MMA & the Olympics
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Omar B
Senior Master
It can't realistically. They would have to do it tournament style with each fighting a couple of times over the course of the Olympics. I see a lot of people dropping out because of injury, or doctor's advice. It won't be like Boxing or TKD where it's based upon a points system, it's MMA, you can't soften that up and even winners get injuries. There's a reason MMA fighters are all ineligible to fight for 3 (or is it 6?) months after each bout, win or not.
Steve
Mostly Harmless
+1 to what Omar said.
BJJ has a much better chance of eventually being an Olympic sport, but jury's still out on whether that would be good or bad. Lots of judoka and tkd stylists are pretty upset with the effects that becoming an Olympic sport has had on their style.
BJJ has a much better chance of eventually being an Olympic sport, but jury's still out on whether that would be good or bad. Lots of judoka and tkd stylists are pretty upset with the effects that becoming an Olympic sport has had on their style.
I don't think having Olympic MMA would adversely affect professional MMA any more that the restrictions on Olympic boxing limit pro boxing. TKD is a totally different situation, same for judo. Neither existed as a professional sport comparable to MMA today.
Now as to the logistics of having bouts spaced out so that competitors would have sufficient recovery time before going on... I don't know how you would approach that. Maybe you could have sanctioned elimination bouts months in advance so when the Olympic Games were held, you would already be down to the semi-finalists or even finalists? I mean, that's all the public ever sees in most events anyway, right?
Kajowaraku
Green Belt
It's not goint to happen anytime soon, imho. MMA is what it says, mixed martial arts. Just kicking, beating, tearing and choking each other until one relents. We already have wrestling and Judo as olympic sports on the ground, and boxing and TKD standing up. MMA just combines aspects of those and than some more (like the ever popular G&P principle). I don't think the commitee will really feel it actually adds something new other than just being the latest hype in fighting art mids. That's no critique on MMA, merely my prognosis on it's (imho) rather slim chances of becoming an olympic sport.
Steve
Mostly Harmless
Sorry I wasn't clear. I meant that I don't think that MMA is suitable for a round robin/tournament format like olympic boxing for many of the same reasons that Omar mentioned.
Of sports associated with MMA, wrestling is already in the olympics, as is boxing. BJJ has been considered and will probably be considered again in the future, particularly since Brazil is an upcoming host. In many ways, it's a good fit. There is already a well developed tournament ruleset. It's an international sport and there are high level competitors from just about everywhere. But, as I said, not everyone is convinced that being an Olympic sport is a good thing.
If you enjoy MMA, DO NOT wish it to be an Olympic sport. By the time they got done butchering to what networks consider suitable for televison, you wouldn't recognize it. Practical application aside, anything even hinting at violence gets thrown into a 2:00 am time slot if it get air time at all. We need the prime time to make room for guys throwing stones on ice and chasing them with brooms. Mesmerizing...:shrug:
BloodMoney
Green Belt
MMA was, in ancient times, one of the most popular (in fact I believe THE most popular) of all the games in the Olympics.
Pankration fell out of favor, but in all honesty it should be in the Olympics. Judo and TKD are relatively new (especially compared to Pankration, which became a staple of the Olympics somewhere round 650 BCE) and are Japanese/Korean arts, yet THE Olympic martial art, Pankration, is not in there. Makes no sense to me. Modern day Pankration has got a lot safer and more controlled, and is thriving. It has huge followings and could easily be introduced into the Olympics as if it had never left. A few simple thoughts on it here I was just reading, good article.
Now to be fair modern MMA, as in UFC stuff, is different from Pankration. But yes, I still think it could (and should) be introduced into the Olympics. Yes some changes in the format would be needed, but thats pretty simple.
I think BJJ would be easier and somewhat more fitting in many ways, and personally think its long overdue for inclusion in the Olympics. Theres a huge talent pool for it, lots of good refs, well defined and easily judged rules etc...why its not in there comes down to politics I would assume, not incapability.
I think MMA or BJJ would be more exciting to watch than Olympic TKD or Judo in my opinion, as fun as watching two people hop about faking each other out or grabbing each others lapels is
I still want to see a military olympics, where all the armies of the world put their best in and face off on drills and obstacle courses and stuff...a la Hoplitodromos (which was a mid distance race between soldiers in full armor). That would be the ****!
Pankration fell out of favor, but in all honesty it should be in the Olympics. Judo and TKD are relatively new (especially compared to Pankration, which became a staple of the Olympics somewhere round 650 BCE) and are Japanese/Korean arts, yet THE Olympic martial art, Pankration, is not in there. Makes no sense to me. Modern day Pankration has got a lot safer and more controlled, and is thriving. It has huge followings and could easily be introduced into the Olympics as if it had never left. A few simple thoughts on it here I was just reading, good article.
Now to be fair modern MMA, as in UFC stuff, is different from Pankration. But yes, I still think it could (and should) be introduced into the Olympics. Yes some changes in the format would be needed, but thats pretty simple.
I think BJJ would be easier and somewhat more fitting in many ways, and personally think its long overdue for inclusion in the Olympics. Theres a huge talent pool for it, lots of good refs, well defined and easily judged rules etc...why its not in there comes down to politics I would assume, not incapability.
