Ready, Fire, Aim

Fighting has been apart of human life as long as...well, human life. It was first developed into a competition with the Olympics...so, I guess since the beginning of civilization. In the early 20th century, boxing started growing as a sport in the US. With advances in media, came advances in everything else. Boxing EXPLODED in the early 1960's, in part because of media, and in part because of characters like Muhammad Ali (who I can't believe is still alive...). Ali also changed boxing. It was no longer about power. It wasn't about hitting each other as hard as you can, and blocking as much as you can. Ali relied almost entirely on speed to avoid hits. He would just let his opponents wear themselves down, and then hit them once or twice for a knock out. Ali changed the game entirely.

Wrestling sort of turned into a joke with the creation of the World Wrestling Federation, but was still an extremely popular form of entertainment, because at that point, it was more acting than it was a sport.

Mix martial arts competitions date back to the early 1900's in Europe and Japan. The idea of MMA was popularized by Bruce Lee and Jeet Kune Do. Bruce said "the best fighter is not a boxer, karate, or judo man. The best fighter is someone who can adapt to any style."

In 1993, the first Ultimate Fighting Championship held it's first MMA tournament. UFC 1 was held to find the world's best fighters regardless of their style. The tournament had no weight classes, and the fights had no time limits. Fights only ended in submission, knock out, or giving up. There were very few rules, mostly just no biting and no eye-gouging. The fight showcased Savate, Sumo, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Wrestling, Boxing, Kickboxing, Kung Fu, and Aikido fighting styles. Royce Gracie of brazil, a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ) black belt, won the tournament, defeating American wrestler Ken Shamrock, American boxer Art Jimmerson, and France's Savate world champion, Gerard Gordeau. Royce Gracie won all three fights in under three minutes, all by submission.

However, because the event was so violent, and had so few rules, the UFC was forced underground after UFC 1. Eventually, the UFC re-emerged with Dana White as it's president, with stricter rules, and was more socially and politically excepted as a legit sporting event. After a few events, it was clear the the UFC was the evolution of fighting competition.

With the creation of the reality TV show, The Ultimate Fighter, in which contestants fight their way to a UFC contract, MMA and the UFC has become even more accessible to...well, everyone. Ultimate Fighter gives the world a chance to look inside these fighters lives, see the way they train, how hard they work and to get to know them. Of course there's other reality TV shows that do the same thing with OTHER entertainers...American Idol, So You Think You Can Dance, America's Got Talent, etc etc etc...but what, I ask you, ever became of the winners of those competitions? Or even the losers, for that matter. Oh sure, Kelly Clarkeson and Carrie Underwood still have successful careers, but what happened to Ruben? Or Fantasia? Jordin Sparks? David Cook? Kris Allen? Sure, David Cook is touring, playing summer fairs. But that's where artists go to die. It's like a last-ditch effort at a failing career. ANYWAY, what happened to those people? I know what happened. Nothing.

The Ultimate Fighter winners, however, still have a career. So do a lot of the losers as well. Season 1 winner, Diego Sanchez, holds a record of 21-2 and is going for a lightweight title shot against BJ Penn in December of this year. Kenny Florian, who LOST to Sanchez on the season 1 finale, holds a professional record of 11-4, and last month lost a fight to BJ Penn trying to get the lightweight belt. Rashad Evans, winner of season 2 for the heavyweights, is now fighting in the light heavyweight class, and last year took Forrest Griffin's (of Season 1) light heavyweight belt (but then lost it to Lyoto Machida). Keith Jardine of season 2 (who didn't even make it to the finals on the show) holds a record of 14-6-1 and has defeated UFC greats Forrest Griffin, Brandon Vera, and Chuck Liddell. Joe Stevenson of season 2 holds a record of 30-10, and is fighting at UFC 104 next month. And these are all just fighters from the first 2 seasons of the Ultimate Fighter. I could go on for days.

ANYWAY...UFC fighters are easy to identify with. They're just regular people. They're not untouchable super stars like wrestler Hulk Hogan or boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr. They're not weird fictitious characters like wrestlers Sting and Kane and the Undertaker. UFC fighters are just average people who have dedicated their lives to mixed martial arts. They're just like you or me.

This accessibility has become increasingly more apparent. Go to any sports bar on a fight night, and you'll see all kinds of people. You'll see legit fight fans who can't afford the PPV prices. You'll see people who are just there for the drink specials, but end up watching the fight anyway. You'll find jocks, nerds, bros, scene kids, and...most importantly, chicks. Yes, real live women who are actually FANS of the UFC and it's fighters. Why? Because these fighters are real people. We've seen them cry. We've seen them drunk. We've seen them bleed, sweat, swear, happy, sad, pissed off. We feel like we know these fighters, because they're just like us. We can relate to them. What the hell do you have in common with Mike Tyson? Maybe a lot, but there's no way to know that. He hasn't let you into his life the way Forrest Griffin has. They could walk in and sit down and watch the fight with us, and they'd be just like everyone else there.

The UFC is for everyone. Watch a Chuck Liddell fight, as well as the pre- and post-fight interviews. You'll probably hate him for his arrogance just like everyone else does. But after watching him fight, god damn it, you'll respect him.

The popularity of the UFC has also changed fashion (for that market at least). Instead of Bros wearing Hurley or Element or Vans tshirts and hats, now they're wearing Tapout, One More Round, and Bad Boy. Then there's shit like Affliction and Ed Hardy, which seems to be the uniform for douche bags. People wear this stuff because that's who sponsored Anderson Silva, or Georges St Pierre. The UFC made it okay for white people to wear Ecko Unltd. Instead of HUGE kotton mouth kings stickers on raised bro-trucks, it's a huge Tapout sticker. Things are changing, but...not very much. The art and style of this stuff is all the same as before, but it just has different words. The guys that wore spitfire or FMF gear in high school are now wearing Dethrone, or Silverstar. It's all the same, really. But instead of skateboarding or motocross gear, it's fight gear. Instead of Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4,306, game developers made UFC Undisputed 2009.

I guess my point is, that, unfortunately, just like extreme sports, fighting and the UFC is just a fad. Something else will come along, and if you're still wearing Tapout instead of a Extreme Bass Fishing (which would of course be EBF...not to be confused with XBF, or Extreme Butt Fucking) tshirt, you're not cool. If you're excited about UFC 234 and not FCFR (Full Contact Foot Racing) 36, you're not cool.

Fighting is what these athletes do. They are fighters, first and foremost. It's not about entertaining. Matt Huges and Matt Serra still would have beat the shit out of each other if there was only 10 people there watching. Do you think Triple H would have wrestled Randy Savage if there weren't 300,000 people in attendance, not to mention the millions of people watching at home? FUCK. NO. Would Def Leppard have kept making records without the promise of fame? nope. They were about the lifestyle, not the music. Just how pro wrestlers are about the lifestyle, not the fights. Brock Lesner made the transition from WWF to UFC and was successful. He won the heavyweight belt from Frank Mir in his 3rd fight. Now, there's no doubt that Lesner beat Mir, but I don't feel he even earned that fight. Most Fighters have to win at least 10 fights to even be considered for a title fight. Here's this giant asshole with stupid fucking tattoos getting a title shot three fights into his mma career...and well...he wins.

I think that as soon as Dana White starts giving people contracts to get ratings, as soon as he gives a contract to a clown over someone who deserves it, that'll be the end of the UFC. It'll lose all meaning, all it's legit hardcore fans, and it's days will be numbered, just like everything else.

But until Dana makes that mistake, I say fight on.