Author: Joe Chacon

MMA fighters carry themselves with such a great deal of pride that one would think most of them would jump at the chance to represent their country in the Olympics.

Think of the captivating scene as Jon Jones enters the cage with his USA shorts. Standing across from Jones with the flag of the Netherlands on his trunks is Gegard Mousasi.

Fans would see matchups they may not otherwise see, and the world would get a glimpse into the sport that many of us have fallen in love with over the last two decades.

Are you excited about MMA in the Olympics?

Well, don’t get your hopes up because it will never work.

The most comparable sport to MMA currently in the Olympics is boxing. Even that is a reach.

Boxing works because the judges are able to give points for successful strikes. The fighter with the most points (unless it is decided by knockout) wins the fight.

In MMA there are too many variables that determine the outcome of a fight. Most of the action that takes place inside the cage can’t be scored. This is one reason why we see so many bad decisions year-in and year-out.

It has been proven that MMA is a safer sport than boxing. That does not hold true in the Olympic format, however. Boxers wear headgear for Olympic bouts and most of the fights go the distance and are decided by points.

While headgear is worn in various MMA promotions throughout the country, it changes certain aspects of the ground game. So much so that most professional fighters would not want to wear it.

At the end of each UFC fight, fighters are automatically suspended for 14 days due to precautionary reasons. It would be irresponsible for the Olympic Committee to expect an MMA fighter to take on more than one fight within a two-week span.

Given the pace of the Olympics and depending on how many MMA participants are involved, there would not be enough recovery time between fights to complete any sort of Olympic format.

The sport of MMA has developed dramatically over the last 10 years, but there isn’t great competition in every part of the world. If MMA were to be an Olympic sport we would potentially see very one-sided matchups that may be dangerous for certain fighters.

Perhaps the biggest reason MMA in the Olympics will never happen is because the world’s best MMA fighters are not going to detour from their professional careers to train for a series of fights that won’t pay them anything.

It’s not just the fights at the Olympic games. These fighters would also have to qualify for the Olympics through tournaments just like the other sports, which would take even more time away from their paying jobs.

The thought of MMA in the Olympics is exciting, but the execution of it so difficult that it will never come to fruition.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

“MMA is too dangerous”

“All that blood is disgusting”

“How do you watch this?”

“Do they always just roll around on the ground like that?”

As somebody who is continuously immersed in the MMA world, I am often taken back by somebody who can’t see the beauty in the sport. How can they not be just as excited as I am when the UFC intro song is blasting right before an event?

More often than not, the reason people who don’t “get” MMA is because they don’t take the time to understand the sport. Instead they rely on perceptions that dominated the early years of MMA.

Or is it more than that? Are you and I so enclosed in an MMA bubble that our perception of the sport is skewed?

I suppose it happens with every other sport. I can’t count how many times I’ve heard somebody say they only like watching hockey or baseball in person but can’t stand it on TV.

If you’re one of those people then perhaps you are just as guilty as an MMA fan who says they don’t know why you like to watch guys beat the crap out of each other.

Think back to when you were first introduced to the sport. You probably didn’t fully understand things like side-control, DA’rce choke, and an omoplata.

Chances are when Joe Rogan freaked out about something you didn’t understand why he was so excited. Well, I think some of us still struggle with that at times.

As fans of the sport we understand what’s going on, but we often make the mistake of believing the rest of society understands the sport as well as we do. The fact of the matter is most of the world still sees MMA as bunch of guys brawling in a cage.

Those who oppose the sport due to its violent nature haven’t stepped foot into a facility such as a UFC Gym and witnessed children training MMA. They haven’t seen the mutual respect that most fighters have for each other at the conclusion of each fight.

Unfortunately, our perception of the sport is such that we think everyone is jumping on board. We believe the sport has reached such a mainstream point that we are surprised when somebody hasn’t heard of Frank Mir or Junior dos Santos.

If one were to go ask ten random people who Chael Sonnen is, how many of those 10 do you think would recognize the name? I would say maybe one.

Living inside the bubble of MMA isn’t all that bad, but we do need to recognize that our perception of the sport is not necessarily reality.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

Competition naturally brings out the best in the competing participants. Remember when sports video games had more than one company (Electronic Arts) producing the majority of the games? There was innovation, and price wars between the competitors.

The competition amongst professional sports organizations doesn’t always result in a better experience for the consumer. Who can forget when Vince McMahon promoted the XFL as a serious competitor to the NFL?

The XFL had some good ideas (no fair catches on punts) to go along with a few really bad ones (scramble for the ball instead of a coin flip). The league did help begin a new standard of camera angles for the viewer. 

I suppose the XFL did help in one way. The wire cam that we are all accustomed to now wasn’t mainstream until it was used for the XFL.

What would happen if another MMA organization gained traction and started to catch up to the popularity of the UFC? Well, eventually ZUFFA would purchase the competing promotion and then completely neglect to improve it (cough, Strikeforce, cough).

For the sake of argument, let’s assume a UFC competitor wouldn’t be purchased by ZUFFA. That would do nothing but good for the exposure of MMA and the UFC would reap those benefits, right?

No, not in this case.

Dana White believes one of the major reasons boxing has lost fans over the years is because there are so many promotions with numerous championships that fans never know who the true title holder is. He believes MMA should be like other professional sports with regard to there being one true champion.

In the NFL, the Super Bowl winner is assumed to be the best team in the world. Same thing goes for the NBA and Major League Baseball. That’s why the teams in their respective leagues are crowned “World Champions.”

A competing brand to the UFC would not help Dana and Co. on any level. There is a reason they purchase the competition. Imagine if an up and coming MMA promotion allowed it’s fighters to form a fighters union, recruited UFC stars who are nearing the end of their contract, and only charge the consumer $29.99 for a pay-per-view event.

If that same promotion was able to get a SpikeTV/NBC Sports (formerly Versus) contract, it might be something fans start to pay attention to.

Is there even a need for something to compete with the UFC? I don’t think so. Sure, it would be nice to see the pay-per-views drop in price. Although it looks like nearly 70% of you are stealing the fights anyways.

The UFC produces the highest quality MMA cards on a regular basis. A competing organization would not help the UFC, but rather frustrate fans with the potential of seeing another belt that could not be unified between two separate organizations.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com