While the political landscape in the U.S. has certainly changed after last night’s election, the mainstream MMA landscape continues to as well.
For the most part it has been positive for the sport. One sign of this is the fact that Georges St. Pierre recently signed with mega talent agency CAA Sports. That's a good thing, despite what UFC president Dana White thinks (he says all those Hollywood types are "pukes"). But when you can put GSP right alongside LT, A-Rod and The Kid, it can only help in the idea that MMA has arrived as a legitimate sport.
The flash in the pan that was EliteXC is a bit of a double-edged sword. For one, it also increased the exposure of MMA, and brought it into primetime. It created some stars, and helped people see the athletic ability of these fighters on display.
On the other hand, one problem became the tendency to equate EliteXC with MMA as a whole. People saw Kimbo Slice, the supposed wrecking machine, get beaten in 14 seconds by a guy who stepped in at the last minute, and wondered, "What does that say about the sport?" That's the wrong question. The right question is, "What does that say about that organization?" And we know the answer already: EliteXC promptly folded.
White was right all along when he said Kimbo wouldn't stand a chance against true MMA fighters. At least not yet. Slice needs a lot more training to get to a point where he could truly compete in the cage. Maybe he'll get there. Or maybe he’ll fade away.
Yet the effect his rise as a fighting "superstar" has had on the MMA landscape continues to linger. I call it the "Kimbo effect."
While the perception of MMA fighters has improved dramatically in a short time, there still remains a stereotype. If you've seen a preview for Vince Vaughn's upcoming movie "Four Christmases," you know exactly what I mean. In it, Vaughn's character has two brothers who are what he calls "trained UFC fighters." (I'm not sure what a non-trained UFC fighter would be, but I digress)
They're played by Jon Favreau and Tim McGraw (yes, the country singer), and they exhibit every possible MMA stereotype you can imagine. They appear to be dumb rednecks, obsessed with fighting all the time, even when Vaughn's character is clearly unwilling, pulling off moves that suit the WWE more than the UFC. Oh, and their names are simply "Denver" and "Dallas." Perfect.
Hey it's probably in good fun (as Vince Vaughn flicks usually are). But these two clearly resemble the kind of fighters you'd see in a backyard YouTube video than on a serious pay-per-view.
Speaking of which, did anyone catch the season premiere of Law & Order on Tuesday? They might as well call that episode "Kimbo kills." It's about an "organized" streetfighting ring in New York, where fights are captured on YouTube and one guy ends up getting killed. You can catch it again Wednesday night (and hear the assistant DA ignorantly say people watch "no-holds barred extreme fighting on primetime television.”
This Kimbo effect is something to which even the UFC hasn't been immune. The Las Vegas-headquartered organization has been going hard at moving to new markets. The states of Minnesota, Georgia, Nebraska and Illinois all got their first tastes in the past few months. The drawback? You get fans who aren't as knowledgeable about MMA.
Take the most recent event, in Chicago. Fans were booing the most entertaining fight of the night between Sean Sherk and Tyson Griffin. Why? Because the two of them weren't standing and trading bombs, like they figure all fighters should. That's the Kimbo effect.
Fans also booed the Gray Maynard-Rich Clementi match, which was a decent tactical battle on the ground. It didn’t help having a rookie referee who didn’t recognize thand kept saying "let’s go, guys," asking them to work to improve their positions when that’s exactly what they WERE doing.
Understand, the referees have to be licensed in the state they’re officiating, so the UFC can’t just bring the same crew to every event. But a little more education for their officials, and the fans, would help.
The good news is the UFC will be staying close to home for a while. Four of the next six events are in Vegas where most understand MMA. Let’s hope the word continues to be spread.
EXTRA THOUGHTS:
- I wonder if the election of Barack Obama as U.S. President is good or bad for MMA. John McCain is partly responsible for getting MMA sanctioned and regulated. But he has also been vocal about his dislike for the sport.
- Does everyone realize just how big the UFC’s signing of Canadian Denis Kang is? He is one of the best fighters out there not many get to see and should have an immediate impact on the middleweight division.