I think MMA or BJJ would be more exciting to watch than Olympic TKD or Judo in my opinion, as fun as watching two people hop about faking each other out or grabbing each others lapels is
I still want to see a military olympics, where all the armies of the world put their best in and face off on drills and obstacle courses and stuff...a la Hoplitodromos (which was a mid distance race between soldiers in full armor). That would be the ****!
Interesting that you state it's martial arts but then denigrate it. It isn't just kicking, beating, tearing (? what on earth do you mean by that?) and choking each other, it's martial arts, the kick each other in TKD, choke each other in Judo, punch each other in boxing but thats okay by you but MMa is just a fad, yeah, okay, you may think that but if I agreed with you we'd both be wrong. Oh and there's no ground and pound in amateur and semi pro rules MMA.
And it's no, no, no to MMA in the Olympics, they have spoilt too many sports by changing the rules to suit 'audiences' and the television people so absolutly not.
3 month suspensions are rare, a lot of guys fight more often then that when working the smaller shows.
Look at guys like Jeremy Horn or Dan Severn, they have period where they are fighting every month, sometimes twice a month.
Chris Leben just made some headlines for taking the Akiyama fight 2-weeks after fighting Arron Simpson.
None of that is really the point of all this though, but you are right. Pro-MMA would definitely not work as a Olympic event. Something like the Pankration rules, or the Combat Grappling rules that FILA has put out 'could' work, but it becomes a matter of whether or not it should. There are definite ups and downs to being a Olympic sport, I'm not entirely sure it would help.
I think maintaining amateur MMA as it exists is also important, I wouldn't want to see things turn into just Pankration rules, then pro. I also would worry about schools spreading themselves too thin... You'd probably end up with separate gyms for whatever the Olympics decided to do and the current style as they would no doubt fork.
Personally I'd rather see Kickboxing, Grappling or both get in at this point.
My question is: why?
Because people who don't like MMA want to drag it down to the level where it's toothless and sanitised and therefore acceptable to them. Too many people don't understand what it actually is as opposed to what they perceive it to be so they want to bind it up with so many rules and regulations, put it in the Olympics and make it a pale shadow of what it was.
Realistically no but at the same time no to TKD, Judo or Boxing and wrestling.
Personally, I dont think it would go over that well, due to the fact that people already have a distorted image of it, so no doubt it'd go over like a lead balloon. LOL. But, if it were to be done, I'd say it'd make more sense to use the original method that they used in the early UFCs, which was more tournament style.
Umm...alrighty then. LOL. Of course, while you appear to be making it sound like such a horrible thing, I'll say that there are also numerous football, baseball, basketball injuries as well.
The MMA that we see today, at least here in the states, is very different from what we saw in the early days. Today, we see fights that are stopped, often much to the dismay of the crowd, because while they feel it was a premature stoppage, the ref, looking at the nature of the injury, has the fighters safety in mind.
I'll also state that the arts do involve contact and fighting. As Tez mentioned, TKD students kick each other during sparring, boxers punch each other, Judo and Wrestlers choke and slam each other around. Bottom line is, the arts involve contact. If someone is against that, then IMO, they should be enrolling in a non-contact class, such as knitting or TaiChi, rather than the Martial Arts.
Terry, I pretty much agree with this except for wrestling. I've always enjoyed it and it hasn't changed much at all since I was in high school. Also, because it's not considered an impact/contact sport and therefore deemed "violent" like the others, it actually gets air time.
Will see if GSP competes for the Canadian Wrestling team and how he does. Point being, until a reputable figure steps up to make this happen, the Olympic committe is not one to go after MMA, specially when there are other disciplines already in line to be an olympic sport.
The Olympics already has wrestling http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wrestling_at_the_Summer_Olympics and TKD, so I would think they're not desperate to go after something like MMA.
The Olympics already has wrestling http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wrestling_at_the_Summer_Olympics and TKD, so I would think they're not desperate to go after something like MMA.
So let me make sure I understand what you're saying. You're saying people want to put MMA in the Olympics to purposely make it weaker? Very conspiritorial.
And while that may or not be the impact on MMA were it to be included in the olympics, I strongly doubt that is the intent. And your argument sounds like this is their intent.... whoever they are. You never really specified which people. It obviously can't be everyone, since you apparently don't want MMA to be an Olympic sport, and I don't care. There's two people ruled out right off the bat.
Well putting TKD in the Olympics hasn't exactly enhanced it has it? The Judo rules are constantly being tweaked to make it a 'better spectator experience' rather than enhancing the sport itself. There's other non martial arts sports its' happened to as well. Read some of the comments I get on MMA from the anti MMA people and you wouldn't doubt their intent to change it or even just wipe it out
Wasn't arguing btw, just making a comment, whether it's the intent or not, putting MMA into the Olympics will ruin it. We discussed this in the UK MMA scene and none of us want MMA in the Olympics. We have no ruling body so even if it were in the Olympics there would be no British team.
You'd be surprised at how fast a national org would spout up if it were to be added to the Olympics. GB would have a team in there. I would bet dimes to dollars. Someone would do it.
