Mixed martial arts is hugely well-liked now. It is as popular as wrestling was in the Seventies and Eighties. The difference is that everybody knew that wrestling was choreographed, whereas mixed martial arts (some fans call it cage fighting) is not. Mixed martial arts is for real and for very high stakes comparable to those of world championship weighty weight boxing championships.
Mixed martial arts or MMA used to be completely unregulated and that put many people off in the late Eighties and Nineties, but now that there are safety rules (some, anyway), this extreme sport has become more popular. There are now two types of MMA though, sport and street. The former is more regulated than the latter where virtually anything goes.
Despite the growing popularity of mixed martial arts, there is still no real governing body for the sport, although there are quite a few organizations vying for the opportunity on both sides of the Atlantic. Britain has at least three companies attempting to become the regulator of MMA in the UK. The USA approximately the same.
One of the top organizers of MMA bouts, if not the top organizer, is Ultimate Fighting Championship or UFC. They put on pay-per-view fights on cable TV which can pay top fighters nearly a million dollars a fight! This merely goes to show how well-liked mixed martial arts has become.
Aside from revenue from pay-per-view and national television, there is a colossal amount being taken from spin-offs like videos, DVD's and T-shirts. There are also collectibles, dolls and board games to say nothing of documentaries and books. Web sites on mixed martial arts abound as do blogs and forums. Most fighters also have Twitter and Facebook accounts.
This has provoked youths of both sexes to join a gym and take up martial arts. This can only be a good move. Training regularly will counteract the trend in Western children towards obesity and will also help tackle bullying and street violence. Trained fighters rarely turn into bullies or muggers.
The craze for MMA seems to be fairly recent, but that is not the case. Inter-disciplinary martial arts fighting was popular in the 1890's in Europe. Then there was the documentary film 'Kings of the Square Ring' featuring Muhammad Ali in around 1980. The contemporary craze took off in the early Nineties, but it is in full flow now.
Mixed martial arts, or pankration, was an Olympic sport 2,000 years ago and fans tried to reinstate it as such in 2004, although the movement failed, but who knows what the future will bring about? Many powerful legislators believe that the sport is too violent and that it ought to be regulated more closely. The fans and the fighters disagree, so we will have to wait and see which faction wins out.
Mixed martial arts or MMA used to be completely unregulated and that put many people off in the late Eighties and Nineties, but now that there are safety rules (some, anyway), this extreme sport has become more popular. There are now two types of MMA though, sport and street. The former is more regulated than the latter where virtually anything goes.
Despite the growing popularity of mixed martial arts, there is still no real governing body for the sport, although there are quite a few organizations vying for the opportunity on both sides of the Atlantic. Britain has at least three companies attempting to become the regulator of MMA in the UK. The USA approximately the same.
One of the top organizers of MMA bouts, if not the top organizer, is Ultimate Fighting Championship or UFC. They put on pay-per-view fights on cable TV which can pay top fighters nearly a million dollars a fight! This merely goes to show how well-liked mixed martial arts has become.
Aside from revenue from pay-per-view and national television, there is a colossal amount being taken from spin-offs like videos, DVD's and T-shirts. There are also collectibles, dolls and board games to say nothing of documentaries and books. Web sites on mixed martial arts abound as do blogs and forums. Most fighters also have Twitter and Facebook accounts.
This has provoked youths of both sexes to join a gym and take up martial arts. This can only be a good move. Training regularly will counteract the trend in Western children towards obesity and will also help tackle bullying and street violence. Trained fighters rarely turn into bullies or muggers.
The craze for MMA seems to be fairly recent, but that is not the case. Inter-disciplinary martial arts fighting was popular in the 1890's in Europe. Then there was the documentary film 'Kings of the Square Ring' featuring Muhammad Ali in around 1980. The contemporary craze took off in the early Nineties, but it is in full flow now.
Mixed martial arts, or pankration, was an Olympic sport 2,000 years ago and fans tried to reinstate it as such in 2004, although the movement failed, but who knows what the future will bring about? Many powerful legislators believe that the sport is too violent and that it ought to be regulated more closely. The fans and the fighters disagree, so we will have to wait and see which faction wins out.
About the Author:
Owen Jones, the author of this article, writes on a variety of subjects, but is now concerned with Mixed Martial Arts Training Gyms. If you would like to know more, please go to our web site at Mixed Martial Arts Quotes