UFC Wannabes

Mixed Martial Arts is enjoying unpresidented popularity. The undisputed king of the genre is the UFC. They deserve their success. The UFC endured lack of interest, a hostile economic environment and lawmakers who wanted to shut them down. Like a true MMA champion, they survived it all to raise their arms in victory. Even though I am a martial arts purist, I confess to enjoying the UFC. I like watching these amazing athletes demonstrate their skills. They are professionals and highly trained. Unfortunately, wherever there is success there are cheap imitators. Several inferior leagues have popped up trying to cash in on the UFC's popularity. Some of them are downright pathetic. For example, I was watching HD Net Friday Fight Night. It was far worse than amateur hour. The fighters are dismally bad. Some are downright fat. They look like they just put down their beer and pried themselves off the couch to fight. Predictably most of the fights last just a few minutes since they have no skills or conditioning. The winners then have the nerve to parade around like they've vanquished Mohammad Ali in his prime. I saw one guy with a 1-6 record win and act like he was the champion of the world. I witnessed another guy with a 6-5 record act like a punk taunting his downed opponent. The worst part about watching it on high definition is that it's crystal clear how sad the whole scene is. It made me wish I had an old blurry black and white TV.
*** Kent Ninomiya