Mma vs. Boxing
The Rise of Mixed Martial Arts and the Fall of Boxing
Todd Norris
ECPI University
The Rise of Mixed Martial Arts and the Fall of Boxing
Being a man in my early thirties and a sports fan I have witnessed the rise in popularity of mixed martial arts almost from its birth. I can remember watching the first event which took place on November 12, 1993 in Denver, Colorado (Ultimate Fighting Championship, 2013). Living in Cleveland, Ohio I was only 13 and honestly was probably a little young to be watching the violence taking place in that event. As I have seen the sport of mixed martial arts progress through the years, I have also witnessed boxing regress over this same period. Although I remember being a fan of both sports at one point that is not true anymore. There is a good reason for this; the sport of mixed martial arts has evolved. It is action packed, well run, and safer for its athletes. As I said previously, I have grown up watching both sports. From the first time I watched mixed martial arts I was hooked. That’s not to say that the sport has not changed. From that first fight in 1993 to the last pay-per-view I watched last week, the sport has changed dramatically. This is due in most part to the people running the largest mixed martial arts association the ultimate fighting championship or UFC for short. The UFC is owned by Zuffa LLC, which is headquartered in Las Vegas, Nevada. The president and head of Zuffa is Dana White. He and his partners bought the UFC in 2001 and dedicated themselves to improving and cleaning up the sport as well as bringing it to the masses. The first thing that needed to be changed was the weight classes. In the first UFC event that I watched all of those years ago, I recalled seeing a small slender karate practitioner fighting a large wrestler. This is obviously not fair in many ways. The first thing that was changed is a uniform weight class system was implemented similar to boxing but with less
Todd Norris
ECPI University
The Rise of Mixed Martial Arts and the Fall of Boxing
Being a man in my early thirties and a sports fan I have witnessed the rise in popularity of mixed martial arts almost from its birth. I can remember watching the first event which took place on November 12, 1993 in Denver, Colorado (Ultimate Fighting Championship, 2013). Living in Cleveland, Ohio I was only 13 and honestly was probably a little young to be watching the violence taking place in that event. As I have seen the sport of mixed martial arts progress through the years, I have also witnessed boxing regress over this same period. Although I remember being a fan of both sports at one point that is not true anymore. There is a good reason for this; the sport of mixed martial arts has evolved. It is action packed, well run, and safer for its athletes. As I said previously, I have grown up watching both sports. From the first time I watched mixed martial arts I was hooked. That’s not to say that the sport has not changed. From that first fight in 1993 to the last pay-per-view I watched last week, the sport has changed dramatically. This is due in most part to the people running the largest mixed martial arts association the ultimate fighting championship or UFC for short. The UFC is owned by Zuffa LLC, which is headquartered in Las Vegas, Nevada. The president and head of Zuffa is Dana White. He and his partners bought the UFC in 2001 and dedicated themselves to improving and cleaning up the sport as well as bringing it to the masses. The first thing that needed to be changed was the weight classes. In the first UFC event that I watched all of those years ago, I recalled seeing a small slender karate practitioner fighting a large wrestler. This is obviously not fair in many ways. The first thing that was changed is a uniform weight class system was implemented similar to boxing but with less
References: Ultimate Fighting Championship - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. (n.d.). Retrieved May 7, 2013, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultimate_Fighting_Championship The UFC® - Learn How the Ultimate Fighting Championship Began. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.ufc.com/discover/ufc The fall and rise of UFC » The Good Point. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://thegoodpoint.com/2012/09/the-fall-and-rise-of-ufc/ How the rise of MMA helped the fall of Boxing - LowKick MMA. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.lowkickmma.com/Other/Boxing-vs-MMA-9042 Boxing corrupt? Knock me over with a feather, Bud Shaw writes | cleveland.com. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.cleveland.com/budshaw/index.ssf/2012/06/boxing_corrupt_knock_me_over_w.html http://sports.yahoo.com/news/boxing--timothy-bradleys-win-over-manny-pacquiao-was-a-joke-but-it-wasn-t-bad-for-boxing.html;_ylt=Ai.oCyHK_rm.vNN.TqtlGCA5nYcB DOCTORS SAY MMA SAFER THAN BOXING! - RINGTALK. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://ringtalk.com/doctors-say-mma-safer-than-boxing