Monday night saw Pride Fighting Championships present their tenth Bushido show on American pay-per-view, an event which has found its niche in providing a showcase of spectacular fast-paced fighting action.
With each contest scheduled for only fifteen frantic minutes, referee’s encouraged to quickly return combatants to a standing position if there is the merest lull in action on the ground and the innovative yellow card system where a fighter who is employing spoiling tactics is shown a card and docked ten percent of his pay, it is very rare to see a boring Bushido bout.
‘Pride’s little brother’ is consistently home to a glut of exciting contests and thus is arguably the pinnacle of combat sport and a long way from the early days of the Ultimate Fighting Championships – the era when the brutal term ‘No-holds-barred’ was banded about and ‘mixed-martial-arts’ didn’t exist.
The goal of the first UFC in 1993 was to create as realistic a fighting environment as possible and pit fighters of different backgrounds against one another in the hope of determining which style of combat was the most effective in a real fight. Creating the ultimate sporting contest was not the initial goal of the promoters, hence the infinite time limit allowed for all fights and the minimalist rules where contests could only end by knock out or submission.
In the past, every combatant taking part in fighting competitions typically represented one martial art, yet in the 13 years since the sport has essentially progressed into being centred around one single style of combat; mixed-martial-arts.
However, are those currently at the top of the MMA tree still the best ‘fighters’ in the World?
What we are faced with now is a sport designed to be as entertaining as possible in order to make as much money as is feasible – a fact perfectly illustrated by the Bushido events.
Rules are based on not helping to accurately determine who is the best combatant, rather the regulations help ensure the fights are not tedious, keeping the fans coming back and guaranteeing all important pay-per-view sales.
As a result, the already contentious issue of establishing the best way to judge a fight fairly has become even more clouded with competitors often rewarded for what they do, rather than how well the do it and the impact it has.
A case in point is the recent contest between BJ Penn and Georges St. Pierre at UFC 58, where Pierre won the bout via a split decision but was clearly the fighter who looked the worse for ware at the end of three rounds after Penn scored a number of telling shots in the opening five minutes.
In the eyes of a hardcore fan watching the bout as a sport, St. Pierre was a worthy winner but let’s consider the point of view of the casual observer who would arguably judge the winner of the contest based on who looked the fresher at the final bell.
There is an old saying that he who wins the battle may not have won the war. In mixed-martial-arts, perhaps it is the case that he who wins the sporting contest may not have won the fight.
This point is extended further when one pontificates over the forthcoming fight between Royce Gracie and Matt Hughes at UFC at UFC 60.
Sporting wise, Hughes is the clear favourite based on his superior ability in the three phases of combat: stand-up, clinch and ground, but if the meeting of the American and Brazilian MMA legends was to be a fight, who would win?
Arguably Hughes may still end up victorious, but undoubtedly Gracie would have a far stronger chance of winning because he would be able to compete to his strengths and the power of his main delivery system; Jiu-Jitsu.
Royce’s father, Grandmaster Helio Gracie has admitted his disappointment at Jiu-Jitsu becoming too focussed on sport and it only serves to show that the MMA events which we watch today are a long way from the ethos of martial arts which is to protect the practitioner through self defence.
Participants in MMA are no longer mere fighters, but rather they are athletes performing at the height of a carefully governed sport and therefore perhaps it is unfair to attach the term martial arts to events such as Bushido because of the draconian overtures the term sets off.
Undoubtedly the phrase ‘MMA’ must remain as the sport is on the cusp of seeping into the mainstream consciousness and marketing anything more than one term would be foolish and confusing.
But perhaps it is time to remove the word ‘Arts’ and replace it with ‘Athletics’ – a far truer representation of the place in the development of the sport that we know find ourselves at.
Given the ever evolving nature of MMA, utilising a dynamic name is not a problem and while it would be a miniscule change in the eyes of some, the added meaning it would give to the sport is arguably massive.
If you are sill unconvinced, think of this. When you finish watching Bushido 10, however you may see it, think of whether you have just watched a night of fights or a legitimate, athletic, sporting contest?
The answer will be in the action.
