MMA and its Fans!

The MMA world is filled with all kinds of fans just like any other sport. There are elitist fans who hold tight to tradition and have a difficult time embracing change. There are fans who assimilate their opinions and overall attitude about MMA with the times. In between you have all kinds of fans from the casual water cooler at work discussion types to die hard Internet fans who flex cyber wit in attempt after attempt to "pwn" one another. I'm going to attempt to break down the various types of MMA fans I have personally encountered in my years of being a regular forum writer and just being a fan in general! I'm sure I'll miss a few, but it's all just in fun anyway.

Fan Type 1: "I've Been Watching Since UFC 1 Fan" A majority of this type of fan are lying in the first place. It seems to be a common trump card used by fans to try and one up each other in terms of MMA wit and knowledge. Every now and then, you can differentiate and actually believe one of these fans, but those types are rare. For every fan who honestly makes this claim, I believe there are 20 who are full of shit. Not to mention, I know plenty of people who have watched from the inception who have very misguided attitudes about MMA.

Fan Type 2: "Dimension of MMA Fan" This type of fan roots mostly for MMA participants who come from the base dimension that they prefer. I myself may get accused of this, as I have a tendency to really root for the athletes who come from amateur wrestling backgrounds. The difference between myself and others who are truly a number 2 type pretty much boil down to the fact, that I don' t find it necessary to shit on other dimensions. Many Muay Thai /kick-boxing in general or BJJ lovers find it absolutely 100% necessary to take a dump on the skills involved in other dimensions. I find these types of fans to be in serious denial and working with very narrow scopes. Let's face it, "the modern day warrior" (I'm laughing as I type that) must have some semblance of skill in all areas.

Fan Type 3: "The Purist or MMA Snob!" This type of fan does not welcome any sort of revolutionary change that will alter the current perceptions of MMA. Case in point, the arrival and tenure of Brock Lesnar. Brock's brief WWE tenure completely overshadowed the fact that the man is a University of Minnesota former NCAA Divison 1 champion. The purist snobs could not get past the fact that this guy was doing F-5s in Vince McMahon's traveling circus, and his arrival on the MMA scene made them feel super threatened. This group also spent a great deal of time calling for Kimbo Slice's head on a platter, but then turned around and rooted for him when he came to the UFC to do The Ultimate Fighter. This leads to..............

Fan Type 4" The Fickle Fan": This type of fan will build a fighter up when they are winning and then pull a vanishing act upon the first loss. I see this type of fan all the time. They are the worst in my opinion. Here is a great example of fickle fandom. Anthony Rumble Johnson is being polled as the next serious legitimate threat to GSP's throne. He's an amazingly HUGE super athlete who is actually bigger than the French Canadian. He was knocking out people in devastating fashion, and he possesses crazy athleticism. The boards were loving them some Rumble. Josh Koscheck comes along and defeats Rumble and now you can't hear a pin drop in relation to Rumble's future title implications. AndreArovlovski is another fighter who has been victimized by Fan Type 4 .

Fan Type 5 " The Promotional Fan" This type of fan feels the need to either hate all things Zuffa because rooting for grass roots or smaller shows makes them feel like part of a counter culture or they root for Zuffa exclusively and feel the UFC is the only promotion offering quality MMA. In my opinion, both suck ass. Let's be real. There are entirely too many quality fighters that need to make a living for them to all be housed under the Zuffa banner. Being a fan of the sport should mean being a fan of the athletes involved and wanting them to have success. This is not possible under one promotion. On the other hand, anybody not recognizing the roads Zuffa has paved for MMA along with the superb quality of its products is an utter moron. However, in the end I'd like to slap the shit out any fan who roots for Zuffa to squash the smaller promotions and crush fighters' dreams.

Fan Type 6: " New Fans" This type of fan comes with a high level of enthusiasm but often offers too much insight in relation to thier knowledge of the sport. In other words, they love...love...love the sport, but don't know what the Hell they're talking about. They are a necessary type of fan though. Without them, demand for MMA will slow down. All fans should take the time to nurture new fans and educate them, as they are the backbone for potential growth. Be patient with this type of fan please!

Fan Type 7 "The Casual Fan" The water cooler guys who hook into TUF, Fight Nights, and go the bars to watch UFC ppvs. The WEC had caught on a lot with this type of fan, and shows on CBS have given some exposure to other organizations. Boy Elite XC came very close to misguiding MMA fans during thier CBS tenure though. (Thank you Seth Petruzelli, and no offense to Kimbo. I appreciate the interest Kimbo has generated in our sport.) This type of fan is extremely good for business and a complete necessity for MMA growths. A minority of this type of fan ends up becoming more serious and becoming one of the other types.

Fan Type 8: "The Internet Fan!" This type of fan is co morbid with at least one of the above types. I for example am an internet fan w/ a sprinkle of Fan Type 2 and possible others. I enjoy internet conversation about MMA. Sure many false rumors (RIP Kimo) are spread through cyber land, but I do believe the greatest place to learn about MMA in on the Internet by interacting with fans representing all of the above types.

