A Poor Comparison
by Joe Lauzon on Jul.30, 2009, under Blog
Not everyone is on board with Mixed Martial Arts yet, but more and more sports fans are getting accustomed to our sport. With the increased popularity of the sport, it’s becoming mainstream and it’s just getting started.
To the uninformed, people who aren’t into MMA (Mixed Martial Arts), the fights seem unconventional compared to more widely accepted arts like boxing, wrestling and karate. Oddly enough, MMA is a combination of the three with elements of many other arts incorporated. The sport has evolved many times over to most effectively control, submit or knock out a true resisting opponent.
I compete in the Ultimate Fighting Championship, which most involved with the sport simply call the UFC. It’s not the Ultimate Street Fight and it’s not the Ultimate Dog Fight. I might be offended by the writer’s comments if he were more informed or took the time to actually research the facts. If the writer knew how much safer the UFC was than boxing, he would not have likened it to dog fighting.
As part of an upcoming sport, it’s my job to not only fight in the ring but also be an ambassador to the sport. There are over 200 fighters under contract in the UFC, which is the NFL of Mixed Martial Arts promotions. Many of these fighters come from diverse backgrounds and are graduates from some of the best schools in the country.
Miguel Torres of East Chicago, Indiana paid his way through school by fighting while others were tending bar. Miguel earned a degree in marketing from Purdue University. Miguel is the current WEC Bantamweight champion.
Former UFC Middleweight champion Rich Franklin is a former math teacher from Cincinnati with a master’s degree in Education, Jim Miller attended Virginia Tech and Brock Lesnar was an NCAA wrestling champion and is the current UFC Heavyweight Champion. Some have master’s degrees while others have bachelors. There are really too many to list.
Frank Mir was raised in a true martial arts family and earned a black belt in Karate at the age of 12. Frank won a state wrestling championship in high school at 17 and earned a black belt in Jiu-Jitsu in three and a half short years. Frank’s stage eventually became an Octagon surrounded by plastic coated chain link fence. It’s within this Octagon that he shows the world his martial arts skills and shares his valuable message of perseverance with the world as he is a former UFC Heavyweight Champion. You would be hard pressed to find a more articulate man in any professional sport.
Our sport has been likened to dog fighting which anyone will say is cruel. Dogs have no choice and are bred to fight, injure and maim the other dog. They are kept in poor conditions and are anything but family pets.
Fighters on the other hand make up their own minds regarding their career path, just like you have done. I choose to compete in mixed martial arts for the competition of it all. I love to compete and the UFC has the best fighting conditions, best referees, the best doctors and an outstanding safety record. Fights are stopped at the first sign of a fighter being unable to defend himself or the first sign that the fighter does not want to continue.
It is my job to not only inform the original writer but also all of those that he has misinformed. I appreciate that everyone has their own opinion but I get to express mine as well. I do not believe the writer has been to a dog fight, nor has he been to a UFC fight, or met with a 40 year old boxer with a slur from taking thousands of shots to the head. I also doubt he has taken a look at a punch count showing a comparison of what a mixed martial arts fighters takes versus that of a boxer.
Boxing averages 11 deaths per year. In the over 15 year history of Mixed Martial Arts, there has been one death in the United States and it was not in the Ultimate Fighting Championship.
Long before its incarnation that we see today, pankration was the original form of mixed martial arts. It was truly the first fighting system in human history and was used by Ancient Greeks back in 648 BC. US Soldiers today practice mixed martial arts to prepare for hand to hand combat. Myself and many other UFC fighters have gone all around the world (Kuwait, Afghanistan, Iraq, etc) to work with and help train our nations troops.
Tighter rules along the way have helped, in addition to strict supervision by a state appointed sanctioning body. Fighters are required to go through a laundry list of medical testing before every fight. Before my first fight in the UFC I had to see about 7 different doctors and specialists just to get licensed. I had to have a physical, blood work for Hepatitis and HIV, an MRI, an ophthalmologic exam and a few EEG’s. In some cases, I saw specialists both at home and then the commission’s own specialists. It turns out, fighter safety is always the number one priority.
It’s a poor comparison between sports where fighter safety is so important to dog fighting where safety is the last thing on anyone’s mind.
I can’t help but liken the article to the way a lot of lazy college students write papers. They form their uninformed opinion and then write their paper based on their own preconceived notions. It’s pretty easy to run a quick online search for information on the web to support your point of view.
Generally though, even lazy college students are bright enough to use information that is less than 10 years old to back up their claims. I eagerly await this particular writer’s future shocking pieces about Bill Clinton’s extra-marital affairs and how all computers are going to go haywire for Y2k. Let’s get with the times.
