Any big ufc fans on the forum? I've been following it for couple years now. Which fighters you like? Which podcasts?
I watched my first UFC fights around 2000 on a VHS tape that one of my friends had. I didn't watch it again for about 15 years. Then, around 2014-15 I started watching again, pretty much every card they had, for about 3 or so years. Nowadays, I watch about a card a month. I'd watch more, but you have to set aside 5+ hours on a Saturday evening just to watch it all. My favorite fighters are Donald Cerrone, Nick Diaz, Lyoto Machida, and B.J. Penn. I used to watch old Pride matches a couple of years ago on Fight Pass and some of them are brutal.
I watch every weekend pretty much, i didn't like the look of it before but that was before they changed some rules and made it a little more family friendly. I like Poirier a lot, his last fight with the Hangman made me a real fan of the Kiwi's too. Ferguson, Justin Gaethje ..so many fighters i'm a fan of. The older brutal fights i don't like, i seen one where headbutts were allowed and Khabib was there mauling the guy under him with them. The upcoming Khabib fight i'm looking forwards to, hoping to see Nate Diaz again, Diaz v Masvidal II would be good!
I'm more of a boxing fan, heavyweight division. With the the UFC I wanna see a good brawl, I'm not into the whole technical/grappling stuff. That's just not exciting to me. Speaking of boxing. My man Iron MIke is coming back baby! One classic uppercut to the chin will knock Roy flat on his back! Edit: I'm not dissing the UFC in any way trust me. There have been some epic battles. Lyoto Machida is probably my favorite UFC fighter of all time. That crane kick against Randy Couture was a straight up Mortal Kombat fatality!
I first saw it on VHS in the late 90's. I didn't care much for it. Too violent with no rules. I then caught up with it again when The Ultimate Fighter debuted. I only saw the first season but the fight between Bonnar and Griffin was one for the history books. I then didn't keep up with it at all except for some clips here and there until 2012. I remember the first full event I saw was Silva vs Sonnen 2. I barely watch these days. After the sale it's just not the same anymore. They're throwing around belts like they're candy. The Reebok deal took away some of the personality of the fighter's as well which just hurts the overall product. And I can't get my friends into it. But my favorite fighter is Robbie Lawler, even he is probably at the end of his career. His comeback to the UFC was a joy to watch. It is the best comeback run of all time. You can go watch every fight from the win over Koscheck up to the loss to Woodley. Amazing run. And he doesn't talk trash, just wants to knock people out and go home. And he hates wrestling because he knows it's boring to watch so he has one the best sprawls in the game. I don't follow any podcasts, but I used to watch The MMA Beat some years ago. Lost interest when the regulars started moving on to bigger things.
Sat 26 Sep, UFC 253 (Middleweight title up for grabs in Main event, Light Heavyweight title in Co-Main).
I remember UFC 1: no rules except for groin hits, 20 minute fight, no glove, no weight class and fights were the luck of the draw. UFC 1, 2 and 3 had some very vicious and bloody battles.
Being a big ufc /mma fan i've seen some of those matches and know that's the time all the kinks were getting ironed out. Most folks left with the impression the big guy doesn't always win, as Gracie showed with his BJJ, fighting multiply guys in a single night. One of Gracie BJJ's most famous students -Nate Diaz, still un-retired, him and his brother still have all the respect to this day. Once you get right onto it you get to know the personalities and pick up cool facts /life tips etc. from them, Like keeping as relaxed as possible when fighting and other things you wouldn't expect. The community is very active and there's always news.
Not really.....the masses loved it as it was pure and barbaric. It wasn't until UFC 3 that Senator John McCain made it a national issue and tried to get congress involved. Then big media started banning it and the followers and it's finical support started to disappear. That's when Dana White stepped in with some finical backers as he knew a sure thing. Then as you stated "the kinks got worked out", the the rules, weight classes, body protection entered in it so Mr. White could promote it, which he did very successfully. He eventually bought out his partners and is now the sole owner/operator of the UFC. I'm telling you, watching those first 3 UFC events Live doesn't compare to what we see now. The mix matched, one sided fights (physical size of each opponent) was so David and Goliath. I remember sitting around my buddies bar and we're all betting on the out come....every one took the sure thing. Not me I took the under dog or the little guy. Needless to say I came out on top on all 3 UFC events. My favorite fight was this little 200 lb white dude against the almost 400 lb black guy. Holy crap I found it....very first match in clip. I watch this live....I had $20 on the little guy.....cleaned up and took $100.
1. First several UFCs (everyone comes in with sumtin like 298:0 record and some crazy karate school no1 ever heard of background) .. .. 4. Pride (Saitama Super Arena baby, best entrances, best announcements ever) ... 10. UFC btw everyone needs to watch Fighting in the age of loneliness https://www.sbnation.com/a/mma-history#episodes
The masses loved it? Early UFC was as fringe as it gets. But yeah White and the Fertitta brothers turned it around by adopting many rules from boxing. But the main reason it went mainstream is the success of The Ultimate Fighter. I believe Lorenzo Fertitta has gone on record saying that if that first season had failed there would be no UFC today. White is the president. The owners are a group called WME|IMG that bought it off the Fertitta brothers. White probably has a share but he is not the owner. Anyway, sad to see Robbie lose again this weekend. He's never recovered after meeting Woodley's bomb of a fist. I saw they put up a career timeline last week:
Yes i seen that video last week, watched the Lawler fight also, Tyron vs Colby will be 19th September.
My favorite mma related youtube channel, from the man with the biggest arms in West Linn Oregon. Ladies and Gentlemen the one and only, undefeated Chael Sonnen.
He is one of the best trash talkers for sure. Dude talked himself into a title fight he had no business being in.
