At first it was tough guy contest viewed by men who could easily watch porn movies with no shame and probably few moral issues about shooting deer out of season. The first UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship) held in America was in 1993. A 176lbs skinny Brazilian came in with GI (Japanese word for Martial Arts uniform usually white) and proceeded to joint lock and choke his way to the victory over lesser skilled appointments. Everyone in the Octagon could do anything except, poke eyes, kick the groin area, or pull the cheek off the face (also known as fish-hooking to street fighters). Fast forward to UFC 94 and a week ago to Affliction's “Day of Reckoning” and you will see how the fan base has grown. In MMA (mixed martial arts) as in the rest of the world, sometimes the winners are losers and the losers have heart and character. There can be trash talking and disrespect going around these match-ups and sometimes it approaches pure nonsense and hype like other mainsteam sports. I would argue though, that the "ME FIRST I AM A BADDASS" isn't as widespread in MMA like in other sports. But, just like in real life, sometimes the cream rises to the top and you can see in actions and words, the warrior's spirit reside in some of these men. The first of these men is tops in the world at heavyweight and his name is Fedor Emelianenko. He is known as the Last Emperor, Fedor hails from Russia and they breed tough guys there. He's seems too chubby and jolly to be the most feared fighter in MMA. He transcends his sport by his easy going manner and quiet ways. Never trash-talking his opponents but always speaking politely about them and honoring them at every press conference. Weird to see modern warriors actually acting this way considering what thug-life antics plague other sports such as football and basketball. .
[ Draft ] On my birthday last Saturday (24th of January) Fedor knocked out another Eastern European Andre Arlovski from Belarus in the most dramatic knock-out in MMA to date. For the first time in his 30 fight history, it looked like the Last Emperor was going to have trouble winning this fightr. Usually, Fedor is usually so dominant so early in a fight it really doesn't seem far to his counterpart accross the ring. *Fedor has one loss, however, it was an elbow that looked like a punch to the referee cutting Fedor on the brow. The bout was stopped because of the bleeding. Since the bout took place in Japan, their audience doesn't like blood so they stopped the fight too soon. All discerning fans agree that Fedor is really undefeated.* Andre went in for a flying knee after pushing Fedor into the corner of the ring and the man from Belarus was viciously knocked out while he was still air-born. He landed head first into the canvas and the fight was over. Fedor threw only one punch in the first round and it won the fight in spectacular fashion. One of the best parts of the event was the aftermath. No excuses came from Andre's mouth. He said it was his fault because he didn't stick to the simple and affective game plan that he and his trainer had mapped out for the fight. A game plan that was working beautifully until his head crashed into the canvas, a result from his fool hardy flying knee. He said he wasn't disciplined and that, if he were, he may have won. Wow, honesty in defeat. You don't see it very often. It is a sign of a warrior. And Fedor, as the press tried heroically to goad him into a harsh comment about his adversary, he calmly stated that Andre had very fast hands and that he didn't feel he was in danger, that Andre had hit him but that the fight seemed even to him. He thought his knock-out was a matter of a little luck and keying on his opponents tendency to throw that knee early in fights, when Andre had opponents against the cage or on the ropes. It was refreshing to see the loser realizing his mistake and only blaming himself for his loss. And the winner, not bad mouthing or proclaiming his dominance, say that it was a little matter of luck and timing that gave him his victory. These examples are all throughout MMA. I think the reason is that men who pursue martial arts have to deal with truth on a regular basis. Improvement is the key stagnation is the disease in this sport. The good ones always come back and the great ones always find a way to win. I'll get to the rest of this tomorrow.......
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