Posted: 7/27/2007 4:00:18 AM EDT
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I just started watching the highlight show Fox Sports has on Sunday nights. It seems like Pride has a few pretty good little guys, and some REALLY good big guys. BUT, Can't they afford a cage? Ropes suck! AND, Whose ass do I have to kick to get them to stop showing crowd reaction footage AT THE MOST CRITICAL POINT IN THE FIGHT???!!!! Is that a Japanese dude? or a chick? And why is he/she wearing sunglasses that big indoors? How does Herchel Walker rate ringside seats? These are the questions I'm asking myself when I should be seeing carnage on the screen. [/rant] |
| I know that Herschel Walker clip you are refering to. They show that clip as well as MANY audience clips that are the exact same clip for many different fights. I guess they think we'll either believe or not notice the exact same fans frozen in exact moments for every Pride fight. |
We see whats happening now, all of the Pride world class guys are coming over to the UFC and will capture all the titles soon. |
I'm not sure any rational person could call that a fight. |
You're right, he got his ass handed to him for about three minutes before he was finally knocked out. My bad. Blake |
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Wow, is this arfcom or sherdog? lol. As to the OP, the cage is a gimmick leftover from MMA's beginning days. They wanted wrestling fans who were familiar with "cage matches" to watch the UFC. The cage should have gone away a long time ago. Pride was MMA's only hope of becoming a legitimate sport. It's a shame they went under. Now we only have the carny sideshow that is the UFC. ( I am comparing the way the two organizations were run, the rules, etc. I'm not making the old Pride vs UFC fighter argument) |
Lemmee get this straight- You like the ring? The constant stoppages? The repositioning of fighters? The combatants sliding though the ropes? The dozens of asian fellows required to keep the ropes from being held? I'm with you on the rules, as long as we're talking about kicking people in the head when they're on the ground.  |
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Yes, I prefer the ring. The cage is an artificial element added into the fight. A good wrestler will take someone down and hold them against the fence indefinitely. Resets in the middle of the ring are much better than watching the same old lay and pray you see repeatedly in the UFC. The ring is much more accepted by the general public due to the long history of boxing and would lead to MMA becoming more mainstream. The "octagon" is associated in the average person's mind with drunken, unskilled brawlers, not professional athletes. Also, it is very difficult to see anything going on inside a cage at a live event. In a ring, you can watch all the action. As far as the Pride rules, here is why I prefer them - 1. No elbows - elbows cause an excessive amount of cuts and early fight stoppages. 2. Yellow cards - fighters are fined 10% of their pay if they get yellow cards for not pushing the action. Makes for better fights. 3. Foot stomps, knees, and soccer kicks to the head of a downed opponent - This was banned by the athletic committee in the US simply because someone thought it was "too violent". Please. Elbows cause many more injuries than soccer kicks. In the UFC this is a crutch for losing fighters. They drop to their knees, knowing that they can't be kneed or kicked in the head. Plus, it really cool. Nothing like watching Wandy soccer kick someone's head off.  A Pride promotion is huge! They have great music, huge attendance, and great fights. The Pride fighters are superstars in Japan. In comparison, the UFC events are much smaller, poorly run, and usually fairly boring. If someone else had purchased Pride and been able to run it the same way in the US, they would have crushed the UFC. Oh well. For now I'll just watch Bodog or wherever Fedor is fighting. |
Why is that? I wasn't speaking about the average MMA fan. The average person who doesn't follow MMA sees a cage and thinks of professional wrestling or toughman contests in a bar. As I said before, the cage was a gimmick who's time has long since passed. |
The "average" person sees a soccer match and has no idea what they are looking at. The cage, IMHO, is better because: 1. it perpetuates the idea of mano y mano...no way out...Thunderdome. 2. fewer stoppages. Blake |
Damn I never thought I'd see someone arguing *for* using ropes and a boxing ring for MMA events. yuck. Aside from the very real and inherent problems with ropes (variable tension at different venues, tangled arms/hands, going outside the ring underneath, halfway through when grappling, etc) it's also MOST associated with WWF buffoonery in my mind (jumping from the top rope anyone?, winding your opponents neck through the ropes? please make it stop.) Biggest gripe I had with Pride was that they just hired shitty cameramen or stoner dudes in the editing booth who don't have a clue.  Frankly I watch a LOT more fights on television/ppv than I'll EVER see in person so good camerawork is critical, UFC at least understands that and makes watching the fights a lot more enjoyable. At the end of the day it's two guys doing everything they know to kick the other guys ass, no way a single company is going to have a lock on top talent. |
I’ve been on both sides of the ring for a long time now and from my experience and most fighters including me prefer the cage, but the audience prefers the ring. The only fighters who really hate the ring are European style boxers because they can’t corner a man. There damn fun come out too one of our shows if your in the Colorado area better then most of the UFC events. www.martialartsradio.com |
| I am for the cage. The cage simulates a wall in an indoor environment or outdoor environment. Ropes are ridiculous IMO. It is a chain link fence because the fans can see through it... otherwise it would be padded walls like all the training facilites have. I wish the allowed BOTH knees and kicks to the head AND elbows. In fact I wish they still allowed headbutts. I even liked it when Kimo's instructor got TKOed by about a billion punches to the groin right after he said UFC was a video game you play with your whole body. I blame John McCain. That SOB wants to ban MMA AND ARs. He is the devil. |
| Yeah but that eliminates the noth/south knees to head. That is a fight ender. Guys in the UFC allow that position to happen all the time and only have to defend a rolling choke or guillotine in that position. You cannot win if you get in that position in a real fight. |
+1 |