Writers, among others, loves to sensationalize things. This case is no different. This particular Boston Globe writer is calling our sport “human dog fighting” while another LA Times columnist writes about the crowd being hungry for blood. No doubt, these two writers will be referencing and quoting one another for a long time about the barbarism that is supposedly in our sport. In the day and age when everyone has an online blog, you can always find someone who shares your opinion. Regardless of what the ignorant claim, Mixed Martial Arts fights are between two willing competitors that at the professional level have spent considerate amounts of time improving their skills in a number of Olympic sports.
These sports include boxing, wrestling, karate, judo, tae kwon do and jiu-jitsu. All ages and levels of experience are encouraged to participate in these sports. The Ultimate Fighting Championship was started by Rorion Gracie to show the world the validity of his family’s style of jiu-jitsu. The best representatives of all these other martial arts were pitted against one another and Rorion’s family were the victors in the end.
The UFC was never about a blood sport even though the original promoters let if flirt with that line. Back then, the sport was new and there was no regulation. The times have changed and modern day mixed martial arts has grown and is very safe. The sport is highly regulated and is one of the safest in the world.
To read the original article that sparked this, go here.
To email Peter Funt and let him know what you think of our sport, send an email with your comments here.
To email the editor of the Boston Globe, send your comments here.
51 Comments for this entry
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July 30th, 2009 on 12:56 pm
Just wanted to say that I appreciate having you as an ambassador for the sport. Keep fighting the good fight.
July 30th, 2009 on 1:11 pm
thanks for this, joe. great post. it’s really annoying to see/hear of people who still have absolutely no clue about the rules and regulations of the UFC and continue to label it as a “bloodsport”. these fighters are true athletes and deserve just as much respect as any other professional athlete. maybe more.
July 30th, 2009 on 1:26 pm
Hey Joe,
That guy has no idea what he’s talking about. He’s obviously talking out of his ass. Real fans know about MMA and wouldn’t listen to this guy. Don’t let it get to ya.
July 30th, 2009 on 2:00 pm
J-Lo,
I just want to say it is awesome to have someone like yourself as passionate about the sport and such a great ambassador.
Obviously, as mention Mr. Funt, has never seen a mma competition or does he have a true understanding for the sport, rules, sanctions, etc. that are involved. As with most media people it seems as though he is targeting more people like himself who are miss-informed and ignorant to the sport. Unfortunately there are those who will simply believe what is said and jump on the ole ANTI bandwagon. Maybe he should stick to filming candid camera. Maybe he’s jealous becasue mma has more fans.
Great write up and thanks.
PS – when are we going to see you back?
July 30th, 2009 on 2:11 pm
This is exactly the kind of response needed for people like this. Well thought out and well writtten. While I doubt you will convert them with this, it helps when fighters and fans respond like this instead of nasty comments about the authors of these articles and their mothers.
July 30th, 2009 on 2:33 pm
I come from Quebec and the media where I live don’t even give media attention to GSP because people are ignorant of the sport they said it barbaric.
The fact is that this is the greatest sport in the world and it becoming world wide and GSP is knowed everywhere in the world except in quebec. I saw more stupid show on Celine Dionne then there is commercials on spike tv .(she sucks by the way)and when GSP was fighting for is title only one stupid litle paragraphe in the bigest newspaper. Any way Joe your one of my favourite too I hope you will have your chance soon so you could beat BJ up
up
sorry for my writting
July 30th, 2009 on 2:47 pm
Seems like this guy has done absolutely no research as Joe Lauzon says and still wants to shoot his opinion out there. My point is if you dont like it and its not your thing then dont watch it!! I mean thats all you have to do is just not tune in. WEll said Joe and thanks for standing up for what you love to do. Long live the UFC baby!!!!!
July 30th, 2009 on 2:54 pm
hey great blog. ive done traditional martial arts for around 12 years but find myself wanting to compete in mma..people do have the wrong idea about it and as more and more skilled fighters get into the ring i think that people will stop regarding let li and jackie chan as the best fighters in the world (though they are great). i think that theyll also see that, like chan and li we are all a bunch of really nice people who really love the sport and just really enjoy testing ourselves…pushing it to the limit..anyways..this is long soo..stay strong stay smart and stay up.
M
July 30th, 2009 on 3:08 pm
As an representative of the sport, Joe, I appreciate you taking the time out of your probably busy training schedule to write this article.
It’s amazing how many people are still stuck in 1993 and are still ignorant about the sport so much that they can write articles without any references to back up their claims and people will still publish their nonsense.
