Is Mixed Marial Arts (MMA) really a sport?
 

Is Mixed Martial Arts really a sport?

Yes i think it is

Today anything is considered a sport (i.e. poker).

I consider a sport something that anyone at any age can do (i.e. Baseball, basketball, [flag] football, etc.)

Bruce Lee thought so

Its a hell of alot more like a sport than boxing is...

now NASCAR... there's something that's NOT a sport... Real racing is considerably more borderline but Nascar simply is NOT!

I have 5yr olds doing MMA just up the block. how can it not be a sport? it takes strength / endurance / skill .. everything you need to compete in any sport.

yes it's a sport.. i'd say it's more of a sport than anything else out there.. why? because it's raw - it's just you, no other bells and whistles like soccer balls, baseballs, basketballs, etc... its you, and your ability and skill to fight. it's definitely sport.

Yes its a sport more so than a lot of sports ie. golf,baseball,swiming and half of what they compete for in the Olympics. but to say its more of a sport than boxing is no way they are both fight sports yes but the conditioning is so different most boxers would get owned in a MMA fight and most MMA fighters would get owned in a boxing match.

Boxing is just one of the skills you must excel at train in MMA. You dont need to know anything but boxing to box.

Really? Really? do you believe this. Punching is a skill you need to have to excel at MMA boxing is much more than punching. MMA is a sprint Boxing is a Marathon is the only skill to running a marathon the ability to run?

Why wouldn't MMA be considered a sport? It's physical, certainly it involves athletic training, skill development, and it involves a high level of competition among athletes of a widely varying range of styles and abilities.

If darts, pool, golf, bowling, NASCAR and fishing are considered official sports, I don't see why there should be any doubt that mixed martial arts would be one as well. It certainly meets the definitions of "athlete" and "sport" more than all those.

Odd logic considering a two month old and a 105 year old would probably cancel out a few of those options.

I think anything that is a competitive event using any combination of mind and body is a sport. I hated the idea of poker being a sport until I played a few times and realized that it does require both mental and to a lesser extent physical skill.

Well, whats the definition of a sport?

Shouldn't anything that requires any kind of physical exertion be considered a sport? If that's the case, hell ya MMA would be a sport. That shit is exhausting on a level that's unheard of.

There is a mental side of it as well, so it's not just two big dumb bastards beating the hell out of eachother.

It's a sport.

It's a competition that require physical strength. It's still sport.

i would say yes its a sport.

If sitting up in a tree and shooting deer with rifles is a sport then i would have to say MMA is.

Sport is an activity that is governed by a set of rules or customs and often engaged in competitively.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sport

the guys in mma really know how to fuck... mma was originated in prison when a guy would use any tactics available to protect himself from getting ass raped...

most prison libraries contain boxing, wrestling, and martial art books...

prison inmates would try m\ultiple styles to avoid being raped...

this is how mma was formed....

it takes a combination of wrestling, boxing, and martial arts to avoid getting raped in prison..

part of the training process of mma today is done in the locker room, where a person tries to avoid being ass raped by using his training skills...

btw... most of the top mma fighters have ass raped 20-30 guys before turning pro...

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That is some of the dumbest shit I have ever read in my life. I feel that I have some how cheapened my life just reading it.

well, you are voting for ron paul. I am sure a lot of things in your life dont quite make sense... :thumbsup

Combat sport.

It's more sport than MA, thats for sure.

How is NASCAR not real racing? It is the most competitive racing in the world with the biggest emphasis on driver skill and endurance of any racing format.

Fighting was the first sport.

That's interesting, any thoughts on baseball or football?

I'm certain that theses guys need to be in tremendous shape and work out their cardio and muscular to drive theses cars.

Driving a car at 300mph for hours isn't exactly easy on the body.

NASCAR started as real actual on the back roads racing. If anything NASCAR is a sport while F-1 is a skill.

And the top athletes are in top physical condition overall... if you count cardio, flexebility, raw strenght of any part of the body, overall conditioning, the top fighters might be the best overall athletes in the world.

Just look at GSP.
The guy hangs out in the ring with Alcine (boxing champ)
He's among the top 2 of the country in his wrestling weightclass (was going for the olympics before he got called for a fight)
Tremendous shape, flexibility, and skills (bjj wrestling thai karate krav manga judi and lots of other styles)

Johacin Alcine, boxing champion, said GSP hangs out toe to toe with him in the ring.

Guys like Andersen Silva could probably be very near the top in boxing...

