Tag: Olympics

UFC, Bellator Continue Olympic Fight for Wrestling, Albeit from a Distance

As the September vote for Olympic inclusion nears, all three sports under consideration—baseball/softball, squash and wrestling—are sure to pull out their heavy guns showing how global and progressive they are. Squash has dropped courts in …

As the September vote for Olympic inclusion nears, all three sports under consideration—baseball/softball, squash and wrestling—are sure to pull out their heavy guns showing how global and progressive they are.

Squash has dropped courts in front of some of the world’s greatest tourist attractions to show its portability; softball points toward more global inclusion and baseball mentions large crowds for youth events in Asia; and wrestling has gone back to host events in Ancient Greece, Grand Central Station, Niagara Falls and a massive venue in the American Midwest, all the while playing to its progressive rule changes and ever-growing social media presence.

But the one element baseball may lack—the support of Major League Baseball to suspend its season a la the NHL to let the best players play—is the element of support wrestling has in many ways: the media presence and support of professional Mixed Martial Arts to help propel the message forward.

That many of MMA’s biggest stars come from wrestling backgrounds—wrestlers who competed in the Beijing Games are 36-0 in MMA thus far—is quietly welcomed by wrestling but kept at a distance in most cases. Some members of the International Olympic Committee may feel that MMA, which is a hybrid sport that includes not just wrestling, but other Olympic disciplines like boxing and even tae kwon do in addition to jiu-jitsu, is too violent to be considered for Olympic inclusion.

So wrestling welcomes the support of its former stars on large stages like the UFC and Bellator, but still maintains its neutrality toward overt support from The Octagon.

“It is an interesting mix for wrestling for sure,” said Chris Lencheski, CEO of Comcast-owned Front Row Marketing Services and a longtime Olympic marketer. “Here you have arguably the fastest rising sport that draws a string young male demo in MMA, but it remains a sport that in some cultures is seen as too violent and is not welcomed by many international sport organizations.

“However, if it weren’t for elite wrestling and its stars, MMA may not even exist,” he added. “So wrestling has to enjoy the support that the UFC and Bellator and others have provided but do so quietly and respectfully for all involved, and thus far they seem to be doing it right.”

How fervent has the MMA support for wrestling been? UFC title holder Chris Weidman sports a USA Wrestling tattoo below his shoulder, while many UFC favorites have entered the Octagon wearing “Save Olympic Wrestling” T-shirts. Bellator last week staged a wrestling clinic in New Mexico for hundreds of kids with MMA champion Frank Shamrock leading the way, along with elite wrestlers Joe Warren and Greg Jackson.  

Spike TV, longtime supporter and partner in MMA, first with the UFC and now with Bellator, even went so far as to create a compelling TV spot with a call to action in support of wrestling, using not just elite former wrestlers and MMA stars like Rampage Jackson and Randy Couture, but professional wrestling icon Hulk Hogan and even Indianapolis Colts quarterback Andrew Luck, imploring viewers to take to social media and cast a vote for wrestling going back in the Games.

The spot has been so popular that it is running across a host of Viacom properties in addition to Spike’s MMA and TNA programming.

“I come from Pennsylvania so I get how popular wrestling is and how passionate its followers are because of the life lessons learned in the sport,” Lencheski added. “So the support wrestling is getting, without even asking from its loyal supporters is not surprising. It will be interesting to see where it all goes not just with the vote, but how wrestling, if they do get back in, can use this support to help grow its footprint even more as a brand globally, in addition to the States.”

But for now, wrestling will keep its cards close to its vest and, like the other sports, work the back rooms of the IOC to plead its case quietly and respectfully. Quiet is certainly not a tactic that MMA is usually known for, and its loud support is going to be valuable to wrestling after the vote.

Silent respect and quiet gratitude are more the norm as one of the world’s original, and now progressive, Olympic sports preps for its last hurdle—the September vote in Buenos Aires that could return wrestling front and center to the Games it has been a part of for centuries, with some added marketing mojo now prepped and ready to help even more.

Jerry Milani is a featured columnist at Bleacher Report. All quotes were obtained firsthand unless noted.

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Hope Is Not Lost: IOC Recommends Wrestling for Inclusion in the 2020 Olympic Games


(Photo courtesy of Wrestlingisbest.tumblr)

Not to get your hopes up too much, Nation, but in a vote held yesterday in St. Petersburg, Russia, the IOC (International Olympic Committee) recommended three sports for inclusion in the 2020 Olympic Games: Baseball/Softball, Squash, and Wrestling, the latter of which was unjustly pulled from the games in February. While wrestling finds itself against some stiff competition (in baseball/softball at least, squash is right up there with handball in terms of asinine Olympic sports), this still represents a major hurdle being cleared in the race to save the foundational Olympic sport.

