Black fighters booed

[Triad]

When and where is Spellman's first fight? I'm willing to bet he gets tooled by the first competent mixed martial artist he faces.

He fought in late 2006. Not sure when he'll challenge someone competent. A Spellman vs Brock Lesnar matchup would have some fan appeal.

Spellman


"The Co-Main Event of the evening featured the professional MMA debut of former Chicago Bear Alonzo Spellman against Antoine Hayes in a battle of two 300+ pounders. Spellman showed great heart and power, but was unable to finish a very tough Hayes who effortlessly absorbed a great amount of punishment in the form of knees from the clinch and body shots from Spellman. Both fighters grew tired in the third round and Spellman's lack of ground skills became evident as he could not finish a worn out Hayes, despite having the dominant position for most of the fight. In the end, the unanimous decision victory went to Spellman who could be a very imposing force with more experience in the ring."

 

[White Shogun]

I forgot about Spellman's mental illness. That's great, just what we need - a 'roided out 300 lb. ex-football player going crazy and killing somebody after he takes up the sport of Mixed Martial Arts.

The article also mentions the short career of ex-football player Michael Westbrook.

I don't doubt that there will be some former football players and others make a transition to mixed martial arts. I just don't think they are going to dominate the sport and end the careers of all the other (white) guys in it.

 

[michiganblkman]

Its unfortunate though that a fight gets boo'ed for holding. Isnt holding a fight tactic? Did it ever stop Royce from dismantling his opponent in the early NHB days? The only folks that dont approve of this tactic is the fan. (Oh yeah, he is the one paying and he HAS to be entertained )

Also, I am dissapointed in the overall recent rule changes of NHB.
Originally, when Rorian Gracie brought NHB to the US, the only rules were no eye gouging, no groin shots, and no fish hooking. The ONLY one of those rules that was actually enforced was the eye gouging rule. Seeing groin shots and fish hooking was very common.

There were no time limits, no rounds, no weight classes. You fought until someone was knocked out, gave up, or the corner threw the towel in. The closest simulation to a real fight as possible.

Now they have all of these "rules" to appeal to the paying public and to the mainstream. Thats why you get boo'ing or applause,because its looked at as entertainment.


Why not just keep it real and go back to the "original" rules of the UFC/NHB?

-Only stop the fight if the guy is knocked out, submits, or the corner throws in the towel. Under no circumstances should Judge decide who won fight.

- No time limits. If it take 4 hours, then it takes 4 hours. Its all about 2 guys fighting it out.

 

[Triad]

I'm one of the older guys that likes the new rules. The old tournament format wasn't fair to one guy that had his two fights go for 30 seconds each to fight someone in the finals who had been banging for 45 minutes. Also, due to an injury these tournaments allowed a fresh alternate to come in and win the whole thing. I personally haven't seen many street fights last over a minute.

It all depends on what you like: I enjoy seeing two guys of equal size throwing a lot of punches much better than the old size mismatches with guys wearing robes. You get more action when fighters only have one fight a night and they don't have to pace themselves. Even though Oleg Taktarov beat Tank Abbott, most fans would rather watch Tank fight.Edited by: Triad

 

[White Shogun]

Like I said:

Without weight classes, ref stoppages, and more rules to make the sport less dangerous, you won't have *any* legal, televised mixed martial arts in this country.

Maybe many of you haven't been interested in MMA long enough to remember when the sport was almost banned and many cable networks would not carry PPV shows because they were 'too violent.'

You can still watch Pride shows and see mixed weight classes, they have the open weight grand prix and other deliberate mismatches that you want to see. Pride referees are also notorious for letting matches continue longer than their UFC counterparts when a fighter is in danger. They allow kicks to a downed opponent, north-south knees to the head, although they do ban elbows.

We're lucky to have MMA at all. The only thing that saved this sport were the rules changes everyone is complaining about.

 

[dkr77]

Alpha Male, I'll have to disagree with you.The biological species concept was developed by Ernst Mayr, in 1942. Here it is, as first formulated, and quoted in Douglas J. Futuyma's EVOLUTIONARY BIOLOGY (1998): "Species are groups of actually or potentially interbreeding populations that are reproductively isolated from other such groups". The "reproductive isolation" can be genetic (non-fertility), geographic, or behavioral; there is NO criteria that says (as is commonly believed) that if two populations can interbreed they are the SAME species. There is NO criteria that says that two distinct species CAN'T interbreed. Consider the example of wolves, coyotes and dogs: three distinct species that can interbreed. In fact, all species of the genus Canis can mate and produce fertile offspring (Wayne et al., 1997, re: A. P. Gray, Mammalian Hybrids). This is so common, that biologists actually use a different formulation of Mayr's definition: they say, "If two populations can NOT interbreed, they are NOT the same species." That is a very different statement.

 

[JD074]

I emphatically agree with Shogun. The UFC has made enormous strides in just a few years in terms of popularity, profit, getting sanctioned, etc. Anybody who wants it to go back to the old days is incredibly misguided, in my opinion. As far as I'm concerned, the UFC is getting better and better. They just picked up Cro-Cop for crying out loud! And hopefully we're going to get our Liddell/ Jackson rematch! This is one of the few sports that we can actually be happy about right now. Let's not waste it!

 

[white is right]

Like I said:

Without weight classes, ref stoppages, and more rules to make the sport less dangerous, you won't have *any* legal, televised mixed martial arts in this country.

Maybe many of you haven't been interested in MMA long enough to remember when the sport was almost banned and many cable networks would not carry PPV shows because they were 'too violent.'

You can still watch Pride shows and see mixed weight classes, they have the open weight grand prix and other deliberate mismatches that you want to see. Pride referees are also notorious for letting matches continue longer than their UFC counterparts when a fighter is in danger. They allow kicks to a downed opponent, north-south knees to the head, although they do ban elbows.

We're lucky to have MMA at all. The only thing that saved this sport were the rules changes everyone is complaining about.

Nevada forced rounds and banned many of the street techniques in the original format. Still I miss Gracie or Ruas beating guys that they spotted 50 pounds plus....