Good Write Up Joe.
July 30th, 2009 on 3:20 pm
Crap like this really makes me wonder just how you get to be someone who writes op-eds. That article would have failed my high school English class, and I wrote the globe and told them.
Fortunately, I think just about anyone can tell when they read it.
July 30th, 2009 on 3:46 pm
Thanks for the great post Joe.
July 30th, 2009 on 3:55 pm
Very well written Joe, i agree completely
July 30th, 2009 on 4:45 pm
Great post Joe hope to see you in the octagon again soon.
July 30th, 2009 on 4:54 pm
Wow…i cant believe ppl can still be in the dark about this sport. those articles were just awful, thats all i can really say on that. seems like some whos never played ANY sport in their life wrote that.Atleast you put real proven points into your blog while they take 1/10 of the truth and stretch it out till its not even worth talking about. well they got ppl to read their collums i guess…whatever works LoL
July 30th, 2009 on 5:34 pm
great response and great details. many people that slander mma are also of the opinion that boxing is a more humane sport, whatever that means. boxers take hundreds of punches to the head and vital areas of the body (kidneys, liver) each fight.
boxers are also given an opportunity to recover from a possible concussion via a standing 8 count, as though 8 seconds would be sufficient.
i’m happy to see you illustrate this point so effectively. mma rules do not allow a fighter seriously injured by strikes to continue. this is a substantial rift between the philosophies between mma and boxing in terms of the combatants of each sport’s overall health. thanks again for your informed retort to an emotional response by a person who hasn’t bothered to understand the sport i love.
July 30th, 2009 on 5:54 pm
Joe,
I’ve always liked your fights but never called myself a “fan” of yours.
This is the first time I’ve been to your site, and I have to tell you that I am now a big fan. You’re a smart guy and I’m glad you’re representing the sport and martial arts.
July 30th, 2009 on 6:18 pm
Joe,
As a fan of MMA I appreciate your well written thoughtful response, keep it up,
Thanks,
Doug McIsaac
July 30th, 2009 on 7:07 pm
Great article.. thanks for giving a UFC fighter’s perspective!
July 30th, 2009 on 7:11 pm
I encourage anyone who was as outraged as much as myself, to write the editor of the Boston Globe and boycott the paper altogether
July 30th, 2009 on 7:21 pm
Thanks Joe,
I for one am increasingly sick and tired of seeing our sport being slandered with by these ridiculously ill-researched writers. Seriously, is it 1993?
If I read one more article or report on MMA and hear the words “bloodthirsty” “savage” “pummeling” etc etc I swear I’m going to go apeshit.
I’m surprised he didn’t cite the bible at the bottom of the article.
-Seth
p.s. can’t wait for LFD2
July 30th, 2009 on 8:19 pm
i look forward to seeing you fight again. Kenny beats BJ for the belt….Joe beats Kenny in rematch. new lightweight champion!!!!!! that’s how i see it happening. good luck! great rebuttal to that article…
July 30th, 2009 on 9:32 pm
Thanks for writting what I could never write, great job
July 30th, 2009 on 9:37 pm
Joe is an awesome ambassador for the sport. I was in Iraq last year when he came to COB Speicher with Heath Herring and Jorge Rivera; I told Joe and Heath that we had some guys that were on MEDEVAC duty and couldn’t come to the training session/signing session and asked if they would like to come check out our helicopters and visit with the guys on MEDEVAC duty. Their session ended at about 10pm and they didn’t get done with the signing until about midnight but they still came over and hung out for about 2 hours- our MED company really appreciated it. True professionals.
Chad
July 30th, 2009 on 10:05 pm
Awesome awesome stuff Joe. Couldn’t have said it better myself. Thanks for standing up for the sport and the fans! Apparently the douche who wrote that article think he’s better than millions of people around the world. LOVED the article you wrote!
July 30th, 2009 on 10:17 pm
How funny is this
“The point was made within a truly bizarre account detailing how MMA fighters are turning to plastic surgery to alter bones and tissue so that when hit in the face they will be less likely to bleed”
Hahaha what a load of bullshit
“It’s been less than a decade since Senator John McCain called these fights “barbaric.’’ MMA is “not a sport’’ he argued in letters to all 50 governors, urging a total ban. What changed in so little time to move this brutal activity troublingly closer to the mainstream?”
The answer to this question is: The governors actually had to watch it and not just hear uninformed idiots (Like Peter Funt the Arsehole) talking about it & surprise surprise once they watched it and understood it, they realised it was not “Dog fighting” but a highly regulated sport.
P.S. Joe you were unlucky against Florian, I was well pissed off that he beat ya. Anyway the title is definitely in your future.