The international governing body (FILA) President, Nenad Lalovic, along with former Olympic wrestlers Jim Scherr (U.S.), Lise Legrand (France), Carol Huynh (Canada), and Daniel Igali (Nigeria) were chosen to plead wrestling’s case to the IOC yesterday. In a pre-written statement, Lalovic continued to push the idea that an MMA-style reformation would successfully draw in a wider audience for the struggling sport, and claimed that it was in fact already underway:

While our place in the Olympic Games is still not guaranteed, this decision recognizes the great lengths to which we are going to reform our sport and address the IOC’s concerns.

At FILA’s recent Extraordinary Congress we enacted a number of rule and governance changes and we hope that our continued efforts will ensure we are successful at the final vote in September. We recognize that there is still a long road ahead but we will continue to work to preserve our place in the Olympic Games. 

The final vote to decide which sport will be included in the 2020 games will be held in Buenos Aries, Argentina in September. In the meantime, we have an obligation, nay, a DUTY to do everything within our power to discredit baseball as a sport. So…PETE ROSE MARK MCGWIRE BARRY BONDS 1919 WORLD SERIES JOSE FUCKING CANSECO.

–J. Jones


(Photo courtesy of Wrestlingisbest.tumblr)

Not to get your hopes up too much, Nation, but in a vote held yesterday in St. Petersburg, Russia, the IOC (International Olympic Committee) recommended three sports for inclusion in the 2020 Olympic Games: Baseball/Softball, Squash, and Wrestling, the latter of which was unjustly pulled from the games in February. While wrestling finds itself against some stiff competition (in baseball/softball at least, squash is right up there with handball in terms of asinine Olympic sports), this still represents a major hurdle being cleared in the race to save the foundational Olympic sport.

The international governing body (FILA) President, Nenad Lalovic, along with former Olympic wrestlers Jim Scherr (U.S.), Lise Legrand (France), Carol Huynh (Canada), and Daniel Igali (Nigeria) were chosen to plead wrestling’s case to the IOC yesterday. In a pre-written statement, Lalovic continued to push the idea that an MMA-style reformation would successfully draw in a wider audience for the struggling sport, and claimed that it was in fact already underway:

While our place in the Olympic Games is still not guaranteed, this decision recognizes the great lengths to which we are going to reform our sport and address the IOC’s concerns.

At FILA’s recent Extraordinary Congress we enacted a number of rule and governance changes and we hope that our continued efforts will ensure we are successful at the final vote in September. We recognize that there is still a long road ahead but we will continue to work to preserve our place in the Olympic Games. 

The final vote to decide which sport will be included in the 2020 games will be held in Buenos Aries, Argentina in September. In the meantime, we have an obligation, nay, a DUTY to do everything within our power to discredit baseball as a sport. So…PETE ROSE MARK MCGWIRE BARRY BONDS 1919 WORLD SERIES JOSE FUCKING CANSECO.

–J. Jones

Is an MMA-Style Transformation the Only Thing That Can Save Wrestling From Its Slow Demise?


(Unfortunately, scribed just below this sculpture were a series of hateful, anonymous comments telling these “pussies” to, among other things, “Quit lay-n-praying and knock a motherfucker out.”) 

Following the sport’s shocking removal from the 2020 Olympic games, the wrestling community has called upon every conceivable resource in an attempt to restore the sport’s reputation amongst casual fans and potentially introduce it to even more. Sadly, us history buffs have thus far failed to sway the group of geniuses who declared handball and all that horse-related bullshit as sports more worthy of our viewership from reverting on their monumental mistake. But now, it appears that the International Federation for Wrestling has decided to follow our beloved sport into the fire in a last ditch attempt to save their own. USA Today has the scoop (via MMAJunkie):

“We have to think about how to make a show because without that today, it’s difficult,” FILA acting president Nenad Lalovic told USA TODAY Sports.

Former world champion Bill Scherr, chairman of the Committee for the Preservation of Olympic Wrestling, has met with UFC chief executive Dana White and Bellator CEO Bjorn Rebney. MMA stars and officials have been very supportive of wrestling’s efforts. Scherr said his sport can learn about presentation from the MMA world. “We need to think about ways to change how the stage is presented,” Scherr said. “They compete in an octagon and we compete on a mat. We don’t have to compete on a mat. We can compete in sand, we can compete in grass and we can compete on a mat or an octagon. I don’t know. We can get survey groups together and see what looks best.”