Fan Type 9: "Juvenile Clown Fans" This type of fan usually does not compete at all or have any idea about what any actual combat sport it like. Next to their Ed Hardy shirts are all of their Tapout and Affliction duds. They may sport heavy tattoos like fighters, and they lurk around Internet forums looking to pick arguments with anyone who has a slightly different take on any subject MMA. These types of fans all secretly worship guys like John Cena and love Brock Lesnar for all the wrong reasons!

Fan Type 10: "The Die-hard" This type of fan eats, drinks, breathes, and shits MMA. They recognize that the sport doesn't grow without all the other types of fans. This fan is very pro-fighter and always looks out for fighters' best interests when forming their takes. This type of fan will also be quick to point out when fighters are being greedy or selfish and hurting the forward movement of the sport. This fan knows what is going on with the current MMA landscape and has the ability to not only offer insight, but to accept others. This type of fan is very rare, although most claim to be one. In all of my years posting on Internet forums, I have only come across a few. I can say with some degree of certainty that some of them have blogs on this site. I consider this type of fan to be the black belt of fandom. I'm not quite there myself upon serious introspection, but I eventually hope to be. The more of them our sport gets, the better off we're going to be.

Long Live MMA and All its fans!

Directv and VS make nice! UFC intervention?

As a MMA fan, about 8 months ago I was faced with a big decision. Time Warner decided to drop HD-Net from their programming schedule, and any die hard fan of MMA knows that HD-Net offers a treasure's trove of MMA programming. It was a no-brainer in regards to what my only alternative was

... Enter Directv.

I shelled out a good chunk of money to make the switch and ensure I got my weekly dose of Kenny Rice and Bas Rutten on Inside MMA along with Sengoku, Dream, M-1, and many other smaller promotion's shows. I was a relieved happy camper. Between Spike, HD-Net and VS I was able to pretty much watch MMA at any given time!

Enter...Murphy's Law.

Out of the blue Directv and VS fail to reach a contractual renewal agreement, and VS is dropped from regular programming. So much for WEC cards, and my big switch in cable providers ended up being pretty God-damned counter productive. Not to be deterred, I called Directv to voice my displeasure with this set of circumstances. Why all this prejudice regarding programming that features great MMA products. In the case of VS, NHL fans also felt the plight of the channel's absence from Directv programming. Throw in the fact that I love hunting shows, and I was fit to be tied. However, I was contractually bound to Directv and in the grand scheme of things, HD-Net would be harder to live with out than VS. I mean I love the WEC, but HD-Net with the Japanese cards, Inside MMA, and other smaller scale shows was still the better choice. There was no cable providing option that would offer me both. I missed Cowboy vs. Henderson, Cruz vs. Bowles, Benevidez vs. Torres, etc... Fans began really talking up the WEC shows, and I was beginning to wonder about my decision.

Enter...The UFC comes to VS

When I heard the Jon Jones and Brandon Vera main event fight night card was being shown on VS, I really began to seriously second guess my decision. As a hardcore MMA fan, I always pull for the smaller promotions and those that try to rise to share even a sliver of the stage with Zuffa. I am opposed to Zuffa's counter programming campaigns to ruin Affliction and now Strikeforce. However, there is no denying the force of the UFC and the quality of their product. When I found out I would now be missing UFC cards shown on VS, I felt literally punched in the solo plexus by these cable giants. I began to make plans to go watch the UFC card at a friends house.

Enter...Great news!

I am sitting here right now in front of the TV watching, of all things, Indy racing on .............VS. Oh, and I'm sitting on my couch in my house, and Directv is still my cable service provider. I didn't see this coming, but I have to tell you, it has made my day. The Treaty of Paris has nothing on this reconciliation in this fan's eyes!

I don't know much pertaining to the parameters of this new deal and negotiations. However, I don't believe that it's a coincidence that an agreement was reached the week before the UFC's promotional debut on VS. The ratings for this UFC show is projected to garner the largest ratings that the VS network has experienced . With staggering PPV and live gate profit, not to mention building the Spike Network pretty much single handedly, the UFC has become a major player in all network programming. There is no denying the demand for UFC programming. The WEC is a great product, and also Zuffa owned, but in realms of demand and popularity it isn't coming close to the UFC's numbers. These great quality WEC cards that I have missed out on with fight of the year candidates could not remedy the impasse. It took Zuffa's UFC bargaining chip to make the agreement work. Directv had to know that they were going to lose a lot of contracts with UFC programming on VS, and it's my belief that they are meeting VS demands more so than VS is meeting there's. I can't say that with a degree of certainty, but VS is without question on the up and up.

One thing I am wondering about is the Spike reaction to Zuffa airing a UFC event on VS. I'm thinking Spike executives can not be happy sharing their king pin program with another network. Perhaps the company's are inter-related? I'm not sure. I just know when money or "potential money" is missed out on in the business world, there is usually some sort of reaction or lashing out. Time will tell.

Anyway, I'm sure there will be a slight spike in my cable bill due to the re-addition of VS, and that's fine. In the meantime, I'll hold my breath and pray that Directv doesn't drop HD-Net now to make room for VS in their budget!