I'm sure Alexender Emilienko could give Valuev a run for his money.

l0ol
MMA started the day Ali fought that japanese wrestler and got PWNED even though he changed the set of rules to suit him a couple days before the fight, when he actually realised he was going to get his ass whooped badly when he seen the other guy train.

Most boxing experts will tell you that all the legkicks he ate in that fight probably shortened his career of a couple years and caused him massive damage.

Yes I would say so.

Average NASCAR Speed: 139.697 mph

Is that for the year encompassing all tracks? Or a specific track? If so it obviously has to include time under caution. ?

Yes!!! But it doesn't pay enough!!! Thats why i am porn!!

Loose 3 in a row your career is done!!! Get a serious injury your done!!!

Rico Rodriguez, former UFC Champion, who beat Randy Couture for the UFC heavyweight title has no money. He works as a door guy at a strip club. taking the occasional fight for $4,000

That part of the sport blows!!:2 cents:

GSP with everything (seminars, endorsements, publicity deals and fight contracts, PPV bonuses) made a cool 4.6 millions this year.

Good. He's a whiny cunt. Did you see him get his ass kicked in that IFL fight? And then he spit on Ben Rothwell. In his interview, he basically made up every bullshit excuse in the world for why he lost. Of course, none of them had anything to do with the fact that he's now a big, fat lard ass. He also hit on that Tiffany chick the whole time. I was hoping she'd vomit on him.

I hope somebody cracks his skull open. I hate him.

Oh and I forgot to say, the league only started making money recently, they were still loosing some when Rico fought.

It has nothign to do with today's numbers.

Chuck Lidell made 500k (without endorsements or anything) in his last fight, + his PPV cut and probably a secret win bonus like Randy.
He's not even the champ.

I guess?

No it is not a sport, then gay porn must be a sport, 2 fags running around in a ring together trying to grab eachothers balls while sweating on eachother while wearing tight ginch is a not a sport to me.

it has been proven that the majority of MMA fans are bisexual males who tune into it just so if they get caught watching it by their girlfriend they can make an excuse that it is a sport.

2 grown men hugging eachother in timed rounds is no sport.

You are wrong!! Not be disrespectful or a know it all but you are off. Bigtime!! I know what these guys make 1st hand. I have been to big bear 15 time to help some of these guys train for fights. Tito, rampage, rico, just to name a few. I still get offers to corner guys, but the money sux and if the fighter doesn't win u feel like your time was wasted. And when they do win they think they are the shit and ease up on there training and loose everything!!. (Rico Rodrigez)

The purses have gotten bigger in the last 2 years but not to where they need to be for what they do. But keep in mind they get taxed and %10 to %15 goes to the gym they come out of before taxes.

I am not trying to be a know it all but this i do know!

Check this out.
http://www.mmanews.com/ufc/Full-Figh...-Revealed.html

Keep in mind.. these are the top dogs! and it is nothing compared to what boxing makes. Fighters eat shit before they come to the big show. A lot of shit!!

Sponsors help. Karo Peresian got 40k for Warring an Affliction one time to the cage.

I am saying that there is a lot more room for improvement on what these guys get composted.

But to get to that level is a serious gamble and if you are not brought up right you end up a door guy at a strip club.

Sorry for standing on my soapbox but i'm here to inform not be some smart know it all keyboard warrior.

It's all good Dave, I heard the GSP figure from a family insider personally, I have nothing written to back it up, I might be wrong.

I know the money in MMA isn't great, but the nevada athletic commisions figures are highly innacurate as they don't include hidden bonuses, endorsements, sponsorships and other such things.

I think just about any skill or activity that can be turned competitive, and is interesting enough for people to want to regularly pay to see, can be considered a sport. I imagine that's probably pretty close to the official definition of the word anyway. This is especially true when training or practice is required to be good at it whatever it may be.

As for boxing > mma, or vice-versa, In my opinion mma will ultimately prove to be the more difficult sport to excell at. Fighters in mma have to constantly worry about defending a takedown as well as being punched, kicked, etc., plus if they do get taken to the ground, they need to know how to defend against punches or submissions from there too. There's a lot more variables to consider in mma, which is why you rarely see just one guy dominate a weight division for a real long time like you do in boxing. Hughes, Liddell, Fedor, and Wandy were the only guys so far that come to mind as truly being dominant for a prolonged time in their weight classes.

I can't wait to see if Mayweather decides to actually participate in mma as a competitor, or if he's just looking at it from a promotional or coaching perspective. He'd be by far the best stand-up striker mma has seen to date, but would never dominate like he has in boxing, unless he learns to defend takedowns and block or avoid kicks.