MMA fans bitch about it on Twitter more than anything else — more than Mike Goldberg’s weird syntax, more than Joe Rogan constantly favoring one fighter over another, and even more than the dreaded Eminem Curse.
As soon as the first drunk bellows a “U” the MMA hivemind gets to work, and theircomplaintsflood the web as soon as the “S” and “A” are vocalized.
MMA fans bitch about it on Twitter more than anything else — more than Mike Goldberg’s weird syntax, more than Joe Rogan constantly favoring one fighter over another, and even more than the dreaded Eminem Curse.
As soon as the first drunk bellows a “U” the MMA hivemind gets to work, and theircomplaintsflood the web as soon as the “S” and “A” are vocalized.
Please just think about how ridiculous of a thing this is to get upset about. To put it into perspective, more fans and pundits get upset about the U-S-A chants than got upset about a leaked memo confirming that the travelling media were Zuffa’s PR team rather than actual journalists. But no, shilling for Zuffa is OK, so long as they don’t chant “U-S-A” while doing it.
What’s even worse about the U-S-A chant backlash is that the same people who bash the chant are silent when hordes of angry Brazilians start chanting “You’re gonna die” at foreign fighters.
It’s OK — or “cultural” — when thousands of people chant for a fighter’s death, but it’s somehow a heinous crime against multiculturalism when fans utter the three simple letters, U, S, and A.
This is unacceptable. American fans, like the Brazilian fans who are supposedly doing nothing wrong, use the chant to support a countryman. It’s a gesture of unity, and it can be a very powerful one. There’s no need to be mad when you hear it, especially when there are thousands more problems in the sport to be mad about. The chant is fine, so back off.
And one more thing: Put down those foreign flags, you goddamned traitors.
A couple of videos came to our attention today, both of them shot by MMA fans whose devotion to cage-fighting has begun to bleed into their surroundings. One is high-budget, one is low-budget, but they’re both — in their own special ways — kind of creepy. (We’ll let you decide which obsessed fan is scarier in the comments section.)
First up, the “Cave of MMAn” featured above, in which a longtime Ultimate Fighting mark shows off what has to be the most elaborate UFC fandom HQ ever built on a private residence. You will see…
– A Star Wars-style text-crawl intro, letting us know that we’re about to enter some serious geek territory.
– A chain-link Octagon, which doubles as an outdoor deck, an Octagon-themed bar (“The Octobar”), and a Octagan-themed coffee table.
– An entry portal that features TapouT decals on glass and a gloved fist punching through the side of the house.
– The phrases “NEVER LEAVE IT IN THE HANDS OF THE JUDGES” and “AS REAL AS IT GETS” stenciled near the ceiling.
– An actual Octagon canvas on the floor, which appears to be the real deal, judging by the visible blood-stains.
A couple of videos came to our attention today, both of them shot by MMA fans whose devotion to cage-fighting has begun to bleed into their surroundings. One is high-budget, one is low-budget, but they’re both — in their own special ways — kind of creepy. (We’ll let you decide which obsessed fan is scarier in the comments section.)
First up, the “Cave of MMAn” featured above, in which a longtime Ultimate Fighting mark shows off what has to be the most elaborate UFC fandom HQ ever built on a private residence. You will see…
– A Star Wars-style text-crawl intro, letting us know that we’re about to enter some serious geek territory.
– A chain-link Octagon, which doubles as an outdoor deck, an Octagon-themed bar (“The Octobar”), and a Octagan-themed coffee table.
– An entry portal that features TapouT decals on glass and a gloved fist punching through the side of the house.
– The phrases “NEVER LEAVE IT IN THE HANDS OF THE JUDGES” and “AS REAL AS IT GETS” stenciled near the ceiling.
– An actual Octagon canvas on the floor, which appears to be the real deal, judging by the visible blood-stains.
– UFC action figures — perhaps every one that’s ever been produced — hanging on the walls, along with framed event posters and other assorted memorabilia, much of it autographed.
– A separate corner devoted to Arianny and Brittney, particularly their Playboy appearances.
– A Brian Ebersole fight playing on the TV. Jesus, this guy really is a hardcore fan.
