For most fans, there are two sides to the MMA: There’s the sport side, and there’s the business side.
The people who favor the philosophy behind MMA being considered a sport, are generally seen as people who care just a little bit more about the warrior spirit of a fighter inside the cage. They honestly do not pay a lot of attention to the outside forces that add to the hype of a fight. The only exception is the event of one’s background playing some sort of role in the fighting style of a certain Mixed Martial Artist.
The people who favor the philosophy behind the “hurt business”, are generally seen as people who look at the more corporate aspects of MMA, such as: The buy-rates of each PPV, the worth of fighters as far as what they’re getting paid, the type of numbers that certain fighters draw and above everything else—all the little things that are incorporated into the promotion of a fight.
Most people might think of the promotion aspect as the process most commonly connected with the business side of MMA, and to its credit—the business side is doing its best to end the “sport vs. spectacle” debate.
However, the most commonly debated aspect of this generation in MMA is the WWE staple of brash, original and hard-hitting trash talk that often adds to the hype and the promotion of a fight card—which is good because it makes people want to see the card more. They have also made fans pay their money to see some trash talkers in action, regardless of whether the fans want to see them win or lose.
It’s good that some guys build a reputation off of their words, but the over-the-top WWE-style of trash talk, while original, might not be as good for the sport of MMA as much as it is good for the business of MMA.
As a matter of fact, one might question if the constant trash talk adds a bunch of fluffed-up hype in order to distracts us from how completely one-sided some bouts are.
Truthfully, some fights can deliver with the right amount of trash talk. But more often than not, people try to say over-the-top things to the media just because it’s their job to let the public know that there is a fight card on an upcoming Saturday night—or whatever night the card is on for the public to see.
Sure, it makes people think that one guy might finish the other inside the cage. But sometimes, all some people really need to know is who can fight, and who’s just there to fill out a card.
As far as the references that make it up—leave that to the WWE folks themselves.
That product, while legendary in itself given its longevity in many global markets, likes to push envelopes and entertain fans by delivering on some heavy talking in order to draw people into their mostly-scripted confrontations (though some of those superstars really do not like each other backstage).
The WWE can feel free to cross lines, push buttons and get people talking with promo after promo.
As long as two guys are stepping inside the cage on any given night and preparing to deliver some sort of action, we can live with just hearing two guys saying they’ll hurt the other dude worse than he’s ever been hurt before—whether physically or mentally.
The sport of MMA might be able to do without it more often than not, but as it has achieved enough success to the point of keeping the business side booming—the trash-talking aspect of MMA is arguably a trend that won’t likely fade anytime in the near future.
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