Expand Your (MMA) Horizons
March 21, 2015
By Ryan Porzl
For nearly ten years, the UFC has been the top promotion in Mixed Martial Arts. As a result, it's the one promotion that most MMA fans will watch. Sadly though, there are fans that only want to just watch the UFC and nothing else. That's nothing against the UFC but there's tons of other companies out there as well as fighters that fly under the radar which is sad because some deserve more attention. This article will explain why I believe MMA fans should broaden their horizons and discover other MMA because they might enjoy it. Now I want to be clear and say this isn't a "Bash UFC" or "Bash Zuffa" article because that's not what I'm going for. Like any MMA company, UFC can be great with the right cards so there's nothing wrong with being a fan of the UFC or it's fighters. Instead, I just want to encourage people to look at other companies and fighters because sometimes, I feel they deserve some attention.
Watch The Potential UFC Stars of Tomorrow Today
The first reason to explore other promotions is the fact that we could be seeing future UFC stars in the making. While UFC has developed talent and signed fighters with less than five fights, they usually prefer to bring in fighters in their prime and have created a buzz. A lot of times, the UFC likes to bring in champions and top fighters from other organizations from smaller companies to national promotions or big international promotions. It usually fun getting into up and coming fighters and watching their journey as they claw their way to the top. It's great to see fighters fight their way to the top and maybe make it to the UFC. Look at how many fighters have found success since coming in over the years. From Strikeforce, we've seen Daniel Cormier, Luke Rockhold, Gilbert Melendez, Ronaldo Souza, Tyron Woodley, and Ronda Rousey to name some. From WEC, we've seen Ben Henderson, Dominick Cruz, Urijah Faber, Demetrious Johnson, Donald Cerrone, Jose Aldo, and Anthony Pettis. Imagine getting into fighters like Henderson and Pettis early in their WEC run. Imagine watching them win the WEC Lightweight Title and then go to the UFC where they win the UFC Lightweight Title. Doesn't that feel great? It makes their title wins more emotional for you because you've watched them since the beginning and saw their major victories. Same with Robbie Lawler. His UFC title win is even bigger when you watched his story unfold. From his struggles in Strikeforce where he looked washed up to coming back to the UFC where he rose like phoenix. Even if certain fighters don't make it to the UFC, that's fine. I'm sure there's someone that may not make it to the UFC that you can get into and support them in their quest for MMA gold.
Different Enviroments
Not the greatest reason but a lot of MMA companies have different looks and/or rule sets that you may enjoy. In Bellator, they have big sets and PRIDE like intros during their tent pole events. It really makes the show look like a bigger deal. ONE FC has also done PRIDE like intros and has a nice set. They also use the best rules in MMA which include elbows, soccer kicks, and knees to a grounded opponent. The rules are the way all MMA should be with fights being judged in their entirety instead of round by round and who comes closer to finishing. In M-1, they run shows in arenas and other times, in places like the mountains all the while having their fights contested in a regular ring or a six sided ring. Then there are companies like WSOF, Titan, and companies that air on AXS TV that run shows in smaller buildings which can be nice if you're not into the big crowd or flashy set up. Like I said, this isn't the biggest reason to get into other MMA companies but sometimes certain atmospheres can help make an event more memorable or magical. Good example would be in PRIDE as they ran 15 - 20,000 seated arenas for the regular shows and then ran 50,000 for their Grand Prixs and Shockwave New Year's Eve shows. The bigger crowds and setting made the Grand Prixs, NYE events, and the title matches on them seem like a bigger deal. Like something you couldn't miss and if you didn't miss it, then it was something you wouldn't forget.