– An end-credits shout out to “Bonnie, for just letting me do my thing.” #adorbz
So yeah, this one’s a little more rustic. You can tell that Terry has less resources than MMAn Cave Guy, but his obsession is far more focused. And his Diaz Fight Barn really covers all the bases. It features…
– The phrase “WAR DIAZ” carved into a spray-painted wooden plank.
– A torn-up speed-bag, and a heavy-bag in pretty good shape.
– Some anti-Dana White fan art.
– Every page of every magazine article ever published about each Diaz brother, taped onto the walls. (“That’s how I fucks with them, homey, you know, all day. Got Nate Diaz givin’ Sirone [sic] a shot fuckin’ rieet in the jah, there, oof. Pretty.”)
– A weight-bench set-up. The narrator immediately declares “fuck that thing.”
So, clearly the first guy wins in terms of quantity/quality of his items, and time spent on his obsession. But answer me this — who would you rather sit next to at a WAR MMA show?
Perhaps the greatest aspect of being a celebrity — you know, other than the money, women, coke parties, etc. — is the ability to profoundly impact a fan’s life with the simplest of gestures. Take UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva, for instance, who recently surprised a twelve year-old Jiu-Jitsu practitioner and Silva megafan suffering from Epiphysiolysis (the loosening or separation, either partial or complete, of an epiphysis from the shaft of a bone) in a Brazilian hospital.
The fan’s name is Joao Pedro; he has been wheelchair bound for 9 months and has already undergone two surgeries in an attempt to combat his condition. Despite this, doctors are still unsure if he will ever walk again. However, after Joao found out that his doctor also catered to the likes of Silva and Antonio Rogerio Nogueira (who probably financed the guy’s second and third houses over the years), Pedro requested an autograph from the pound-for-pound great. Being the stand up guy that Anderson is, he decided to step it up a notch and show up in person with an armful of autographed gifts for the little dude.
The heartwarming video and transcription are after the jump.
Perhaps the greatest aspect of being a celebrity — you know, other than the money, women, coke parties, etc. — is the ability to profoundly impact a fan’s life with the simplest of gestures. Take UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva, for instance, who recently surprised a twelve year-old Jiu-Jitsu practitioner and Silva megafan suffering from Epiphysiolysis (the loosening or separation, either partial or complete, of an epiphysis from the shaft of a bone) in a Brazilian hospital.
The fan’s name is Joao Pedro; he has been wheelchair bound for 9 months and has already undergone two surgeries in an attempt to combat his condition. Despite this, doctors are still unsure if he will ever walk again. However, after Joao found out that his doctor also catered to the likes of Silva and Antonio Rogerio Nogueira (who probably financed the guy’s second and third houses over the years), Pedro requested an autograph from the pound-for-pound great. Being the stand up guy that Anderson is, he decided to step it up a notch and show up in person with an armful of autographed gifts for the little dude.
The heartwarming video and transcription are below.
Here’s a transcription of what Andy said to Joao (via MMAMania):
What’s up, brother? Don’t cry, come here and give me a hug. Don’t cry, is everything fine? You want to get well soon! Give me a hug, give me a hug, a really strong one. Let’s get well, let’s get well. Let’s take a picture. Look what I brought for you, signed glove, this is for you. Look, let me tell you something. You’re going to have to do something really important for all of us. Give all you got. Give 100 percent effort so you can get well really quick because Minotauro also had the same problem and he’s fighting again, you know what I mean? So you got to give it all you got, ok? I talked to the doctor to talk to Dr. Angela, who was taking care of Minotauro, so she can help you out also so you can go back to training as soon as possible, okay?
I’m the one thankful for being here. Let’s get well. No crying, be happy. Let’s get well so we can train. Do you promise me that? That’s a deal. Let’s roll when you get well … but don’t choke the old man.
Word has it that once the camera turned off, Silva and Pedro spent the next half hour one-upping each other with “Chael Sonnen’s momma” jokes. A happy ending indeed.
As a quick perusal over the average forum, message board, or comments section on a given CagePotato, MMAMania, BloodyElbow, etc. article will show you, most fans of this thing called MMA would like to think that, on the off chance they were dropped into a random group of their peers and asked to debate various MMA-related issues, they would surely come out the victor. Hence our frequent inability to both see or respect another person’s argument on a given subject, admit in the slightest that we could be wrong, or realize that there might be no right answer to begin with (we’re looking at you, Nippletwist).
