Boxing fans who do not like MMA; what are your reasons?

[_Rexy_]

Same, I know it's a very multifaceted discipline and you're at a severe disadvantage unless you pick up half a dozen different martial arts and get good at them all, but that rarely seems to translate to entertaining action. The fights either drag on or end really abruptly - the fight may be one guy pressed face-first against the cage with nothing happening for minutes at a time, or one fighter gets into a good grapple or scores a hard knockdown and the fight just ends instantly. There never seems to be that comeback potential that you get in boxing, where the count allows a fighter to get back up and win. In UFC if someone gets dropped the other guy just jumps right on him and starts hammering him on the ground and the fight just ends right there. Likewise if a fighter works his way into a good choke or grapple then the other guy almost never seems to find his way out of it.

Plus, like others have said, it can be more fun to watch two guys who are very good at one thing than two guys who are mostly just average at everything. Like, McGregor is considered to be an extremely good puncher by UFC standards but he was a joke against Floyd, there was absolutely nothing on his shots. I reckon that even an average, domestic level fighter would have beaten McGregor at boxing.

That said, most of this applies just to UFC and not MMA in general. I think kickboxing and muay thai are okay, mostly because they keep the general boxing format but allow the use of feet, knees elbows etc.

Yeah, during all the Khabib hype I wiki'd him and saw he was trained in "sambo" I had never heard of it before, so I started watching Russian Sambo on Youtube. Those tournaments are crazy! but I'm with you. To me there's no real skill in getting behind someone and holding their throat for dear life, or getting someone down and then just laying on then and punching them in the head until the ref steps in (Ground & Pound) As diciplined and trained as it is, it looks like street fights half the time! Probably why the biggest fans (in my experience) are all drunken frat boys (who I'm happy aren't hanging out watching boxing matches at the bars anymore, getting drunk and trying to start fights)

It was a bad look when Brock Lesnar decided one day he was going to be a UFC star and he ****ing did. I know people point at his NCAA background, but that was 18 years ago. I had a nice little amateur run at HW before busting my hand 13 years ago, imagine if I decided to turn pro and wanted to be CW champ of the world. I'd get my head taken off by the first clubfighter i faced haha.

[Marchegiano]

Sorry to tell you but if you want to go back even further we go to the era of Akkad and guess what was the dominant form of Combat (ill give you a hint its has grappling in it).

Sorry, boxing only focuses on one style of Combat. MMA focusing on all.

You belittle MMA fan's but you sound pretty ignorant yourself.

Not at all. I filled the ****ing page with text, but, you know better do you? Seems like you are exactly who I said most MMA fans are. Here you are doing exactly what I pointed out you goofy ****s do.

I've already flexed kiddo. Everyone knows the juxtaposition you just have yet to admit it to yourself. Everything you brought up was already addressed in my long ass post. Try reading it all instead of to the point where you become irritated and elect to play the role of a silly MMA acolyte.


Boxing focuses on one why? Why is that? Scroll the **** you you dumb son of a ***** and read why. For ****'s sake.

[Thuglife Nelo]

MMA is a joke utter jokes. The MMA scene glorifies Jon Jones but BJS was robbed his belt. UFC is commercial garbage like its counterpart WWE. It’s ran the same way with cheese

[Floyd is TBE]

Always felt like UFC is too much like WWE. Most of the stars are manufactured hype jobs created by the Dana White propaganda machine. McGregor, Jon Jones, Brock Lesnar, Cyborg. These are the supposed "goats" of the sport. Most of them are drug cheats or overrated as ****. When a ***** with no talent can become the "baddest woman on the planet" something is wrong with your sport. What's Ronda Rousey up to now? Lmao that no talent having harpy ran off to play pretend champion with Vince McMahon

[Roy Keane]

Once you are used to good boxing MMA striking seems a bit embarrassing and puts you off. Appreciate the sport but it’s not for me.

[BWC]

I was an MMA fan before a boxing fan. Then all my favorite guys got old, I fell in love with the history of boxing and never looked back. A lot of combat sports fans are coming back to boxing as UFC is full of problems and frankly getting boring. Boxing has waaaay more exciting talent now. That Bones-Gus fight last night was the most boring letdown in combat sports I can remember

[HENNY]

I like both, but the lack of class during press conferences/post fight interviews by some fighters bothers me sometimes. Boxing has it's fair share of classless fighters, but the UFC has much much more

[Blond Beast]

But that’s the great thing about mma compared to boxing.. how competitive it is, generally anyone can win....so yea nearly all fighters take a few loses,but it makes it so much greater when one is underfeated... boxing fans shouldn’t care so much about a few loses on a record or “building a star”.... I just want to be entertained and when boxing is 90% mismatches it’s hard to stay entertained sometimes

Right. I’ll agree with everything u just said. Hardest part about boxing is getting two stars to face eachother in the ring. The betting lines in MMA are always close. I enjoy all the varied techniques. Lots of crazy finishes too. Still punching is everyone’s favourite part of mma. I picked Nunes to KO Cyborg standing up and It was obvious to me. I’m not bragging I got it right, just irked most got it sooo wrong. So much hype in MMA though. Everyone is “just the best at blah blah”. Everyone has “the best training team” or special move that they are the best in the world at. I mean I understand the sell. It’s just too random sometimes. Ur only the best for a hot minute. I enjoy it, just hard to make heads or tails of what u are truly seeing.

[Johnny2x2x]

Don’t hate MMA, but I will say that the UFC is manufactured to an extent. And by that I mean that they pick and choose the fighters they are going to make into stars and it’s not necessarily based on skill.

MMA is a broader range of skills, but not as skilled still. If that makes sense. Boxers are otherworldly good at several things. MMA fighters are good at a few more things.

I also think that there is more of a kick aspect to MMA so it’s less predictable. MMA also lacks the drama that a 12 round fight brings. Breaking a fighter down over 12 rounds is the ultimate drama. Setting him up for something later in the fight in the early rounds is awesome to watch. I’d like to see MMA go to shorter rounds but more of them. 8 or 9 three minute rounds would be better and introduce more strategy and skill IMO.

[Earl-Hickey]

I don't mind MMA but I do not enjoy the ground game at all, it's not good spectacle, I also don't like hitting downed opponents, that has always been unsportsmanlike.

I just find it funny how hardcore MMA fans always say how MMA is "real fighting" and BJJ this and BJJ that yet Nunes and Cyborg trade punches for 40 seconds and those same fans scream how it was the greatest fight of all time. I saw Khabib lay on top of McGregor for 5 straight minutes and it was 5 minutes of straight boredom, you will never convince me that is entertainment

I also don't like how MMA has a new "goat" every 6 months

But other than the above I don't hate the sport, I watch quite often but I've never seen anything in MMA to match the true classics that boxing sometimes can produce