MMA on CBS tonight *UPDATED*
By JimK
(1 vote)
Related Entries
UFC fighter Evan Tanner found dead in desert
Monday Roundup - July 21, 2008
TMZ says Rampage Jackson pulled a hit & run
UFC 86 - Griffin vs. Jackson full fight video
UFC 86…oh just get in and read!
Ummm, you do know that New Jersey set up and passed the Unified Rules of MMA BEFORE the Fertittas bought the UFC, right?
2 
JimK wrote:
Well, the sport wasn’t using the rules universally, nor was it thought of (in the US) as anything other than an underground bloodsport until Zuffa. The Gracies weren’t willing to do what it took to elevate it in the U.S. When the brothers Fertitta took it over all that changed. They made it more professional. They elevated the sport nature, and risked millions to make it popular.
They also participated heavily in the creation of the unified rules in California and New Jersey, (regardless of the Wikipedia bias against the brothers).
BTW, Wikipedia also says California started the unified process (the implication is that it was before Jersey), but they couldn’t get it finished due to weird California budget rules. They didn’t sanction MMA or the unified rules until Dec. 28, 2005.
Well, to be fair, the sport still doesn’t use the rules “universally” (see Hawaii or Japan), but yes, the sport was (is?) considered a bloodsport until TUF on Spike.
However, Dana White/Zuffa had no hand in the passing of the legislature for MMA in New Jersey. It wasn’t until after that, and after MMA legislation failed in the Nevada Athletic commission that Zuffa bought the UFC from the SEG group. It’s actually not a wikipedia bias (although having never seen the article in question, I can’t vouch 100% for that of course), but something you can ask mma journalists that were around during that time.
I’m not disputing that Zuffa hasn’t done a lot to make the sport more mainstream through getting on basic cable and such, I’m just bothered when the Zuffa Revisionist history of “It was no rules before we came along”, when even as early as UFC 10 I think the rules that eventually became the unified rules began to take shape.
5 
DonnaK wrote:
I did appreciate that Gina tried to explain her problems with making weight while not making any excuses. She outright stated she was ill-prepared and she could have done much better and that she was sorry, so I’m not as upset with her as I was when I first heard about her mot making weight. There really is no reason for a fighter not to make weight, and she knows it, and to her credit she said just as much last night. That’s something anyway.
JimK: If you are into it, CBS has their first MMA event on a non-cable network tonight at 9PM. It’s EliteXC, a group that is trying to compete with the UFC. You’ll probably recognize a lot of names if you follow the sport. Robbie Lawler, Yves Edwards, Antonio Silva, Marilo Ninja Rua, the bizarre phenom that is Kimbo Slice…an someone that you might know as American Gladiator Crush, Gina Carano. Yep, EliteXC has girl fights, and they’re pretty good. Gina is a striker, but she has been getting trained by Randy Couture’s camp, so it’ll be interesting to see if her ground game has improved. She submitted her last opponent, and she’s constantly throwing wrestling and jits moves on American Gladiators. I’m also looking forward to Villasenor beating Phil Baroni’s ass, and the Scott Smith/Robbie Lawler fight. Smith submitted Ed Herman, knocked out Pete Sell and went to a decision with Patrick Cote, so he’s no slouch being served up to Robbie. Looks like they got Kimbo a real opponent in James Thompson as well.
The EliteXC website says you can watch online, so if that is something you are into - or someone else controls your remote tonight - check it out. I’m so jazzed to see MMA getting some love these days.
I hope everyone in the sport knows they need to kiss the asses of Frank and Lorenzo Fertitta and Dana White. Those guys turned this into a legitimate sport that has a unified set of rules that protect the fighters as much as possible. This ain’t pitfighting or no holds barred like the old days. It’s a real, honest-to-goodness combat sport with tactics and a basic skillset that must be met in order to compete in the big leagues. Which, by the way, are UFC and WEC (owned by Frank and Lorenzo Fertitta) and EliteXC. Everything else is a junior-league show.
If you watch the show, pop back into the comments and talk about it!
*UPDATE*
JimK: Ouch.
That’s not good. I tend to agree with the author…failure to make weight doesn’t speak well to your dedication. This is a watershed moment for MMA and for femals MMA in particular, and she should have treated it as such. Failure to make weight when you’ve known about a fight for months and months? That’s just unacceptable. Hopefully she’s getting the appropriate dressing down from her trainers, her accountant and the promoters.
I hope no one starts talking about how this is about some kind of negative body image thing. Athletes at this level should be treated equally, and her being a woman shouldn’t stop someone from telling her that as a fighter, you need to make weight, period, end of sentence.
05/31/2008 5:40 PM
Categories: TV
Tags: ufc