If it weren’t for a handful of things, it might actually be possible to have at least a little bit of respect for Bob Arum—at least, that’s what some people would like to believe.
Many point the finger at Arum when it comes to certain things, from the Miguel Cotto-Antonio Margarito rematch happening to Floyd Mayweather-Manny Pacquiao not happening, but then we get to Arum’s thoughts about Mixed Martial Arts.
Arum truly believes that boxing will not be overtaken my MMA in any lifetime, but that just seems to a case of Arum defiantly defending his sport and brainwashing the masses into believing that boxing is still alive and well.
That belief just cannot be justified, and while even yours truly will not deny the long road still ahead for Mixed Martial Arts, let it never be denied that MMA has come a long way in such a long time with zero intentions of slowing down.
Simply put, MMA will overtake boxing and that’s something that Mr. Arum is going to have to live with, but considering his presumed unwillingness to make ends connect and consistently deliver the fights that the fans of his sport would like to see, living with that fact should not be difficult at all.
It is true that the much-anticipated “super-fight,” the collision of UFC Middleweight Champion Anderson SIlva and UFC Welterweight Champion Georges St-Pierre, is not any closer to happening than is Mayweather-Pacquiao.
However, one thing that should have been common knowledge by now about MMA is that MMA is a sport that can survive and flourish without the mind-blowing yet understandably unnecessary super-fight because of the rate at which the sport has evolved and is still evolving.
New fighters are coming up every day, bringing in new styles for fight fans to embrace, and making names for themselves at such a rapid rate that it causes fans to want to see those particular fighter take on more and more of the best fighters in the world until a permanent jump in weight starts to make logical sense.
Furthermore, fans also enjoy not having to deal with anywhere from 12 to 14 different weight classes or four to five guys holding illegitimate championships in various divisions due to equally illegitimate sanctioning bodies in the sport.
Whether it’s DREAM, the UFC, One FC, Strikeforce, Bellator Fighting Championships, King of The Cage, Tachi Palace Fights, Shark Fights or any other organization, fans that follow the sport know that each organization has one true champion in each of the divisions represented in that company, and if Interim Champions exists, those organizations do a spot-on job of ensuring that an undisputed champion emerges.
It may take 10 years or it could take the 20 years, but no matter how long it takes, MMA is not going anywhere until everybody and their mothers recognize that it is a legitimate sport that puts on some of the most legitimate combat sport-based competition that can be found anywhere on this earth.
It encompasses not only every aspect that is supposed to exist physically, mentally and emotionally in fighting, but it also finds ways to introduce fans to the art that is grappling. This means that every polarizing martial art in the world right now is being represented, and over time, the sport will evolve further to include martial-art forms currently not represented in the sport.
It’s fresh, it’s fun, it’s a way of showcasing the martial arts to the current and next generations of our rapidly-evolving society, and Bob Arum is insane for thinking that it will never overtake boxing.
Not only will it overtake boxing within the next decade, as long as MMA is alive and fully supported by the multitudes, boxing will probably be reinvented and re-introduced to the masses after MMA overtakes the sweet science as the most popular combat sport in the world.
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