Topic: Any MMA Fans here?

Does anybody on here like MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) watches MMA Fights (UFC, Bellator, OneFC, Legacy, etc) or train in any martial arts themselves?

I became an MMA fan after watching Griffin vs Bonnar but as the years go by I seem to watch less and less. A few years ago I went to a few local events where I saw some guys that have now fought in the UFC and Bellator such as the Ellenberger brothers, Drew Dober, Brian Houston, and Mirsad Bektic which was pretty cool.

Nice. Griffin and Bonnar was an epic slugfest. Brian Houston, Jake and Joe Ellengerger and Drew Dober I'm familiar with. I believe Drew is facing Jamie Varner on the next UFC on Fox Card in December. Jake is facing Kelvin Gastelum on UFC 180 in Mexico. I've only trained exclusively in BJJ for the past two years (currently purple belt) but I would like to try my hand at some boxing or Muay Thai in the future.

My dad watches it quite a bit, but I really haven't grown into it myself. It seems like it has quite a bit to go before it matures as a sport IMO (if that makes sense).

I used to be a huge fan (first PPV I watched live was UFC 17) and I used to order copies of Japanese MMA events on VHS tape back in the late 90's-early 2000's as well, but I'm not so into it right now.

There are just too many events now (sometimes 3-4 UFC's in a single month) and I can't keep up. A lot of the cards are watered down two, with maybe one or two can't miss fights, and the rest is filled with nobodies. I still watch all the big events if I can, but don't mind skipping lesser ones now.

I've been to three UFC's, 87, 129 and 140. I consider myself pretty lucky in terms of who I have seen fight live. Lesnar, GSP X 2, Jones X 2 (including his first fight), Couture, Ortiz, Nogueria (both of em), Aldo, Rory Macdonald and Nate Diaz.

I can't stand what MMA has become. I use to watch UFC back when it started, the Gracie/Shamrock fights were some of the best ever but after UFC 15 or so it got to commercial and too many rules were added now its just a mockery of why it was started. Now for me it falls in the same category as boxing two guys with no skill just beating the crap out of each other. If I want to see that I will just go to my local bar or something like that.

To answer the second part of your question I use to take martial arts when I was younger, I have practiced the following styles

Tae Kwon Do — Black Belt
Pwang Gai Noon Ryu Karate — Green Belt
Okinawan Kobudo (Weapons training like Nunchuck, Bo, Sai, Tonfa etc.) — Yellow Belt
Tai Chi

I really liked the Karate and Kobudo training the best because it was tradition Okinawan style and the instructors trained us the same way they were trained in Okinawa. Only reason I stopped was because the Dojo moved to another city and I had no way of getting there.

I hope you didn't type that with a straight face!! What a load of crap! How could you have been a fan of the early UFC's, which basically were just brawls featuring mostly non-athletes and beer bellied guys (which can still be entertaining) and then lost total interest after more rules were instituted?? Between 2000-2011 some of the greatest fights in the history of MMA took place. You missed out. And calling boxing "two guys with no skills beating the crap out of each other"??!! Boxing is the most technical of all the striking arts! They don't call it the "sweet science" for nothing.

Yes I did type that with a straight face. I would hardly call Royce Gracie, Ken Shamrock, Marco Raus, and Oleg Taktarov beer bellied. In fact the only bear bellied one I can remember from the older UFCs was Tank Abbot. And of course they were Non-athletes they were martial artists.

I watch it on and off. Most recently i been watching all of the early Pancrase events. im currently in the 1995 year. Ken Shamrock just won the title. Pancrase started a few months before the UFC did but i noticed it was more wrestling and strikes based.

Bas Rutten was amazing to watch in Pancrease. Ken was too. It still surprises me how he was able to handle Bas twice!

Interesting. I still wish they would finish their rivalry Ken and Royce I mean. I would definitely watch that now since they're both legends. You should try watching Lion Fights (Muay Thai) or Glory (Kickboxing). A lot of those guys (and girls) have very good stand up skills and it's a blast to watch. Whats the difference between Shotokan Karate and Pwang Gai Noon Karate if you don't mind me asking?

@polivar4: Well the simple answer is Shotokan Karate is a Japanese style of Karate while Pwang Gai Noon Ryu is an Okinawan style. (Technically Okinawan is part of Japan but the people of Okinawa don't consider themselves part of Japan). Shotokan is a more evolved form of another Okinawan Style called Shorin-ryu. Pwang Gai Noon Ryu has changed very little since it's creation.

A better history and explanation can be found here

http://traditionaljapanesemartialarts.com/PGNR/index.html