(Photo via Getty)
By Matt Saccaro
1. Having to explain that the UFC is not the WWE.
2. Boxing vs. MMA discussions.
3. MMA “lifestyle” brands thinking you’re a goon who’ll only wear clothes if it has skulls, wings, or a tribal pattern on it.
4. Hearing casual fans talk about Kimbo Slice every time you decide to catch a PPV at a bar.
5. Hearing non-MMA fans talk about “this rolling around on the ground” every time you decide to catch a PPV at a bar.
6. The obscene cost of being an MMA fan (PPVs, Fight Pass, etc.).
7. Other MMA fans saying you’re not a TRUE fan because…[insert bullshit reason].
8. After the fight scene in a movie or TV show, everyone glares at you because they know you’re about to bash it for how unrealistic it was.
9. Debates about who was the GOAT.
10. People still going on about how awesome Pride was. Yeah, it was awesome, but it’s still dead and it ain’t coming back!
11. Dealing with other “fans” who “train UFC”
12. Dealing with other “fans” who hate every single thing the UFC does and go as far as to never watch the UFC just because.
13. Dealing with other “fans” who believe every single thing the UFC tells them and who refuse to acknowledge any MMA outside the Zuffa umbrella.
14. Dealing with other “fans” who complain that the fighters don’t make enough money but stream PPVs.
15. Debates about the “U-S-A” chant vs. the “You’re gonna die” chant.
16. Debates about TRT.
17. 0-2 amateur fighters with holier-than-thou attitudes. “I’m a FIGHTER, bro! I’m special, I’m different! I’m a WARRIOR.”
18. Arguments with the Zuffa-paid posters on the UG.
19. Painstakingly amassing a collection of fight DVDs only for the UFC to give their library away on the Internet for a few dollars a month.
20. Watching a fight with a BJJ blue who tells you every single grappling-related thing an MMA fighter is doing wrong and insists that they could “tap that dude out in a minute.”
21. Watching a fight with a (kick)boxing guy who tells you every single striking-related thing an MMA fighter is doing wrong and insists that they could “knock that dude out in a minute.”
22. When your relatives buy you TapouT merch because you like “that UFC stuff.”
23. “I follow MMA—you know, the UFC.”