxing can no longer do and I'm talking about the US here. The UFC can get the gringos," said Bob Arum, perhaps the greatest old-fashioned promoter who put on Muhammad Ali, Sugar Ray Leonard and Marvin Hagler and launched Oscar De La Hoya and Floyd Mayweather.
Arum refused to say much more. However, his silence and several high-profile defections in the US of promoters and officials, support the feeling the UFC, who are such an omnipotent brand within the world of mixed martial arts that they are often mistaken for the sport itself, are battering boxing into submission.
Boxing in the UK has fired off several dismal defences, with one columnist claiming it is better because boxers punch harder and can therefore do more damage. That is one of the sport's dumbest defences. Fighters die on a regular basis in the ring and no one should be bragging about the impact of a punch from an eight-ounce glove in comparison to the padded mitts the UFC's fighters wear.
At a recent lunch at the Savoy in London a tiny band from the UFC, which included Marc Ratner who for 20 years worked for the Nevada Athletic Commission and ran boxing in Las Vegas, outlined the UFC's plan for world domination. It is simple: Put on even fights. This makes perfect sense and, is obviously the element sadly lacking in so many nights of boxing.
In the Nineties, the UFC nearly fell off the radar when bans in several states and bad coverage of violent conflicts led to a drop in attendance and a loss of TV exposure. In 2001 the brand was acquired by a forward-thinking group of men. They had planned to go into boxing promotion but fell in love with the UFC and they set about rebuilding the brand and winning back the athletic commissions in states where they had been dropped; then they went after fans. They promised to give good value and not to protect anybody.
At the Savoy I was sitting with veteran boxing writer Colin Hart. He turned to me at one point and said: "Are they having a laugh?"
I shook my head: "Colin, they don't protect anybody," I said.
It was his turn to shake his head because in boxing we have grown accustomed for our future stars to be fed no-hopers for two or three years. That is not the UFC way. The problem for the UFC will be sticking to their principles when a glory fighter comes along.
And so, next week in Manchester the fans will be there. Sure, they were there for Ricky Hatton and Nigel Benn and Mike Tyson and Naseem Hamed. But, next week there is not one carefully stage-managed main attraction. The fans (it is available also on Setanta pay-per-view) are there because it is the UFC. Shows in Belfast, London and possibly Glasgow are planned this year.
Next week a former member of Croatia's anti-********* squad, Mirko Cro Cop, fights Brazil's Gabriel Gonzaga over three rounds of five minutes. They each weigh about 15 stone and stand 6ft 2in in their bare kicking feet. The Octagon is 34ft across, with mesh walls of about 7ft. It looks spectacular.
I'm not a major fan yet of the actual fighting. It gets very technical when the fighters go to the mat and are no longer punching or kicking each other. But, it is not just two men having a street fight, which is boxing's main argument. If only a street fight had broken out in Cardiff last weekend when Joe Calzaghe, Amir Khan and Enzo Maccarinelli all won without breaking a sweat or taking a clean punch.
Each UFC fighter brings to the octagon several specialities from a list of the fighting arts. Lancashire's Michael Bisping, who travelled to Las Vegas and won the million-dollar UFC reality show, relies on his boxing experience, while Gonzaga is skilled in Brazilian ju-jitsu, which is basically all the nasty grappling that takes place once a fighter is on the mat. Cro Cop is just mean. Biting is banned.
"We are not here to end boxing. That is not what we are doing. I love boxing, most boxing. But the sport has done little to help itself. It has not moved on. The UFC have," said Dana White, one of the trio of men responsible for the phenomenon.
Too true.
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