Total-MMA.com

by Lee Casebolt

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This is not a new rant.  I was perusing the Sherdog database a few weeks ago and came across an ad for an upcoming event from the “Xtreme Fighting Association”.  I was torn between my dismay at the death of literacy in America (even ECW could spell “Extreme” properly) and my interest in the main event of Mike Whitehead vs Vernon White.  Neither man is going to be frightening Quinton Jackson any time soon, but both are talented, veteran light heavyweights with versatile skills.  A fine main event for a fledgling promotion, I thought. 

A little investigation at the XFA website indicated I had no idea who the rest of the fighters on the card were.  Not unusual for smaller cards or newer promotions.  In this time of extraordinary growth, MMA is getting harder and harder to keep up with.  Of course, that wasn’t why I don’t know any of these fighters.

 I don’t know any of these fighters because I don’t follow kickboxing.  Despite being initially described as a “mixed martial arts company,” XFA rules forbid grappling or ground fighting.  And the XFA is not alone.  The “K” in K-1 was selected to stand for the K’s in karate, kickboxing, kung fu, tae kwon do, and kaktukogi; K-1 events were supposed to represent a mix of all of these styles, an open format in which these styles could compete.  Never mind, of course, that the K-1 rules were essentially modified Thai boxing (no “K” in Muay Thai) and forbade or (through the use of standard boxing gloves) prevented the use of many of the techniques of those styles.  More recently, Chuck Norris has described his World Combat League as a mixed martial arts format which excludes all that boring ground fighting and grappling.

 In other words, it’s kickboxing. 

I have no problem with kickboxing.  I’m not a big fan, but I’ve got a few old K-1 tapes laying around from the 90s, when it was arguably the premier fighting promotion in the world.  I watch the WCL on Versus because, hey, it’s people punching and kicking each other on free TV.  I’m a grappling snob, but I can appreciate quality striking skills on display.  What I have a problem with is promoters taking advantage of the popularity of mixed martial arts by mislabeling their own product.

Certainly the striking-based combat sports have not embraced the rise of MMA to the degree that the grappling sports have done.  Wrestling announcer and former champion Ken Chertow is fond of refering to wrestling as “America’s martial art” and of citing its efficacy in mixed martial arts competition.  Similarly, the broadcast of last weekend’s NCAA Division I wrestling championships included brief discussion of the MMA career of former competitor Jake Roschalt.  A grappling snob might point out that this could be because grappling kicked striking’s ass in the old style-vs-style world of early MMA.  A more rational observer will note that it could be because it’s actually possible to make money as a pure striker in the US, but virtually impossible to do so as a pure grappler.

Kickboxing promoters are, in many ways, trying to defend their turf against the influx of MMA.  Kickboxing was never a major sport in the US.  It showed some promise in the 80s but fizzled shortly thereafter.  Since then, there have been periodic attempts to revive it on a wide scale, most recently the expansion of K-1’s very successful Japanese operation to the US and Chuck Norris’ innovative team fighting World Combat League format.  K-1 USA was a dismal failure despite the (tepid) backing of ESPN.  It’s too early to tell on the WCL, but it’s tape-delay format and the presence of Total Gym (another Norris product) as its primary sponsor is not promising.  Meanwhile, Zuffa is making money hand over fist with the UFC, EliteXC is getting on CBS, and there are rumors of the IFL getting a real network deal.  MMA is, basically, kicking the crap out of kickboxing on the popularity front.

(This might suggest to the canny promoter that the “boring grappling and ground fighting” is, in fact, a draw for the fighting audience, but there appears to be a shortage of canny promoters.)

 Some kickboxing promoters, such as the XFA and WCL, seem to have adopted an “if you can’t beat ‘em, join ’em” attitude, accepting that MMA is the magic buzzword of the moment and labelling their event appropriately.  Or rather, inappropriately.  Norris and others have apparently missed the evolution of MMA and, more importantly, of MMA audiences.  Fans learned to appreciate grappling and groundwork.  Great takedowns, slick submissions, and vicious ground and pound gets cheers now.  Yes, fans will boo a slow paced ground fight.  They’ll also boo a tentative standup fight.  Fans demand action, but are no longer as picky about the context. 

“Mixed martial arts” is not a generic term.  If your competition permits many martial arts styles, but a sharply limited range of techniques, either purely grappling or purely striking, you are not presenting a mixed martial arts competition.  To call it MMA is simply dishonest.  It’s not only disrespectful of your audience (and thus no different than the majority of advertising in the world) but ultimately counterproductive.  MMA is well-established enough at this point that the term brings with it certain expectations from audiences.  Quick break ups of clinches and standing eight counts violate those expectations and lead to disappointed customers.  Disappointed customers rarely return.  Promoters do their customers and themselves a disservice when they promise one thing and deliver another.