par·i·ty - Pronunciation[par-i-tee] –noun
1. equality, as in amount, status, or character.
The talk of the MMA world so far in 2007 has, of course, been the many “upsets” we have witnessed so far. We have already labeled 2007 as “The Year of the Upset” and pretty much every month that trend continues.
Whether each of the following fight results truly was an upset is a matter of discussion; but the following fights are the fights that have contributed most to this resurgance in the victory going to the “underdog.”
- Nick Diaz defeats Takanori Gomiin (Feb 24)
- Rameau Sokoudjou defeats Antonio Rogerio Nogueira (Feb 24)
- Dan Henderson defeats Wanderlei Silva (Feb 24)
- Randy Couture defeats Tim Sylvia (March 3)
- Matt Serra defeats Georges St. Pierre (April 7)
- Gabriel Gonzaga defeats Mirko Filipovic (April 21)
As I said, we can debate whether each and every one of those fights truly was an “upset” but that isn’t really the point I want to discuss. The question is this: “Will all these upsets and quick changing of the title belts hurt MMA as a sport?”
On the one hand, that aspect of uncertainty is what makes the sport of MMA so exciting. You honestly never truly know what is going to happen in any given fight. All it takes is one small lapse in concentration or one minor misstep and a whole fight can be lost in an instant. MMA, more than boxing or any other team sport, is truly a man-vs-man battle with no outside influence to distract the final outcome.
On the other hand, it could be very dangerous to enter a period where we don’t have successful, long-reigning champions in MMA. If there is a constant turnaround where a fighter gains the championship belt, only to hold it for one or two fights, that could turn off some of the “mainstream” casual audience that the sport is trying to attract. Fans like stability in there champions to a certain extent. If fans see that fighters only win the belt to immediately lose it to someone else, I think it ultimately lessens that “value” or “prestige” of being a title-holder. Being a title-holder and a champion is somewhat watered down if the audience in general thinks that the champ can easily be beaten at any time by any other fighter.
The way I look at it is this; parity in MMA is ultimately a VERY GOOD thing. For right now, the “year of the upset” shows us just how truly great those past and current champions like Chuck Liddell, Matt Hughes, Wanderlei Silva, Fedor Emelianenko, and even a younger Tito Ortiz. These guys held the belt and defended their titles time after time against the cream-of-the-crop and stood tall as champions.
However, the sport of MMA is evolving quickly to a point where the old cliche of “styles make fights” won’t hold up much longer. No longer will we see a strong grappler fight an excellent striker and see who can impose their will on the other. We are going to start seeing fighters who are strong in all aspects of grappling, boxing, jiu-jitsu, Muay Thai, etc… It is no longer going to be one style vs. another style; it’s going to be fighter against fighter where both combatants are skilled in all areas. We are just now starting to see fighters who have been training all aspects of MMA since they were young. No longer will it be just kick-boxers who learn grappling, or college wrestlers who learn striking; it’s going to be fighters who have been training in everything since they were eight years old.
And when that happens, that is the time when having parity will be good. That is the time when the next generation of truly standout MMA fighters will rise to the top. Then we will see the Matt Hughes’ and Wanderlei Silva’s of the next generation who dominant a weight class for years at a time. There are young fighters in the smaller shows and just coming into the UFC and PrideFC right now who will be those champions. And that is why, in my opionion,
The greatest fighters are still yet to come…
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tom b
Ben Cartlidge
Shawn Smith
JStein
StuDog
LaM
Angelina
UFC 74 (8/25/07)
Randy Couture vs Gabriel Gonzaga – UFC Heavyweight Title
Georges St. Pierre vs Josh Koscheck
Diego Sanchez vs TBA
Mike Swick vs TBA
NO THIS CARD IS GONNA ROCK THIS ****… ID BE ALL OVER THIS ONE….
@PATRICK,
You won’t have to buy UFC 72. It’s in Ireland and free on SpikeTV again, not on PPV
LOL FIGURES PUT A ***** CARD TOGETHER FOR THAT
DOC
WHO DO U THINK BARONI OR THE NEW YORK WACK JOB BAD ***
I’m going with Baroni over Shamrock by KO
DOC
DID U CATCH PHILS INTERVIEW… HES FOOKIN NUTS?