However, it would be fairly easy for anyone of us to notice a direct correlation between the increased awareness/popularity of MMA and an increased understanding of the sport by the average person. It only makes sense; with information regarding everything from various techniques used by certain fighters to the long-term effects of the sport on the human body being made more available by the day, the opportunities for fans to elevate their knowledge in regards to the sport are seemingly endless. Even if you aren’t a fan, all you have to do is go channel surfing for about thirty seconds these days to find something MMA-related to absorb.
But let’s be honest, we are still a long way from the universal acknowledgement, not to mention acceptance, of MMA. Go ahead; ask the three nearest people to you at the office what their opinion is on MMA legalization in your state. Make sure not to mention the phrase “UFC” in any way, shape, or form while doing so. Prepare yourself, for you are about to stare deep into the vacant, soulless eyes of someone who hasn’t the slightest clue what the hell you’re talking about. Creepy, isn’t it?
(Based on this, we’re gonna say…maybe?)
As a quick perusal over the average forum, message board, or comments section on a given CagePotato, MMAMania, BloodyElbow, etc. article will show you, most fans of this thing called MMA would like to think that, on the off chance they were dropped into a random group of their peers and asked to debate various MMA-related issues, they would surely come out the victor. Hence our frequent inability to both see or respect another person’s argument on a given subject, admit in the slightest that we could be wrong, or realize that there might be no right answer to begin with (we’re looking at you, Nippletwist).
However, it would be fairly easy for anyone of us to notice a direct correlation between the increased awareness/popularity of MMA and an increased understanding of the sport by the average person. It only makes sense; with information regarding everything from various techniques used by certain fighters to the long-term effects of the sport on the human body being made more available by the day, the opportunities for fans to elevate their knowledge in regards to the sport are seemingly endless. Even if you aren’t a fan, all you have to do is go channel surfing for about thirty seconds these days to find something MMA-related to absorb.
But let’s be honest, we are still a long way from the universal acknowledgement, not to mention acceptance, of MMA. Go ahead; ask the three nearest people to you at the office what their opinion is on MMA legalization in your state. Make sure not to mention the phrase “UFC” in any way, shape, or form while doing so. Prepare yourself, for you are about to stare deep into the vacant, soulless eyes of someone who hasn’t the slightest clue what the hell you’re talking about. Creepy, isn’t it?
And although MMA is still miles behind that of its professional sports counterparts in terms of awareness, it is has begun to attract a whole new type of audience — a more diverse, famous, and dare we say informed audience — that seeks to shed the stereotypical image of MMA fans worldwide as personified by the “Just Bleed” guy. This will probably be the first and last time we ever say this, but if you want an example of an educated, enthusiastic audience, look no further than Canada. This may be painting with too large a brush, but in recent years, there has not been an audience that even comes close to matching Canada when dealing with the intricacies of the sport. Ground transitions, stuffed takedowns, and submission attempts are often treated with the enthusiasm and applause of ten punch combos and wheel kicks in other venues, and truly show how far the MMA fan has come in just a few short years. This observation has been duly noted on several occasions by UFC commentators Joe Rogan and Mike Goldberg.
But for every Canadian card, there are two or three cards/venues that make us reconsider how in touch with the underlying discipline, honor, and integrity of the sport fans actually are. Where some audiences applaud the ground aspects of MMA, others relentlessly boo and mock fighters for even considering taking the action there, to the point that it often has an influence on the referee’s decision to stand up fighters for a “lack of action.”
The same can be said about fighters who follow a succinct gameplan; just look at how Carlos Condit was eviscerated for his performance against Nick Diaz as an example of this. In one relatively lackluster fight, Condit’s reputation went from the “Natural Born Killer” to the “Natural Born Runner” amongst many fans, simply because he utilized an effective, albeit unspectacular, strategy against a nearly impossible to finish opponent. Then again, Condit’s gameplan was pretty much a cookie-cutter representation of the “always play it safe” mentality that Team Jackson has nearly patented by this point, which could have been enough in and of itself to earn such ire.