There you have it, Potato Nation: Goodbye USA Wrestling. Hello SandFC!


(Unfortunately, scribed just below this sculpture were a series of hateful, anonymous comments telling these “pussies” to, among other things, “Quit lay-n-praying and knock a motherfucker out.”) 

Following the sport’s shocking removal from the 2020 Olympic games, the wrestling community has called upon every conceivable resource in an attempt to restore the sport’s reputation amongst casual fans and potentially introduce it to even more. Sadly, us history buffs have thus far failed to sway the group of geniuses who declared handball and all that horse-related bullshit as sports more worthy of our viewership from reverting on their monumental mistake. But now, it appears that the International Federation for Wrestling has decided to follow our beloved sport into the fire in a last ditch attempt to save their own. USA Today has the scoop (via MMAJunkie):

“We have to think about how to make a show because without that today, it’s difficult,” FILA acting president Nenad Lalovic told USA TODAY Sports.

Former world champion Bill Scherr, chairman of the Committee for the Preservation of Olympic Wrestling, has met with UFC chief executive Dana White and Bellator CEO Bjorn Rebney. MMA stars and officials have been very supportive of wrestling’s efforts. Scherr said his sport can learn about presentation from the MMA world. “We need to think about ways to change how the stage is presented,” Scherr said. “They compete in an octagon and we compete on a mat. We don’t have to compete on a mat. We can compete in sand, we can compete in grass and we can compete on a mat or an octagon. I don’t know. We can get survey groups together and see what looks best.”

There you have it, Potato Nation: Goodbye USA Wrestling. Hello SandFC!

Olympic champion Jordan Burroughs has also rallied behind the cause, declaring that “face-offs” could also add to the “showmanship” aspect of the sport, and it is here that we run into the fundamental flaw with this cause. While showmanship has surely been at least partially responsible for the UFC’s rise to greatness, the sport itself is what has kept fans tuning in.

Let’s play the role of “casual fan” for a minute (*chugs three Red Bull & Vodkas, paints “Just Bleed” on chest*). Wrestling is without a doubt the most despised and ridiculed aspect in all of mixed martial arts, often reduced to such phrases as “lay-n-pray,” “wall-n-stall,” and “guys rolling around like homosexuals on the ground.” The bar for what constitutes violence worthy of our attention has simply been raised too high, dammit (*directs you to the Mexican cartel decapitation video*) and MMA is partially to blame. Does anyone think splitting wrestler’s singlets into three-pieces, holding staged weigh-ins, or changing the surface upon which they battle will do anything to alter the public’s perception of the sport in general? Believe us, there is nothing more disheartening than watching two guys put on a subpar grappling display in someone’s lawn.

To switch back to the role of us “learned fans,” it’s hard to deny that the sport is in need of some vamping up if it hopes to bring back the audience it once had, and turning to the UFC/Bellator for advice is better than simply doing nothing in this regard (although Bjorn’s advice that all future wrestling events be held on Indian reservations seemed a little outlandish). Like Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, if you are not familiar with the intricacies of wrestling, it can often make for a pretty tepid viewing experience. The UFC, however, has been able to both successfully enlighten fans to this discipline and educate them on said intricacies while simultaneously entertaining them. Hell, it was *the* reason the promotion was created in the first place, so who better to help the sport of wrestling rise from its own ashes?

The question now becomes: What else can wrestling do to stir up a similar interest level?

All of these issues will hopefully be addressed on May 29th in St. Petersburg, Russia, when the sport’s possible inclusion in the 2020 games is reviewed by the IOC. After wrestling (and seven other sports also recently cut from the Olympics) makes its case, the board is expected to recommend three sports for inclusion, with the final decision being handed down in September.

Additionally, FILA is planning to move forward with several proposed changes to the sport that go beyond the surface level:

“We have to make the sport more watchable and understandable for fans, otherwise we cannot acquire more fans,” Lalovic said.

Lalovic also said the sport will add two weight classes in women’s wrestling and eliminate one each in men’s freestyle and Greco-Roman. Each discipline will have six weight classes. 

“And if that doesn’t work out,” Lalovic later added in a fake interview, “We’re booking Canseco vs. O’Neal in a levitation chamber, because society is f*cking disintegrating.”

–J. Jones

The IOC Is Stupid, And So Is HandBall: 10 Olympic Sports to Drop Instead of Wrestling

As you all no doubt have heard, the International Olympic Committee has decreed that wrestling is no longer worthy of a place in the Summer Games, in order to make way for other, more lucrative events. I tell you now that this decision is the worst kind of folly, made for the worst reasons possible. I won’t rail about the corruption in the IOC, or the nepotism and naked commercialism that seems to hold sway in any of their decisions. I will point out that kicking wrestling out of the Olympics does seem rather…historically disconnected.