& Tell Dana White to bring the UFC to Scotland.
July 30th, 2009 on 10:21 pm
Now that is a response, insightful, factual and funny.
“I eagerly await this particular writer’s future shocking pieces about Bill Clinton’s extra-marital affairs and how all computers are going to go haywire for Y2k” i laughed out loud reading that. But dont get bent outta shape guys, some people will just never get this sport. i personally couldn’t live without it.
July 30th, 2009 on 10:45 pm
joe,
as long as ther eis people on this earth there will always be assholes who think they know what they are talking about, if mma was a savage bloodthirsty sport why would it take many years of training to get where you are now. grat fight against jeremy your due for a fight witht he winner of florian and penn and ur gunna win. best lightweight fighter in the game and your reppin mass thats what im saying!
July 30th, 2009 on 11:48 pm
I remember that! Then the Apache crews tried to tire us out by challenging us to a pull up contest. Once we were tired they tried to zip tie our wrists. I still have the ghostrider t-shirt they gave me
July 31st, 2009 on 3:37 am
Thank You Joe for enlightening them who’d rather embrace – out of laziness and sheer bigotry – ignorance at a time when information are readily available.
July 31st, 2009 on 4:16 am
Just wanted to say that I’ve read both the original article and your response, and as a long standing MMA fan, must say that you are a credit to the industry and sport. Your informed and remarkably restrained response stands as a perfect example of how so called professional sports writers such as the gentleman in question, and others such as Jay Mariotti and Kevin Blackistone, could not have their “facts” more wrong. Congartulations on a wonderfull written retort.
July 31st, 2009 on 6:54 am
I have argued time and again about our sport with peolpe like this ill-informed and clearly ill educated sensationalist writer. I ahve a Masters in civil Engineering, hold down a stressful senior engineering job, have two children and my escape is to train in MMA. I chose this due to a love of combat sports and the fact it is so disciplined and respectful to your team mates and opponents. Keep up the good work Joe
July 31st, 2009 on 7:27 am
Good day Joe -
Thank you very much for taking the time to write and post this blog entry. I followed its link from Bullshido. Obviously you are aware of the huge increase in popularity of MMA (especially in Canada) and the biased and inflammatory tone of newspaper coverage (i.e. themes of primal savagery, barbarism and other nonsense).
Would you consider submitting this article or an expanded version of it as a half-page Op-Ed piece to the major newspapers? I’m sure the UFC would be happy to endorse it and the fans would be happy to see this message getting out to the mainstream media more prominently. The general public should be be exposed to the facts; and fighters who are good ambassadors for the sport. Thanks again for writing, Joe.
July 31st, 2009 on 7:41 am
Mate, from over the other side of the pond, I just wanted to say well done. I’ve been trying to explain all of these things to so many people over here for years now. To have someone like you who uses his position to articulate in a calm, coherent, and factual way in order to get the word out to the masses is a great thing. I doubt the reporters in question will give what you and me would say a seconds thought, but to have something for the layman to read and correct any false assumpions about the sport is a great use of your time. Thanks dude, keep it up.
July 31st, 2009 on 9:28 am
I am myself a young writer and a martial artist. Some of my stories take place in the world of mixted martial arts.
I’ve been trying for some time to demystified the universe of MMA for my friends and readers. To show them that it is not the violent freak show they imagine.
Your post, Joe, tell me that I am not working in vain and that even the pro fighters I admire deeply may take profit from my efforts.
The link listed above lead to my latest post on the subject, on my own blog. It’s unfortunately in French, my native language…
July 31st, 2009 on 10:21 am
Joe,
Well written response to Mr. Funt. I’m glad MMA has people like you that can be the voice of reason. Thank you for all you do for us serving in the Armed Forces.
July 31st, 2009 on 11:16 am
gret article joe, i hope to see you in the octagon again soon, do you know who youre next fight is?
July 31st, 2009 on 11:17 am
Good article Joe.
I think the reality is that relatively few people’s minds will be changed on this topic. Old media outlets scream about it being a bloodsport, while online media owned by the same sources cover MMA in depth. Canada’s national papers ignore MMA (and boxing for the most part) apart from the odd sensationalist commentary. At the same time, sportsnet (one of our major sports tv stations) online poll for Canadian athelete of the year last year ended up crowning GSP.
Young people accept MMA – and some older ones as well. But most of MMA’s opponents will simply die off.
That said, its important to stand up clearly and explain the rules and safety level. We don’t need to convert people who hate all contact sports into liking MMA – we just need them to not scream for it to be banned.
