Are MMA fans bad for the sport?
By Jim Murphy January 11th, 2010Over at Sports Untapped, David Glisan takes umbrage with the bad behavior of fans at last night’s WEC event and poses the question: “Are MMA fans hurting the sport?”
Longtime AWA champion and pro wrestling legend Nick Bockwinkle was famous for his often contentious relationship with the fans that followed the sport. He would often quip “I love pro wrestling fans. I just don’t like the fact that they can vote or reproduce”. I’m starting to feel the same way about MMA fans that Bockwinkle did about pro wrestling fans.
Before we get started, we need to make a distinction here. There are essentially two types of MMA fans. The serious fans of MMA are as intelligent, knowledgable and passionate as those of any professional sport. They know the fighters, the techniques, and appreciate the multitude of skills on display in mixed martial arts. The other type of MMA fans are little more than blood thirsty meth addicts who go to live events to get liquored up, wear their Tapout gear they bought at Wal Mart and hope that somebody gets seriously injured. They also boo everything and everybody not involved in a toe to toe, blood drenched slugfest.
Everyone who loves MMA gets tired of the drunken slobs who boo every time a fight goes to the ground, but last night’s WEC crowd–which booed everyone except Urijah Faber including legit badasses Mike Brown and Ben Henderson–could have been a new low.
January 11th, 2010 at 12:40 pm
David Glisan - whines a lot about the class and propriety of MMA fans. Let me just remind him we are not sipping wine and listening to classical music while taking in the “nuances” of the beauty of the dance. Oh hell no! WE are watching with full attention anticipating every move and counter move, associating with the possible pain level of the oppononents and respecting the courage and unimaginable ability it takes to go toe to toe with a gladiator. A match of will, heart and physical attributes. We come to see and cheer for our favorites (Uriah Faber, the California Kid) and to let them know, we are there hoping for their victory. Waiting for them to do the job they came there for, and that is to make their challenger pay. We wait to see that that this meeting will prove to be a experience well worth the monumental efforts these warriors have given to be there.
The sport is engaging, compelling, enticing. I do not see it as purely spectatorship and detachment. It is overcoming and it is honorable battle. The fighters are very much respectful and appreciative of each other and what it takes. Henderson just bested the person who used him for sparing initially! Achievement is sweet in MMA, it is well deserved and does not come easy. Fans know this, you underestimate the diversity of the fans, their intelligence, and their love of the MMA arts. As far as education, why don’t you make an effusive effort to share with the fans what it is you know and have received because of the popularity of this sport instead of coping an elitist attitude toward the fans who make it all possible.
January 11th, 2010 at 12:46 pm
As someone who is immersed in MMA 24/7 I have to say that I agree with much of his take. There’s too many fans at live events that clearly have no understanding of the sport, nor particularly any interest in learning about it. The classic example are fans that boo whenever a fight goes to the ground. My reading of the article didn’t suggest an elitist attitude, nor did it convey a desire for ‘manners’ or critique behavior. It’s complaint was out of place booing directed at fighters who don’t deserve it. Fighters are there to win fights, and the best route to victory varies from competitor to competitor. A solid groundfighter has every right to take the fight to the ground and no responsibility to put himself at a disadvantage by engaging in a striking exchange just to ‘keep fans happy’. A secondary problem is that officials often call a fight with too much regard to fan reactions–a fight goes to the ground, grappling occurs and like clockwork as soon as the fans start to boo the ref calls for the standup.
No one is saying that fans shouldn’t express themselves but booing fighters who are fighting their ass off simply because they’re not a furious striking exchange, blood or whatever they’re looking for isn’t the action of serious MMA fans. The reality is that there are a lot of bloodthirsty drunks who are there for the spectacle and not because they love or particularly have interest in the sport. Longterm, MMA is better off without them.
The article I linked to did single out last night’s WEC card in Sacramento due to its recentness, but the sad reality is bad live crowds are the rule rather than the exception in MMA. When it gets to the point that hardcore MMA fans start to avoid live events due to this disrespect toward the fighters, there’s a definite problem.
January 30th, 2010 at 2:14 pm
Over the years, MMA fans have become worse, and worse, to the point where there are few mature, and intelligent conversations to be had on the primary MMA forums. I’ve watched this down-hill progression since the sport began.
Part of this is due to the marketing of the sport to a particular demographic, and part of it is the fact that the many modern MMA fans don’t have a relationship with any of the primary arts that are represented in MMA. There’s a detachment there.
Modern MMA fans tend to look at the fighters as action figures who they can build a narrative around. This means that they either end up loving them to the point of absurdity, and/or loathing them with an unusual level of bitterness.
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While MMA fans have always been annoying due to so much failed alpha male ambition, at least in the past, many of them held a strong interest in arts like BJJ. This made their commentary a lot more tolerable than the Hooters set that makes up a large portion of the current fanbase.
The nature of the average MMA fan makes reading MMA news online feel like a dirty experience, and it’s demotivating when it comes to actually buying tickets for an event.
I only see it getting worse. It’s certainly not trending upward.