On the other hand, it’s possible that this is only a con from the IOC in order to drum up support (read: money) to get wrestling back into the Olympic arena where it belongs.

In any case, here is a list of ten sports that should be rightly removed from the Games, even if we weren’t talking about making room for an original Olympic event. Let’s just cut all this extra fat, and strip the Olympics down to the more raw athletic events. (And gymnastics. You have to keep gymnastics.)

The Modern Pentathlon

This was the ass-backwards event that everyone with a brain in their head assumed would get the axe, for two reasons. First, it’s an oddball series of activities based on an archaic skill set — cavalry officers still ride horses? — that is no longer relevant. Second, it’s redundant: Take this away, and athletes could still do the triathlon. Or the decathlon. Or just, you know, pick an event instead of being a scatterbrained dipshit.

Table Tennis

As you all no doubt have heard, the International Olympic Committee has decreed that wrestling is no longer worthy of a place in the Summer Games, in order to make way for other, more lucrative events. I tell you now that this decision is the worst kind of folly, made for the worst reasons possible. I won’t rail about the corruption in the IOC, or the nepotism and naked commercialism that seems to hold sway in any of their decisions. I will point out that kicking wrestling out of the Olympics does seem rather…historically disconnected.

On the other hand, it’s possible that this is only a con from the IOC in order to drum up support (read: money) to get wrestling back into the Olympic arena where it belongs.

In any case, here is a list of ten sports that should be rightly removed from the Games, even if we weren’t talking about making room for an original Olympic event. Let’s just cut all this extra fat, and strip the Olympics down to the more raw athletic events. (And gymnastics. You have to keep gymnastics.)

The Modern Pentathlon

This was the ass-backwards event that everyone with a brain in their head assumed would get the axe, for two reasons. First, it’s an oddball series of activities based on an archaic skill set — cavalry officers still ride horses? — that is no longer relevant. Second, it’s redundant: Take this away, and athletes could still do the triathlon. Or the decathlon. Or just, you know, pick an event instead of being a scatterbrained dipshit.

Table Tennis

First of all: It’s fucking ping pong. You want to get pissy because your “sport” doesn’t sound butch enough? I’m not entirely sure that “table tennis” is upping the intimidation factor, broseph. Secondly, dude, do you really need a sweatband to play? I understand that it takes laser-tuned hand-eye coordination and twitch reflexes, but you’re not fooling anyone into thinking you’re an elite athlete. It doesn’t work for pro HALO players, it won’t work for you.

Handball

This is actually an Olympic event? This is a game that is supposed to be played in the streets, across back yards, where bushes and cars are significant obstacles, with an object that need only be vaguely ball-like. I’m saying it’s a children’s game. We cannot continue to encourage these simpletons by allowing them to play soccer with their hands. They need to grow up and pick a real sport or come to terms with their own athletic failings.

Basketball

Basketball will never go away from the Olympics; I know that, it just generates too much revenue. But we already have an Olympic basketball organization, it’s called the NBA. (Stay gold, Sodak.)

Golf

The IOC looks to pick up golf in 2016, and these are the kinds of highlights you can look forward to. Joy? Look, as a game, golf should be played and not seen. Hell, most people can’t play golf without getting halfway-lit first, so that wandering around searching for a little white ball in the expanses of groomed wilderness and man-made constructs doesn’t become a depressing metaphor for their own accomplishments in life. If you actually seek out golf on television to watch, you are a boring human being, and no, I do not want to look at your coin collection.

On the next page: Field hockey, badminton, and all horse-related bullshit.

Gather Your Torches and Pitchforks: Wrestling Dropped as an Olympic Sport in 2020 Games

(Jordan Burroughs defeats Sadegh Saeed Goudarzi of Iran to become the 2012 Olympic champion at 74 kilos.)

In an utterly baffling move, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has decided to drop the sport of wrestling, a.k.a the reason the Olympics even exist, as of the 2020 games. The Associated Press reports:

The IOC program commission report analyzed more than three dozen criteria, including television ratings, ticket sales, anti-doping policy and global participation and popularity. With no official rankings or recommendations contained in the report, the final decision by the 15-member board was also subject to political, emotional and sentimental factors. 