July 31st, 2009 on 2:19 pm
Good show, sir.
Thank you.
July 31st, 2009 on 4:00 pm
Nice job Joe!
It is nice to see those of us who enjoy and respect mixed martial arts stay above the fray and respond to ignorance with grace and intelligence.
Good luck in your future fights.
July 31st, 2009 on 4:40 pm
Joe,
I enjoyed reading your articulate and well written response to that reporter’s article. Another ridiculous comment I heard about the sport was that it was fake. A commenter on ESPN’s 1st and 10 watched clips of UFC 100 and accused fighters like Brock Lesnar of pulling their punches. I don’t know whether these reporters are just ignorant or have some other agenda. If they were to make these comments about other legitimate businesses they would probably get sued.
July 31st, 2009 on 5:30 pm
well said joe.
mma-bashing articles like this will be written for years to come. but increasingly these authors are part of a small minority.
July 31st, 2009 on 6:26 pm
im sick of douche bags like that making up stuff it is a violent sport but wat about football boxing wreslting its disgusting they choice a sport they dont understand and insult the beughty of this amazing mix of arts thanks for telling how it goes
August 1st, 2009 on 12:13 am
Hey Joe,
I just want to say that I couldnt agree with you any more. When it comes to explaining the safety and history of the sport to others who simply dont understand it, it seems like a never ending battle. Countless times i find myself exclaiming, “its not a blood sport.” Rather it is a sport thats been around longer than most others, and ironically i always find myself using Pankrantion as my example of such. Anyhow, I just wanted to let you know i appreciated reading your blog man and seeing how intellgient other fighters are. As tough as we are, we are intellectuals more importantly. Fighting is the most mental of sports out there, and by putting writings out there like this people may realize that sooner than later. Thanks man, my email is trevorsanchez91@yahoo.com if you’re interested in any of my MMA writings. Great article.
August 1st, 2009 on 5:28 pm
First off great article, I agree with everything you said. I’ve been a fan of the sport pretty much since I saw the first UFCs on beta-max as a child.
I’d like to offer my opinion on these kinds of writers though. I think that 2-3 years ago when popular media was first becoming aware of the sport that it was necessary for well spoken ambassadors, such as yourself and many of the other fighters you mentioned, to step in and correct the glaring mistakes being published on a regular basis.
I think that these days things have changed considerably though because of the efforts of such people. Granted MMA has a long way to go before it reaches the point that more established sports like football, baseball, etc. have reached, but I think that we’re at a point where it’s obvious that MMA isn’t going anywhere and the writers and companies that wrote it off are going to have to get used to it whether they like it or not.
Companies like EA that discounted MMA as “not a real sport” are releasing video games, major networks (ESPN, CBS) are broadcasting news and entire fight cards on television. What’s my point? I think it’s time for us in the MMA community to make the shift from defending ourselves to flat out dismissing these claims as irrelevant.
I think at this point writers like this are in the vast minority, and even responding to them lends them more credit than they deserve. I think that we’re in a time now where it’s better to let articles and writers like this fade into obscurity rather than call attention to them.
More than likely the only people who will lend credence to this writer are people who already have malformed opinions which they have no intention of changing in the face of logic. Any publicity is good publicity as the saying goes, I say let’s not give two bit writers like this the satisfaction of believing that their opinion is even worth listening to, let alone take seriously enough to respond to.
Enjoyed reading the article, looking forward to your next fight.
August 1st, 2009 on 10:09 pm
These reporters sound like a VERY PUBLIC FIGURE that ran his mouth before he knew the facts, recently
August 1st, 2009 on 11:56 pm
hey joe, that is a great article, thanks for continuing to be a good ambassador. fuck those guys
August 2nd, 2009 on 12:31 am
Hi Joe,
Thank you for taking the time to write out a well articulated reply to Peter Funt. For what it’s worth, you’ve earned another fan.
August 2nd, 2009 on 7:05 am
Darryl Stingley, Dennis Byrd, Mike Utley, and Kevin Everett all great fighters that were paralized in the UFC…..oh wait, they played in the NFL.
August 2nd, 2009 on 7:31 pm
Like everything in life…once you reach the top the only place to go is down. The UFC is now above everything else and is continuing to rise. I think those writers need to keep their envy in check.
Keep posting the You Tube videos. They are hilarious!
Cheers
August 3rd, 2009 on 11:06 am
joe this was a great,refreshing, and factful response to another mma bash prince. just like anything in life, unless you have experienced it yourself or tried out something first hand…..you have no education on it…..you cant judge what you don’t understand. The media is continuing the un-education of america….this is just another case.