There are moments in the lives of people when they choose their path and pick their sides. Sometimes it's a subtle sub conscious choice to like something or to be engaged by it. Sometimes it goes against the grain of your beliefs but you are won over by the tide of momentum behind it. For me, the sport of MMA was something that I would be naturally into. I grew up with fighting in and around me and part of my life. Seeing grown men of different and unique disciplines battle in the original UFC was something I could get behind. It faded though. It didn't take. The sport didn't hold it's place in the public eye or in my own. I had limited access to it. All I could really do was rent VHS tapes of old events and when no new events were there to rent I lost interest, with no internet at home and no real way to follow the sport anyways. What brought me back into the sport was arguments later in life with friends of mine, that actually watched it. I followed professional wrestling at the time and they followed the sport of MMA, although only the UFC brand (even though the casual viewer like myself knew that Pride was better). There was a moment in time where Randy Couture and Chuck Liddell were on a crappy reality television show, that I deemed unwatchable, and Brock Lesnar and Kurt Angle were engaged in a professional wrestling spot with each other. I commented to my friends, the UFC fans, that Lesnar and Angle were actually much tougher than Liddell and Couture, even without multiple disciplines to train in. They scoffed at the notion. I held firm on the belief and wouldn't, and still haven't, let up since. This debate threw me into following MMA more convincingly. I became an internet fight watching nerd. And so it began.
A thorough immersion into the madness and calculated insanity of the greatest sport in the world. An obsession with details brought about by years of statistical analysis of other sports. Problem being, in mixed martial arts there is no stat that can be seen to determine outcomes. There is no way of quantifying where somebody's game is and more specifically where the many elements of somebody's game are in relation to another fighter, on any given day. It requires more of a feel for it. It requires more of an overview than other sports. It required watching as more than a drunk guy gazing upon a fist fight, even though I quite thoroughly enjoy that aspect as well. It required going back and seeing what I was missing and going forward not missing any more fights. It is imprecise and ever evolving and as such it is intoxicating.
The emotional attachment a fan brings to this sport is second to none. It is modern day gladiators challenging themselves in the ultimate competition to determine who's better. There is team work in training and an infrastructure in place with readily available training in pretty much every accepted discipline. That being said, two warriors are in a cage. There are no team mates. They are in there as essentially naked competitors reliant on only themselves for determination of the victor. There's nothing to hide, no time outs and no chances for any redoes. The connection you can have with an athlete putting himself, or herself, on the line in a situation like this can't be matched. There is a tomorrow but it's months away. There aren't 82 game seasons. They have to peak on fight night, or else. Each fight is a journey, it's own story and a piece of history that will always be there. You don't start fresh and undefeated every season.
A fighter builds the good will and respect of the fans and his peers by putting themselves out there, displaying their heart and proving themselves. It's something that isn't debatable. It isn't questionable when you see it. The heart of a man, his pride and worth, are made in cages and rings. That's why when Wanderlei Silva remarks that he doesn't like Michael Bisping, the fans didn't question him. He's earned his place to not like Michael Bisping. When Michael Bisping responds that Wanderlei is a legend and that he has nothing bad to say about him, the fans were still on Silva's side. Silva is the one showing little respect for Bisping and even a self believer like Bisping knows his place enough to understand it. That respect, or lack thereof, was forged in the hearts of fans in the cage, by both men. It's not something that can be changed in a moment. Bisping knew this and, to his credit, tries to evolve his own good will now after learning that lesson.
The things that are debatable are really what drives the sport and it's hard core fan base. I can look at something and see the counter where you might look at the same exchange and see the lead. I can look at a fight and see luck and fortune, where you might see steadfastness and inevitability. We're all trying to see how square pegs will fit into round holes. Attracted to different attitudes, different styles, and different personae. Where it comes together and unites us as fans is actually where it comes together and engages itself in the sport. Where and what we see is less important as that we are seeing it. We may not agree on what we are watching and why but by watching and being fans we have a base of unity in this great sport and a fundamental interest in it's continuation and evolution. I'm David Vaessen and this is my point of view.
'Til next time
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