The IOC, however, did decide in its infinite wisdom to keep the modern pentathlon, a sport which combines pistol shooting, fencing, riding a horse and some other crap. Forgive my facetiousness, but I fail to see how a sport that managed to bring in athletes from just 26 different countries last year has somehow been deemed more important than one that brought in athletes from 71. And oh yeah, golf will be added as an Olympic sport in 2016.

Yup. Golf.


(Jordan Burroughs defeats Sadegh Saeed Goudarzi of Iran to become the 2012 Olympic champion at 74 kilos.)

In an utterly baffling move, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has decided to drop the sport of wrestling, a.k.a the reason the Olympics even exist, as of the 2020 games. The Associated Press reports:

The IOC program commission report analyzed more than three dozen criteria, including television ratings, ticket sales, anti-doping policy and global participation and popularity. With no official rankings or recommendations contained in the report, the final decision by the 15-member board was also subject to political, emotional and sentimental factors. 

The IOC, however, did decide in its infinite wisdom to keep the modern pentathlon, a sport which combines pistol shooting, fencing, riding a horse and some other crap. Forgive my facetiousness, but I fail to see how a sport that managed to bring in athletes from just 26 different countries last year has somehow been deemed more important than one that brought in athletes from 71. And oh yeah, golf will be added as an Olympic sport in 2016.

Yup. Golf.

So let’s get this straight – TV ratings, ticket sales and global participation are determining factors in what sports to keep, yet the so-called “modern” pentathlon is in. Where, you may ask, did the idea to create a sport where shooting, fencing, horse riding, swimming and running are put together come from? The AP has the simple answer.

In addition to being wildly popular the world over, these are “the five skills required of a 19th century cavalry officer.”

Timely.

We’re assuming that the “political, emotional and sentimental factors” alluded to by the AP report could not possibly include bribery in the form of cash, trips and favors from interest groups to IOC members because they’ve never been involved in that sort of thing. Oh wait, my mistake. The IOC takes bribes all the time.

We guess wrestling officials should have offered the IOC something a little more exclusive than an all expenses paid trip to Sandals Jamaica.

Wrestling will now join sports like wake boarding and squash in vying for a single spot in the 2020 Olympics. That’s like telling the founder, owner and CEO of a company to reapply for his or her own job. You know, if they had been at that job for a couple thousand years.

If this decision sticks, MMA will truly turn into the only place for high-level wrestlers to go after devoting their lives to learning it (well, other than this noise). One can only imagine the negative effects wrestling’s absence in the Olympic Games will have on the college programs that are already beleaguered and diminishing.

All that remains to be seen. What this writer does know is that he won’t be tuning in to watch any of the games during the summer of 2020 given this blasphemous decision. I don’t care how cute the (of age) gymnasts are. That’s what GIFs are for, anyway.

– Elias Cepeda

Wrestling Cut from Olympics: Twitter Reactions from MMA World

Wrestling has been a cornerstone event in the Olympics for literally thousands of years. That made it all the more surprising that it was suddenly, and unceremoniously cut from the 2020 Olympic Games. MMA, as everyone likely knows, has maintained a clo…

Wrestling has been a cornerstone event in the Olympics for literally thousands of years. That made it all the more surprising that it was suddenly, and unceremoniously cut from the 2020 Olympic Games.

MMA, as everyone likely knows, has maintained a close tie to the sport, and has seen more than a few athletes jump over and have great success. Naturally, reactions from mixed martial artists were swift and unanimously negative to the news. So what are fighters, journalists and Olympians saying about the news?

Bellator welterweight champion Ben Askren, who competed in the 2008 Olympic Games, is dumbstruck by the news:

Silver medalist from the 2004 Games, and fast-rising mixed martial artist Sara McMann did not like the news one bit:

UFC lightweight champion Benson Henderson and light heavyweight champion Jon Jones expressed the same sentiment:

Aaron Simpson posted this, and unloaded a series of links and retweets on saving wrestling in the Olympics:

Former light heavyweight champion Lyoto Machida voiced his support:

Former welterweight champion and famed coach Pat Miletich was beside himself over the news (and Hall of Famer Matt Hughes gave him a retweet):

Lightweight grinder Gray Maynard was as displeased as anyone:

TUF16 winner Colton Smith said basically what all of us were thinking:

Shane Roller and Johnny Bedford chimed in:

Stay tuned with Bleacher/Report for more reactions and interviews surrounding this development.

UPDATE

As the day wore on, more and more fighters chimed in, including other Olympians. Ronda Rousey, who won a bronze medal in Judo said:

Mark Coleman, who competed in the 1992 Games in Barcelona, said:

Dan Henderson, who competed in the 1992 and 1996 Olympic Games spoke out during a UFC 157 conference call earlier today:

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