NEW YORK – Each growth spurt in mixed martial arts is met with a fresh wave of ignorance.
A fresh wave of ignorance. Sounds like the latest round of posts at
bloodyelbow.com. I digress.
In the mid-’90s, politicians looking to score easy points succeeded in pressuring cable television executives to boot the fledgling sport off cable television. Instead of killing off MMA, it simply went underground.
Does it never cross your mind that people were just offended by a “sport” that saw Keith Hackney jump all over a helpless Manny Yarborough like he was a rabid dog? Why do people insist on concocting strange ulterior motives for MMA detractors? As if it is so unreasonable to dislike MMA that there must be something more to it.
When MMA returned to cable in 2001, it was portrayed as a sign of the decline of American civilization. Somehow, the republic survived.
Well, we’ve lost the
4th Amendment, the government is
spying on its citizens, and the mainstream media is being run by the corporations and the
Pentagon. Maybe there was something there after all? Most people blame the Bush administration, but I blame the Fertitta family.
Posted in MMA Curmudgeon | 2 Comments »
Posted by MMA Curmudgeon on 9th May 2008
This will be part of an ongoing attempt to watch the watchdog. The MMA internet is filled with what are almost entirely uninformed opinions and bad journalism. We will shine a bright light of shame on the worst offenders here. Do better MMA web. Do better. Don’t make Eddie Goldman cry.
One of many pro wrestling websites to make the perilous leap to MMA coverage is 411mania.com. Recently John Curry, a man who will soon take the novel step of removing his carcass from the couch to step on the mat with his heros like Jens Pulver and Jorge Gurgel, said TUF has actually hurt fighters who appeared on the show. This ought to be good.
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Posted by MMA Curmudgeon on 3rd May 2008
Recently, CBS Chairman Sumner Redstone criticized his network’s decision to show Elite XC bouts on the public airwaves. The internet exploded with fire and brimstone. How dare someone suggest that grown men pummeling each other for $3000 is “socially irresponsible?” What could possibly be wrong with rewarding a man for killing another’s priceless and irreplaceable brain cells?
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Posted by MMA Curmudgeon on 12th April 2008
Eddie Goldman, for those not in the know, is an ancient, balding, MMA fanboy supreme. He’s best known for hating Zuffa and Dana White and conducting awkward interviews with anyone he can find.
This week he took the MMA media to task for not supporting YAMMA Pit Fighting in a manner he found to be suitable. After all, this was his old boss Bob Meyrowitz, the owner of the company that first put the UFC on the air. That first show featured a fat, 300 pound Kevin Rosier and a clueless Zane Frazier. Neither would have been out of place in the YAMMA. The MMA world has advanced 15 years into the future since Meyrowitz reluctantly put the UFC on the air (don’t let him bullshit you with the idea he “created” the UFC; he didn’t even go to the first show!). Meyrowitz is still living in the past, a past where Kerr-Taktarov is a great fight and Ricco Rodriguez is a hot prospect.
Goldman contended that the media is in Zuffa’s pocket. That they weren’t giving YAMMA a fair shake. What will he say now after that disaster of a show? Goldman, who often questions the professional ethics of other journalists, runs a show sponsored by the very events he covers. Will he be willing to admit:
A. YAMMA was a horrible show. Putting together a collection of fat, old heavyweights was an invitation for disaster. The fights were dull and mostly featured men with large breasts. The YAMMA, which was supposed to keep people from pushing their opponent against the cage and slowing down fights, was an epic failure. Instead people just pushed each other into the YAMMA.
B. The production and announcers were out of the seventies. Blatnick still seemed clueless, Beck didn’t want to be there, and John Peretti is still an asshole. The only bright spot was the incredibly bad ring announcer Scott Ferrall, who at least provided unintentional comedy.
So what will it be Mr. Goldman? Will you step up and call this spade a spade. Or will No Holds Barred, proudly sponsored by YAMMA Pit Fighting, carry on with its regular shills and Dana White attacks? I look forward to seeing how a professional journalist covers this.
Posted in MMA Curmudgeon, YAMMA Pit Fighting | 1 Comment »
Posted by Jonathan Snowden on 9th March 2008
Last night Ken Shamrock went out like a bitch. He took a glancing jab and decided to call it a night, Bob Sapp style. It should have come as no surprise. Ken Shamrock has always been kind of a bitch. Even during the formative years of MMA, when men were men, Shamrock was nothing more than a marketing gimmick with abs and a tight Speedo. This is a guy who was so afraid of 170 pound Royce Gracie that he hid in his guard for 30 minutes. Was so afraid of Oleg Taktarov that he held him in a tender embrace for 30 minutes.
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Posted by Jonathan Snowden on 5th March 2008
Remember Fred Ettish? He took an absolutely horrible beating back in UFC 2 at the hands of Johnny Rhodes. He looked like everything but a fighter, a goofy mustachioed man with little physical grace or fighting skill. What he had was heart. He was widely mocked online, but he took his whipping like a man.
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