Boring Fights: Why?
Posted by Fraser on April 3rd, 2009
As 2009 plugs on and I watch more and more of this year’s action, I find myself looking through a growing list of mind-numbingly boring decision fights. Bader v. Marrero. Maeda v. Miller. WarGods. Sometimes as viewers we are blessed to have Bas Rutten bitterly complaining about the boredom along with us, but at times, we must suffer while hearing the commentary loudly tout the skill level of all involved. And, for I am only human, when this happens my mind begins to wander. As it does, I think about an obvious question – why? Why are there so many of these boring fights?
Now, a distinction must be drawn here. When you decide to check out a show like WarGods or any other B-level show, you accept the reality of some boring fights. These are lower level fighters, often just starting in the business and learning. It’s unfair to watch at this level and expect top end action, so they get somewhat of a pass. But for the UFC that pass doesn’t apply. Ostensibly the home to the absolute best mixed martial artists in the world, there is no reason for the UFC to be putting out dull fights at the high rate they are.
Of course, this is not a new phenomenon. No matter how boring something today may be it can never compare to the horridness of Shamrock v. Severn, Shamrock v. Taktarov, Shamrock v. Gracie, or numerous other dull early fights (Shamrock or not). But, like the B-level shows, these early shows get something of a free pass for featuring the sport in its development. Fifteen years later, we have seen a lot of progress, and that progress should have led us beyond this point. There is no reason that a fighter no should use the same tactic Shamrock used to hug Royce to a draw. And yet they do. So again, the question is, why?
I point my finger squarely at you “Octagon control.”
Ah, Octagon control. If this phrase doesn’t make you cringe, it should. Based on the realities of judging, this is the most important criteria in scoring UFC fights. Almost without fail, the man who controls his opponent wins the decision. But control can too often mean “gets to the mat and keeps on the mat,” or, at best, “keeps it on the feet and stays more busy.” See Clay Guida, or Sean Sherk, or Gray Maynard, or Tyson Griffin, or countless others. So strong is this bias that Rafael Dos Anjos can noticeably damage Griffin’s leg and still not walk away with the round on a single judge’s scorecard. Fighters know this, and they play to it, choosing to maintain position rather than risk going for the win. Think of Forrest Griffin yelling at Tim Credeur not to go for the armbar. This is why Bader’s armbar attempt in round 1 was a breath of fresh air, and his subsequent performance such a “more of the same” letdown. But these are not the fighters that capture our attention and make MMA exciting – that distinction belongs to those who give it their all (Sakuraba, Couture, Frank Shamrock…). Building your strategy around Octagon control is often a road to victory, but also a road to boredom, and until Octagon control is not valued so highly, this will continue to be the case.
So, what can be done about this? The obvious answer would be a change in judging criteria, which could be done in one of two ways. By either ranking the importance of the various judging criteria and lowering the importance of Octagon control, or by adding in the old Pride criteria of “effort to finish a fight” the judging can push the fights into a more exciting direction. Making this change seems like a stretch, but don’t rule out the possibility. Zuffa has always been able to greatly influence the various athletic commissions (Nevada in particular). If they decide that they need more exciting fights and they need the rules to make that happen, it will happen. But, as they continue to rely on young up and comers with wrestling backgrounds, don’t expect the change to come any time soon. In the meantime, we can just hope that Bader and others see the value of finishing fights and choose to follow in the footsteps of Rashad Evans, not Sean Sherk.
April 4th, 2009 at 12:09 am
Sometimes it doesn’t matter if nothing much is happening, you become breathlessly interested in the fight regardless of action because you have come to care for the fighters out of clever booking or coincidence. This might be a bad example, because it was an exciting fight, and both fighters were trying their darndest to finish the fight… actually, yep, this is a bad example. But whatever. I remember how I felt when I watched Manhoef vs Yoon - here was a guy who (at the time) was 0-4, coming into the ring to fight this insane demon of a man with what seemed like sanctioned manslaughter on his mind.
Manhoef would charge forward, deforming Yoon’s face with some really vicious punching. I was pretty horrified, I thought that the fight would be over fairly soon, with a crumpled mess on the mat. But suddenly, Yoon managed a takedown, and Manhoef’s momentum fell dead in the water. Manhoef would manage to escape to his feet, and resume his barrage right off where he left it, with no sign of slowing or relenting - but eventually, Yoon manage to stop Manhoef in his tracks again by taking it to the ground.
I found myself hoping that Yoon would manage to control Manhoef on the ground, so that he would be spared on the feet. Every moment of inaction in Yoon’s favour was a victory and terribly exciting.
Similarly, Fujtia vs Yvel, any time that Fujita was clearly in control was awesome, because he was winning the fight. Any time that he wasn’t in control (like on the feet) was still exciting, because it was dangerous for my favoured fighter.
So in summary, I think good booking and promotion of fighters, so that people care deeply about the men in the ring, is more important than rule change. Once people care about the fighters and not just about the activity on screen, the psychology and story of the fight is more meaningful than just action.
April 4th, 2009 at 8:01 pm
I was thrilled when Bader went for that armbar. The sport has gotten so careful, as you say, that someone looking for a finish like that was a legitimate surprise. It will get worse before it gets better.
April 4th, 2009 at 10:24 pm
The sport has gotten careful. A part of me likes to watch Japanese fighting because the fighters tend to push to be more reckless, which won’t get them a win every time, but makes for an entertaining fight.