Monday, June 4, 2012

Just Say No to Olympic MMA

By: MMA Blaster

Mixed martial arts should not be added to the Olympics as it would be chewed up and spit out in a watered down version of the sport we know and love. The rule restrictions would be impossible to ignore. Compound that with possible headgear, sponsors not wanting to see blood, and the fact that the best in the world wouldn't be allowed to compete would scare most away.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) would have a field day with the rules of MMA. In a perfect world, MMA should be as close as possible to a no holds barred fight. The Olympics would probably take out knees and kicks to the face while standing or grounded. Next, they would ban elbow strikes of any kind.

I wouldn't be surprised if punches to the face of a downed opponent found there way to the ban list. Heel hooks and other leg locks would fall victim to the Olympic rulebook. Then comes the bout duration, which would probably consist of three, three minute rounds or less.

In Olympic boxing the competitors wear headgear to prevent injury. Anyone who has seen Tae Kwon Do knows the amount of padding that they wear. The Olympic commission would likely mandate MMA fighters to wear headgear, shin guards, and lord knows what else. The most difficult aspect of the Olympic format is participants staying injury free with three to four matches over a two week and a half week time frame.
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On that same note, Olympic scoring in Boxing and Tae Kwon Do give points to effective techniques in cumulative fashion throughout the bout. You can essentially win a fight if you have one big round. If a boxer lands far more punches in the first round he could be up 6-1 in the first, leaving him to coast and stall for the final four rounds and win 8-5.

Another problem would be finding quality fighters to be involved in the event. The UFC holds exclusive contracts over most star fighters. The exclusivity restricts fighters from competing in other MMA organizations as well as any other combat art. The MMA amateur circuit is pretty barren and fraught with corruption.

Rather than having the Olympics butcher MMA, why not an MMA World Grand Prix held outside the Olympic banner?

A World Grand Prix could consist of eight countries competing over three events that are spread out over six months. The rule-set would be the unified rules without elbows to the face of a downed opponent in an effort to reduce cuts. You could have weight classes from 125 up to heavyweight and a women's competitor.

The biggest challenge would be getting the best fighters in the world. As such, the competition would probably have to be co-promoted by the UFC, Strikeforce, One FC, M-1 and Bellator. If each promotion would be able to make money from the event, promoters might be agree to the idea.

We could see teams from Brazil, Japan, USA, Canada, Russia, United Kingdom, South Korea, and Australia(New Zealand). Or Team North America, South America, Europe and Asia. Or you could take the top eight fighters from each weight division regardless of country. It is very fun to think about. What country would win it all?
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4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Dude, I got Brazil v. USA in the finals.

MMA Rules said...

Heck yeah, Brazil v. USA.

Lesnar v. Big Nog
Machida v. Rampage
Silva v. Marquardt/Hendo
Alves v. Fitch/Kos
JZ Calvancante v. Penn

Anonymous said...

I agree, keep MMA out of the Olympics. Brazil v. USA would be awesome. I got:

Lesnar v. Dos Santos
Griffin v. Machida
Henderson v. Silva
Shields v. Thiago
Penn v. JZ

Aurea Robillard said...

I agree with the idea of having a MMA World Grand Prix, so they can keep the same rules and the spirit of competition. Both my friend and I will totally love it when it occurs, since he is an ex-amateur MMA fighter which fought his last match with a victory a few months ago and he's currently undergoing several dental implants at the dentist in Ft. Lauderdale since it got knocked off by a stray kick from his opponent, but he recovered and capitalized the moment by giving his opponent a gogoplata. Even being retired as a fighter due to him being a family man, the love for MMA never dies on him, that is why after the treatment at the dentists (Ft. Lauderdale), he'll train his kids with everything he has learned.