If there’s one thing in sports that I can’t stand it’s when the older guys shoot their mouths off about how the sport has evolved, and how things were so much better back in the glory days, and how today’s athletes don’t know how good they have it, blah, blah, blah.
DAN SEVERN JUST DOESN’T FUCKING GET IT
UFC Hall of Famer Dan Severn wrote a piece in his latest newsletter that talks about the old UFC and the new UFC. Well, it starts out that way.
“There is a whole new audience to the UFC since the debut of the “Ultimate Fighter” show that started in January of 2005. There are many names from the MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) that are currently known: Matt Hughes, Randy Couture, Forrest Griffin, Chuck Liddell, and Rich Franklin just to name a few, but there was a different era known as NHB (No Holds Barred) with different names, different roles, 8 man tournaments, no weight classes, no time periods, and no gloves. I am asked on many occasions what do I think of the current UFC show, the athletes, the rules, etc. My answers are: The athletes are by far more well rounded and not single discipline based as in the beginning. The Rules: only two in the beginning, but many now which are to please some athletic commissioners, some politicians, and last but not least to protect the athlete’s themselves.”
Translation: I miss the good ol’ days.
You can tell Dan appreciates what the new guys are doing, but it’s not how he likes to fight.
“As for the current UFC product I am a little mixed on feelings here. It is an exciting product, but that is because many of the matches are spending more time on their feet as opposed to being on the mat. It’s not because of a decline in grappling ability… it’s because the athlete’s are wanting to stay employed or involved. They (the athlete’s) know that if their match is not exciting they will not be asked back. The UFC is the biggest, and best-known MMA Company in the United States and they (The UFC) are dictating policy to the athlete’s.”
Translation: UFC fans got sick and tired of watching old farts like me dry-humping my opponent for thirty minutes, so things had to change before the company went out of business.
Dan seems angry about the way UFC does business now. I’ll be honest, it was watching guys like Severn, and early Gracie fights, that ruined the sport for me in the 90s. By the way, Dan also has no idea that “athletes” does not have an apostrophe.
“Flash to the past: 1996… Cobo Hall arena in Detroit Michigan… the super bout between Ken Shamrock and myself takes place for a second time before a sell out crowd of approximately 10,000 people. What was hyped up and promoted was not delivered. Many claimed the match as one of the most boring bouts ever. I on the other hand would disagree. I felt that it was one of the most well thought out psychology matches that relied on the very fact that the crowd was not going to like the match. With the crowd becoming restless, booing, chanting redwings and other assorted verbs, etc. How was that going to affect the athletes?”
Translation: Fuck the fans.
Dan is speaking of UFC 9: Motor City Madness, the most incredibly boring main event in history. He’s actually proud of the fact that he bored people to tears for thirty minutes. What an asshole.
“It did not affect me at all, but that is because I had hoped it would happen in the first place. Shamrock, on the other hand, started getting anxious and talking to me saying, “Come on.” I thought to myself “I would bring it to you, or you could bring it to me… I don’t care because I have nothing but time to kill.” This was the first of the UFC events where there had been time limitations placed on a match. This strategy worked to keep Shamrock more on edge. I went on to win that bout and seal my name in the history of NHB by becoming the only Triple Crown Winner.”
Translation: My fighting style, like my personality, can actually bore people into submission. Fuck the fans, and Ken Shamrock.
In Severn’s defense, the Michigan Athletic Board of Control tried to shut down UFC 9 just weeks before it took place. The UFC was forced to adhere to some incredibly silly rules for this event, such as open-handed strikes only, and no pressure point strikes. During the Superfight, when Severn wasn’t dry-humping Shamrock, the two were slapping each other like two 10 year old girls. However, I think even if these rules had no been in place, Severn would have used the exact same strategy.
“Flash to the present: 2006… Just two weekends ago I was in Loveland Colorado for yet another MMA match. My opponent was Victor Vincelet – standing 6’1″ – weighing in at 262 lbs. – He is a brawler from Rhode Island. It has been a decade since I first began my NHB to MMA career. I am the oldest (at 47) most active MMA fighter on the scene today. Once again the match did not begin as most would want a match to begin and my opponent became uneasy as the audience grew impatient. The match lasted about 2 minutes and I walked away the victor adding to my 4,000 plus career match record. I will not allow the crowd to dictate what I should do. When I am in a cage giving up an average of 15-20 plus years I am not shaken by any crowd. I only think to myself, ‘What would you do IF you were in my shoes?'”
Translation: I’m pushing 50, yet I’m still fighting. I’m also still using the same boring style I used ten years ago. This is exactly why you never see me in the UFC anymore. In closing, f*ck the fans.
Look, I admire Dan Severn for still competing, and his 68-13-7 MMA record is impressive, but he would have to pay me to watch him fight. Looking over his record, the last guy he fought that I actually know was Justin Eilers, in 2002, and I hadn’t even heard of Eilers back then. Like Jeremy Horn, his record is impressive on paper, but his last big “name” win was probably over Shamrock at UFC 9 (he did come to a draw with the likes of Kimo, Jeremy Horn, and Pat Miletich in the years that followed).
To answer Dan’s question, “What would you do IF you were in my shoes?” I would retire, Dan. I would have bowed out gracefully before turning into the old man bitching about how things were “in my day,” and yelling at the kids to “get the hell outta my cage.”
Some people are so terrified by change that they force themselves to cling on to the past, insisting that the way they did things then is the only way to do them. I can understand Dan’s fondness for the early days of UFC, as he was one of the originals, but times have changed, and if you can’t adapt, you become obsolete. Being in your forties is not an excuse to bore the ever living shit out of people.
Somebody get Randy Couture on the phone. I want to see if Captain America has one more fight in him.