@Doc
I am going for Shamrock over Baroni, but I understand why you would pick Baroni, he is the underdog, he is hungry, and Shamrock isn’t that hungry, he has had his best days and he has been playing with the IFL lately so not really focused on his fighting I don’t think.
My reason for picking Shamrock is, he is a great fighter, I think he is STILL one of the best in the world. He has pride, and that Shamrock toughness and pride won’t let him quit or give up too easily. Last, I think he needs to prove to his brother, and himself that the Shamrocks are still a force in the MMA world and with that being the case, I think he will come out fighting with somewhat of a purpose, and if he has purpose, I think he will fight with intensity, which will lead to victory. The reason he screwed up his last fight was because he was just being a jerk. He is a jerk and he wanted to hurt a Gracie so he did because he can. But this time I think he will come in to actually win.
I just flat-out hate Frank Shamrock. I don’t think he’s hungry at all and is only in MMA for the money at this point. I wouldn’t be surprised if this fight doesn’t happend and is called off/postponed yet again.
@Doc
WOW! I have never seen you post in such a “all cards on the table” manner! LOL! Well, I understand, like I said he is a jerk. BUT he is a PROUD jerk, and I don’t think he is going to squander what could be one of his last fights and impressions on MMA.
KANSAS
I AGREE HAVE TO GO WITH SHAMMROCK EVEN THOUGH HES A COMPLETE ****
BARONI IS AS NUTS AS THE GIRL IM SEEING
@MMAK,
Yeah, I just have a certain level of bile in my system for Frank Shamrock.
heh well, id have to go with Shamrock too, though his skills arent what they once were, as we saw Renzo controlled him the entire fight. The thing is I dont think Baroni is a smart enough fighter to beat Frank, hes too much of a dumb thug, he will probably gas after the 1st round then Frank will submit him in the second. BUT!! Hopefully the year of the underdogs will come into play and let Baroni connect with Shamrocks chin in the first round! teach him some humility which was never instilled into him during training
Does anyone agree that the next UFC fight cards are not that great?
As many of you know, I will be attending UFC 71 and I was checking the website every day to see which fights were added and I’m sorry to say that I am very dissapointed. I could care less about watching Sean Salmon, Din Thomas or many of the other guys on this card. I don’t mind Burkman/Parisian but cmo’n, that is not a lead in to a main event…maybe an Ultimate Fight Night Main event but not on a PPV. And the Ireland card is just as bad…it’s like all of the TUF flunkies fighting. I really hope Dana White sticks to his word and puts the TUF guys on HBO and Spike and keeps them OFF of the PPVs.
yeah i hope they add a few more good fights to the card. i think i the case of ufc 71 dana and the boys know that liddell should sell this one all by him self and make it a grudge match like the one with rampage and you can pretty much show just that one fight a people will still buy it.
AMIR I AGREE TOTALLY
Yeah its like buying a new CD and only getting the one signature hit single that’s worth a crap, you feel like an idiot for paying $16 for the whole darn thing when you could have gotten that ONE good song on limewire for nothing… in this case.. it’s back to Buffalo Wild Wings to watch for free and eat some wings..
danas right even if it were just this match id probably still buy
i mean just liddel rampage
@ Richard,
Ok..so maybe you would still buy the PPV for $40, but would you pay $400 for tickets that are decent at best?
sh*it i dont know but it is rampage and liddel but 400 is a lot of money if i had it fu*ck yeah
Yall still hatin’ on my mon Herb “Marley” Dean?
@Dennis
Herb is the worst ref in MMA history.. it has been confirmed! lol!
just finished watching cro crop get azzz kicked and gonzaga was pertty active on the floor herb should have never stood them up what happened to mazzagati hes a good ref not to mention hes got a sweet porno mustache
@Richard
Yeah, Herb has a laundry list of stupid moves that have turned fights around for one fighter or another… think he is corrupt or just stupid, one or the other.
the last thing mma needs now that its startin to blow up is a scandal of tryin to fix fights so i hope hes dumb