You Don't Know What You're Missing
The UFC is home to some of the best fighters but not every great fighter or exciting fighter has ever fought in the UFC. In fact, if fans limit themselves to the UFC, then they're missing out on many legendary fighters. Fighters like Fedor Emelianenko, Igor Vovchanchyn, Kiyoshi Tamura, Ricardo Arona, Sergei Kharitonov, and Masakatsu Funaki have been considered some of the greatest and/or exciting fighters in MMA History but never step foot once into a UFC octagon. Then there are legends who have made only a few appearances and never appeared again like Kazushi Sakuraba, Bas Rutten, Minowaman, Hayato Sakurai, and Yuki Kondo. Then there are fighters like Mirko Cro Cop, The Nogueira Brothers, Wanderlei Silva, Kid Yamamoto, and Takanori Gomi who made it to the UFC but were past their primes after years of fighting and injuries. By being just confined to the UFC, people are missing out on great fighters from the first two examples. Meanwhile, people see the fighters from the third example but as shells of their former selves and people are asking themselves "What was the big deal?". Even nowadays, there's plenty of talented and/or exciting fighters that people could be missing out on. People can't wait for them to get to the UFC because they may be past their prime by the time they get there or they may never get there at all.
Not only that, but by skipping other companies, people could be skipping exciting fights, knockouts, and submissions. In 2014 alone, there were plenty of great and fun fights outside the UFC that UFC only fans missed like Emanuel Newton vs. Linton Vassell at Bellator 130, Vinny Magalhaes vs. Jason Brilz at Titan 30, and Ji Xian vs. Song Ya Dong at ONE 24. Same with knockouts including Derek Anderson over Brandon Girtz at Bellator 110, Timofey Nastyukhin over Eduard Folayang at ONE 23. There's also been good submissions like Eduardo Dantas over Anthony Leone at Bellator 111. Overall, there's plenty of great gems out there people can be missing.
Who Cares If The Fighters Aren't The Best?
One of the big reasons it seems fans don't want to get into other promotions or take them seriously is because they don't feel these companies have great fighters or the best in the world. That's not true. If anyone looks hard enough, they can find great fighters and potential diamonds in the rough in just about every promotion. It's impossible for any company, even the UFC, to have all the best fighters in the world. In fact, there's plenty of talented fighters out there. It's just a case of finding them. Even if a company didn't have amazing fighters, so what? You don't have to enjoy a fighter just because they're elite. Some fighters are good but are gatekeepers and that's not a bad thing. Then there are those fighters that aren't good but still provide fun fights. In fact, a lot of the most popular fights in MMA History featured guys who could never be considered "elite" by any means. The fight that has been considered one of the best in UFC history is between Forrest Griffin and Stephan Bonnar. The fight was, by no means, a masterpiece in terms of technique. It was a wild, haymaker throwing brawl that was fun to watch. That fight also didn't feature the best fighters in the world. Griffin enjoyed success in MMA but he was more about heart and hard work than incredible skills. Bonnar was, more or less, a tomato can. He achieved nothing huge before this or after this. Same goes for PRIDE. The fight that's considered one of the best and most fun was between Don Frye and Yoshihiro Takayama. Once again, there was nothing pretty or technical about it. It was a brutal slugfest that saw both fighters throw technique out the window, grab each other by the head, aimed, and fired into the opponent's face. While Frye is a legend in MMA, Takayama is a professional wrestler with a 0-4 record. He couldn't even be considered in the top 5,000. The point I'm trying to make with this is don't underestimate certain fighters or companies because you never know what you'll get.
I also want to say to the people that only watch UFC because it's the place where the best fight and the other places don't have good talent. Don't be silly. Even if it's true, I bet MMA is the only thing they hold those standreds to. I bet those type of MMA fans don't just go to five star resturants. They have gone to coffee shops before and enjoyed them. I bet they don't just only watch movies that won the academy award for best picture. I'm sure they have watched B-movies as well and were entertained. I bet they don't just watch professional teams who are coming off championship wins. Instead they always watch their choice of team and not just the recent champions. So my point is, if fans can be open minded with so many other things, why not MMA, as well?
Final Thoughts
I want to close by once again saying that I'm not trying to bash the UFC. I think people have every right to watch the UFC if they want to. What I want to do is encourage fans to try out other MMA because there's plenty out there. Even if you don't think the companies are elite, they still can be fun to watch and I think it's worth given a look. You may uncover some gems.