Cain Valesquez/Fedor Emelianko: Compare and Contrast

Let me start by giving big props to Budo and wishing him all the luck in the world with this endeavor. I'm very excited to be a part of it and in the company of so many other outstanding MMA writers.

Now before you all begin to ostracize me based on the title of my thread please hear me out. I am not likening Cain's accomplishments to date with those of The Russian Experiment, however, I will concede to putting the cart in front of the horse.

Cain Valesquez is an eloquent soft spoken, gracious human being. When asked recently on Inside MMA if he felt he deserved a title shot more than the Mir Carwin winner he replied, "No, those guys have done more than me and deserve it more." I beg to differ, but the point is that Cain is a Hell of a nice guy.

Fedor when asked about fellow fighters and potential match ups reserves judgment, never having a bad word to say about another fighter. So in my estimation, it's safe to say both fighters are pretty decent fellas.

Both fighters are very loyal to their origins. Fedor is an ambassador to his mother land of Russia and Stary Oskel where he surrounds himself with family and friends. He does not let his ego rise above his star. He remains very attached to his roots. Fedor also was a Russian soldier.

Valesquez was also queried about his "Brown Pride" tattoo that he has brandished across his chest in the same segment of Inside MMA. He went on to discuss his father risking the crossing from Mexico into the US and having to travel through Death Valley to give his kids a better life. He is proud to be Mexican and states growing up that the term "Brown Pride" was what motivated him and his loved ones when the chips were basically stacked against them. Now I realize that if Brock Lesnar replaced his dagger tattoo with a big "White Pride" tattoo, that it wouldn't fly. However, it is what it is. Cain represents a minority and anybody judging him based on that "ink" likely has not taken the time to listen to the man defend his stance. So while expressed differently, both Fedor and Cain have great pride in their ethnic backgrounds.

Now the above may seem like a reach. I mean shit, Marcus Davis is proud to be Irish, and he's a Hell of a nice guy too. The real comparison between Fedor and Cain for me lies in the way they fight. OK, Cain doesn't even have 10 fights, but talent of his caliber speaks for itself. I'll go ahead and bullet my observed likenesses.

• Recovery Powers: Fedor was clocked by Fujita and literally had his head spiked like a football by Randleman. He went on to end those fights within a minute each. Cain on the other end of it was hit with bulls eyes by Kongo and on his way down miraculously turned what looked like an inevitable knockdown into a double leg and brutalized the big Frenchman for 15 minutes.
• Killer instinct: Both fighters have an imminent sense of working feverishly to end the fight. When blood is smelled by these guys they become killers. The pace they can both fight at is mind boggling.
• Well rounded fighters: Fedor can beat nearly anyone standing or on the ground. There is no facet of the game that he is giving up a glaring advantage in. He rips arms off, pounds guys out, and KOs them. Cain, while not exhibiting any crazy submission skills so far, has become menacingly good on his feet. His fluency with his hands and his leg kicks were technique personified. He's only going to get better, which is scary.
• Neither man has been defeated. Now I completely acknowledge a decade of arguable dominance by Fedor. Regardless, there was a 5 year period when he crushed the best HWs in the world. As for the circus side show Japanese fights, well I'm of the rare fan who was impressed by them too. I don't believe Randy Cotoure could survive in full guard with a 350 lb Hong Man Choi bringing down leather.
• Size: Fedor and Cain are both undersized HWs.

There are some vast differences between the fighters. First of all, let's hope Cain's business sense and practices don't parallel those of Fedor and his Russian leash holders. Fedor is seemingly faster and his ground skills are just unbelievable from a submission perspective. If they were to fight right now, I'm confident Fedor would win. However, I believe that for where he's at in his career, Cain is capable of rising to equal heights. There is a lot of buzz around Valesquez. Every coach or insider who goes to AKA to watch him train comes out completely "WOWed!" Many are calling him the future of the division and state he is excelling at break neck speed.

I can't end this article without mention another HW force that comes from the Brazilian Black House camp. Junior Dos Santos could have likely been the topic of this piece. The man is young, hungry, and hits like a Mack truck. When asked about a title shot, he had previously stated he would concede a title shot if there was any chance at all that Big Nog was involved in title implication fights. So, it's safe to say Jr. has his priorities straight and is a decent human being as well. I'll be honest, the fight I want to see more than any in the world presently is Cain Valesquez and Junior Dos Santos. I almost pissed my pants in excitement just typing the sentence prior to this. That's a fight that will tell us a lot about the state of the division. Dana White, make it happen!

The HW division has become the most exciting MMA division in the past year and a half in my opinion. Fedor remains an enigma, Lesnar helped give the sport more exposure, and the new crop of talent and re surged vets including Carwin, Cain, Dos Santos, Mir etc are painting a very promising future. In the rear view mirror are fighters like Pat Barry and Todd Duffy. Lets not forget, we may get a Fedor vs Barnett or Overeem fight after Werdum as well. The HWs are bringing down the house!

So in closing, it's my belief that Cain Valesquez is going to separate himself from this pack of amazing HWs and is going to skyrocket into a top five pound for pounder in the next two years.

Thanks for reading-

Brewland