There are an endless number of factors that determine how an audience will react on a given night (fight quality, matchups, and amount of alcohol consumed to name a few), but suffice it to say, as MMA has become more popular, the larger audience it has drawn in has both its upsides and its pratfalls. MMA popularity has, whether directly or indirectly, stirred up a mentality that anyone can become a full-fledged martial artist if they own a Body by Jake and practice Chuck Liddell’s moves from the UFC 52 DVD they own “like a hundred times, bro!” on the heavy bag. This is more a reflection of our society’s long-running tendency to mimic what we see on TV than anything else, but let’s face it, human stupidity will never run out of things to exploit. MMA has also been tied in, often out of ignorance or a hidden agenda, with despicable acts of violence by such anti-MMA organizations as The Culinary Union and unfitforchildren, leading many casual audiences and former New York Assemblymen to believe that the furthering of MMA will come hand-in-hand with a general acceptance of violence.
So with that in mind, we figured we would host a good old fashioned CagePotato Open Discussion. The question: Do you think the evolution of mixed martial arts can be reflected in its fanbase? Or is the popularity of the sport actually diluting the intelligence of the average audience member?
It is not a question that can be easily answered given the ever-changing landscape of both the sport and its fans, but what you really have to ask yourself is whether or not the new breed of fans that have hopped on the bandwagon in the past few years are helping improve the sport’s image or destroy it.
Look, we appreciate this guy’s passion. And sure, we’ve seen worse MMA-fan tattoos. I’m just saying, think of how this ink-piece might appear to the vast majority of humanity who isn’t aware of Nick Diaz’s legendary gogoplata victory over Takanori Gomi at PRIDE 33. To them, it just looks like one dude in shorts blowing another dude on his back, and it’s right there on your chest, forever. Wouldn’t a cool t-shirt have been a wiser choice? At least that way you can take it off when you discover someone else to idolize in five years.
Have I just grown too cynical? Is this Nick Diaz tattoo not the most regrettable thing you’ve seen all week?
Look, we appreciate this guy’s passion. And sure, we’ve seen worse MMA-fan tattoos. I’m just saying, think of how this ink-piece might appear to the vast majority of humanity who isn’t aware of Nick Diaz’s legendary gogoplata victory over Takanori Gomi at PRIDE 33. To them, it just looks like one dude in shorts blowing another dude on his back, and it’s right there on your chest, forever. Wouldn’t a cool t-shirt have been a wiser choice? At least that way you can take it off when you discover someone else to idolize in five years.
Have I just grown too cynical? Is this Nick Diaz tattoo not the most regrettable thing you’ve seen all week?
As if the mutants at the ‘UFC on FOX’ press conference in Los Angeles weren’t scary enough, last month’s UFC 140: Jones vs. Machida presser at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto proved to be another example of why the fan-question portion of these things should probably be eliminated. First of all, it’s Keith Kizer, not Steve Kizer. And whether Kizer and Steve Mazzagatti are lovers is really nobody’s business except their own.
The next fan asks Dana if Jon Jones would be getting a superfight with Anderson Silva after he gets through Lyoto Machida — while Machida is right there in the room with him. Christ, just because Lyoto doesn’t speak English that well doesn’t mean he can’t hear it. Closing out the segment, the third question is about Steven Seagal, and the last one is a guy begging for an internship. And you know there was some goof in line for the mic who went home pissed off because he couldn’t ask Dana who he thought would win in a fight between Alistair Overeem and Grand Gigas Malus. Step it up, guys.
As if the mutants at the ‘UFC on FOX’ press conference in Los Angeles weren’t scary enough, last month’s UFC 140: Jones vs. Machida presser at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto proved to be another example of why the fan-question portion of these things should probably be eliminated. First of all, it’s Keith Kizer, not Steve Kizer. And whether Kizer and Steve Mazzagatti are lovers is really nobody’s business except their own.
The next fan asks Dana if Jon Jones would be getting a superfight with Anderson Silva after he gets through Lyoto Machida — while Machida is right there in the room with him. Christ, just because Lyoto doesn’t speak English that well doesn’t mean he can’t hear it. Closing out the segment, the third question is about Steven Seagal, and the last one is a guy begging for an internship. And you know there was some goof in line for the mic who went home pissed off because he couldn’t ask Dana who he thought would win in a fight between Alistair Overeem and Grand Gigas Malus. Step it up, guys.
