I am not going to pretend I do not have a bias here, but I honestly cannot
for the life of me understand who would watch boxing over Mixed Martial Arts
(MMA). I got to watch the Ultimate Fighting Championship with some bro's last
Saturday and it was just so fun, and we digressed on the future of boxing.

1. To be a boxer, you have a few techniques you work on for many years:
   throwing punches and avoiding punches. In MMA, you'd get your ass kicked if
   that is all you knew. You must skilled in stand-up boxing, grappling/wresting,
   submissions and also knowing some kickboxing doesn't hurt. Not to
   mention you must also be skilled at avoiding all of this also.
2. Boxing is boring. Again, it is so one dimensional. “Oh look, a punch. Oh
   look, a jab.” I can't even tell who is winning half the time. I have to trust
   the judges can count correctly and that they can count above a hundred to know
   who wins. In MMA, you KNOW who is winning. At least most of the time. The
   loser either walks off bleeding, or is laying there unconscious. You just
   never know what is going to happen. On Saturday I watched one fighter losing
   badly and almost being submitted by an armbar,
   then turn around and submit the other guy not 30 seconds later.
3. Although I won't defend any fighting is good for you, getting hit in the
   head hundreds of times by guys that do nothing but train to hit hard has got
   to be worse than in MMA where the fights are shorter and the number of punches
   to the head are lesser. Many fights end my submission, which yields
   *almost* no damage to the fighter.
4. Boxers are pricks (for the most part). Maybe its the promoter that is the
   real prick, but they really seem to be a-holes and borderline criminals. Many
   of the MMA guys are friends, and they usually hit gloves at the beginning of
   each match, and voice their friendships even after a brutal loss. I look up to
   most of the fighters and would love to have them mentor/train my kids (with
   the exception of Tito Ortiz, that
   punk).
5. Some people say that MMA is too hard to watch because they don't know what
   is going on. Well, Joe
   Rogan is usually announcing, and that guy knows his stuff and lets you
   know what you may not see. And where as you may already know the boxing
   terminology of “stick” and “jab”, MMA has its terms one has to understand.
   There are submission moves like:
   • Triangle Choke
   • Rear Naked
     Choke
   • Guillotine
     (Choke)
   • Armbar

   And also positions:

   • Guard (look under “Description”)
   • Passing the guard
   • Taking the back
   • Full mount (upper right pic)

   And fighting styles:

   • Jiu-Jitsu
   • Muay Thai Boxing
6. “MMA is too bloody!” Ok, I can give you that. Boxers don't usually bleed
   on each other. But if you can keep yourself from hurling, you'll see that if
   it will impare the fighters vision, the ref will stop it.
7. “Boxing is a mans sport. MMA fighters are always on the ground in sexual
   positions.” True, it does look weird. But god forbid if you ever get in a
   fight and you end up on the ground, you will wish you had a good “guard”
   position to keep the guy away from you, regardless of how “stupid” you may
   look. Realize that the Jiu-Jitsu style was borne from the fact that most
   fights out in the world end up on the ground. So their style handles that. So
   while you can defend how stupid it looks, that is the real world. I liken
   standup boxing like fighting pre-Civil War. You don't see armies lining up in
   long lines and taking turns shooting at each other now do you?

I realize that people may still say, “That's great Scott, but I still like Boxing.” Fine. There are people that still like buying stuff in catalogs, and watching movies on black and white TV's. I won't aim to change their mind. But for those of you that can handle change, can accept something new and exciting, and like to have A LOT OF FUN with their friends, well, to you I hope you enjoy!

Oh, and the japanese event Pride is next week, woo hoo!