UFC 131 Results: Sam Stout and the Top 10 Knockouts of 2011 “UFC” News
UFC 131 Results: Sam Stout and the Top 10 Knockouts of 2011
UFC 131 Results: Sam Stout and the Top 10 Knockouts of 2011 Bleacher Report’s Jeffrey McKinney Many expected fireworks at UFC 131 and boy, did we see them. Although the main event that featured Junior dos Santos and Shane Carwin did not produce the first round knockout that everyone expected, there were still plenty of memorable moments for the night. One of the biggest came when the lightweight …
UFC 131 Results: Sam Stout and the Top 10 Knockouts of 2011
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Question by some guy: How do you think the face of mma would change if PRIDE bought ufc instead of vice versa?
People don’t even see mma anymore. It is always called “UFC”. They usually expect to guys in a cage where one is about to get mauled or ktfo’d and occasional submissions and limb breakage. ( This is probably the stereotypical newbie mma fan) How do you think mma would be perceived if PRIDE FC bought ufc instead of vice versa and PRIDE became the no. 1 power house of mma? ( and if it went on television like UFC) Looking foreword to good answers thanks.
Best answer:
Answer by Marky
I disagree with the “n00bs view of MMA”. There are a lot of people who don’t watch it because they say it always goes to the ground and it’s “boring” or it’s “gay” because they’re hugging each other up and rubbing their nuts on one another. I admit, there are some boring times on the ground, but it’s usually because most people don’t understand the skill it takes to be a wrestler.
If PRIDE bought out UFC, it would probably be called mma. PRIDE doesn’t have the same ring to it like UFC. However, I think it would probably be a lot flashier. Everyone would be like Akihiro Gono (not to his degree, but you know what I mean).
Know better? Leave your own answer in the comments!
I don’t think the Japanese would have understood the US market any more than Dana & co. understand the Japanese market. There might have been a few UFC shows under the new ownership (DSE, right?), but I think the production would have been changed. The US public seems less receptive to big productions in MMA fights, like music, rappers, huge entrances, etc. Such attempts by Affliction, Elite XC, and the K-1 show that occurred in the US have been pretty universally panned because it’s unnecessary and over the top. US fans don’t seem into that pro-wrestling type of quality in their MMA shows. I think due to the uncertainty of things, “The Ultimate Fighter” would not have been renewed, which would have limited the exposure of MMA. The show itself would be considered a “failed experiment”. Eventually the UFC as a unit would cease to exist. Some fighters would be lucky enough to get a Pride contract. Meanwhile, in the US, other upstart companies like Strikeforce and the IFL would have been given an opportunity to shine. However, given the financial mismanagement of a lot of the newer shows, I doubt any of them would have gotten to the level that the UFC has.
People were calling every MMA event they saw “Ultimate Fighting” since the 1990s. I doubt a Pride buy-out would have changed that.
People in the States have always just seen UFC as being MMA. To the casual fan, PRIDE never meant anything. If they had bought the UFC (which obviously would never have happened since the UFC haven’t bankrupted themselves, and PRIDE couldn’t afford to run themselves let alone buy out someone else) they would most likely have kept the same branding, since it was known to American audiences. UFC dropped the PRIDE name because it doesn’t need it, the UFC is much better known in Japan than PRIDE ever was in the States.
As for what else might change, I can’t see too much. The rules are set by the Athletic Commissions so head stomps and what not wouldn’t happen. Probably most of the freakshow fights wouldn’t happen in the States for the same reason. Questions would still be asked about why so many PRIDE fighters look horrible and out of shape in the US (hint: they do drug tests in the States). Hopefully the PRIDE habit of letting their champions not bother to defend their belts wouldn’t transfer over.
Basically PRIDE would have had two options, keep the UFC as a seperate promotion (like UFC and WEC) or run more PRIDE shows in the states to cover the UFC’s schedule. Which would raise interesting questions. Would PRIDE have kept using American rules for US shows and their own rules in Japan? Would they move the Grand Prix’s to the States? Who knows? MMA in Japan is slumping though, whereas it keeps getting bigger and bigger in the States, and generally the popular fighters in the States are already in the UFC or have been recently. Unfortunately, the likes of Takanori Gomi doesn’t mean anything to an average American audience. So if PRIDE wanted to run more PRIDE shows in the states they would need those the UFC ‘stars’.
Even if it was the PRIDE brand that people saw, they’d still just view it as they do the UFC just with a new name and a Japanese flavour. Ultimately it’s still two guys kicking lumps out of each other. Actually, something like Fedor vs. Zuluzinho isn’t going to make MMA look good to the average viewer at all. Frankly, given that PRIDE couldn’t run themselves and their alleged connections to some rather dubious elements of Japanese society, I’d rather MMA be represented by the UFC all told.
I was kinda bummed when PRIDE was bought out.
What I miss most:
The stomps to the head
The kicking/kneeing of a downed opponent
The spikes (when fighters landed on their head)
None which are allowed in UFC
I think the most obvious change might be they would be fighting in a regular ring as opposed to the octagon. Besides this you would probably see a wider variety of fighters from different organizations and less control exercised over their contracts of who they fight for along with fighting under Pride. As for the rules the state athletic commissions set those and they would be the same as what they are now no matter if it was Pride or the UFC here in the States. I do think you would also see more fighters from Australia and Asia making their marks here in the states as well.
I loved Pride and was very disappointed when Dana “egomaniac” White closed it down, they had better fights overall I thought, The catchweight fights that pride had would be great in the UFC, Imagine if Anderson Silva actually fought some good light heavyweights (not the guy ranked 26th The Sandman) or if Rampage would gain a few pounds and fight Fedor, Or maybe keeping pride alive would of created two “major” leagues that would of had super cards every month (with all the fighters available it would of been great) The popularity would be greater than today, Pride was the other half of the worlds MMA, and this half has UFC, now the other half has Dream and thats it.
MMA as a whole would be dwindling, nearly dead. Fighter pay would be in the toilet compared to where it is now, and they’d not be as widely known, which would mean many of them would likely not be able to train full time and the quality of the fights would suffer as a result.
It’s easy to criticize the UFC because Dana White and the Fertitas have a lot of faults, but even your question betrays that MMA is where it’s at today because of spearheading efforts made under the UFC brand name.
At the rate other organizations are springing up and even the rate those upstarts are collapsing at, you can’t think the sport as a whole would be any better without the UFC around.