SPORTS DOCTOR- MMA stoppage: Underhanded ploy or act of mercy?

There's no point in comparing mixed martial arts to boxing. I could never convince the new wave of fight fans that the MMA is a brutal excuse to slice someone's cheek with a quick shin across the face, lacking poetry, dignity, and form. 

But blood and pus don't require dignity.

This past weekend MMA fans got a taste of what boxing aficionados have been trying to spit out for decades: the controversial stoppage. Despite lying on the canvas and being beaten on the head for over a minute, Kimbo Slice emerged victorious 38 seconds into the third round. Newark still reverberates with the boos.

Let this boxing fan give you MMA, UFC, and K1 fans some advice: first, if your sport's biggest fight takes place in Newark, you have some explaining to do; second, if you boo the stoppage and not the decision, you need serious psychiatric care.

Kimbo Slice's win isn't what prompted the 8,000 MMA fans in attendance to spit and spew filth. His opponent, James Thompson– reputedly an easy knockout– flurried well on the floor, but he had to, since while standing he was utterly destroyed.

Hey, wait a minute– he was standing? And the fight was stopped? What kind of unjustified, bogus, underhanded decision was that? Let me get out my personalized stationary so I can write my congressman.

The MMA obviously gets its referees from Old School Fightland, a pastoral place where protecting fighters is a primary concern. Don't these refs know that such protection is contrary to the MMA's philosophy? What's next, silver spittoons?

James Thompson was still standing in the third round, albeit a bit lopsided. He couldn't help but list, as his left ear would need a warning if it were shown on the Discovery Channel. Cauliflower ear is nothing new, but in all my years of watching boxing, I've never seen such a horror show.

You probably haven't seen an ear like Thompson's either. People with gangrenous ears are usually in the hospital. If Mike Tyson had bitten Thompson's ear, he would be six feet under, a victim of staph or MRSA or whatever lives in that liter of pus. 

Controversial stoppage? If this had been boxing, the fight never would have started. One look at James Thompson and any self-respecting coordinator, trainer, or referee would have put the kibosh on the bout posthaste. But there's little to no room for self-respect in the MMA.

Mixed martial arts may have begun as a tribute to the Greek pankration and Bruce Lee, but today it's devolved into a Soviet cigarette: sawdust, asbestos, and who knows what else on the inside. 

Despite the MMA's claim that it showcases martial arts for real unarmed combat situations, one would be hard-pressed to identity any Jiu-Jitsu, karate, or wrestling moves in a bout. A kick does not karate make, and although Jiu-Jitsu works well on the ground, it doesn't usually involve flailing at someone's head.

When I talk to MMA fans and they tout its superiority to boxing, they always fall back on the argument that it's more real. MMA fighters are superior, not inferior, because they don't have that whole "man vs. himself" thing to consider. It's man vs. man, and the only thing that would make it more real is if someone died at the end.

Neither Kimbo Slice nor James Thompson died, and that's really why those 8,000 fans are still grumbling in the New Jersey streets. They don't care who won; they care about the stoppage. That Thompson was so punch-drunk he took a swing at the referee only meant that he was near the end, and the end is the whole point.

The referee claims he didn't want the fighters to get hurt, so he stopped the fight. For all intents and purposes, getting hurt is the MMA's bread and butter. Whatever hurts the most sells. If an ear explodes, fine. Being unable to defend one's self isn't a reason to stop; it's a reason to throw that final blow.

If I were an MMA fan, I might be angry too. I'd want the fight to end with someone's being a bloody unconscious smear. I'd also be a sociopath who paid good money for the privilege.



"if your sport's biggest fight..."

This was very far from the sports biggest fight. You obviously don't know what you're talking about.

Watch the UFC and Anderson Silva to see real MMA.

First off MMA fan, you freaking UFC/TUF brainwashed nuthugger, go back to Sherdog with your nuts little squirrel !

There IS MMA outside the UFC, and great fighters outside it, even though I'm not saying anything about the quality of talent in EliteXC.

Use Fedor as an example, don't come here you UFC monkey and kid and tell us to watch UFC.

Screw the UFC and Dana White, suck my Man-Meat and drown in it's life-giving milk, becasue hell, the author is right.

You guys, the UFC audience, the demographic EliteXC craves for, is well-established -- retarded white trash and WWE fans, so dumb and bloodthirsty and poor I laugh at the hordes of beasts you low-class buffoons are.

Go to Cameldog for real debate TUFers, and bow before legends !

Oh, the writer is a tool too.

Its quite obvious that you know very little about the sport of MMA. You can hate all you want about last weeks MMA event, but it was just that a single MMA event. Mind you it was the most watched fight on television with over 6 million viewers. But did you think that maybe the doctors and referees were being cautious. This is the first time the sport has ever been on national TV. It would be in the best interest of everyone to make sure nothing serious happened to any of the fighters. So the referees and doctors probably always acted with the fighters best interest. James Thompson said himself he was rocked from the beginning of the 2nd round on. Sure it wasn't the best time to start the fight but the referee is there to protect the fighters first and foremost. You and I were not in the ring, neither are we qualified to determine the state of a fighter. That is the referee's job.

As for not seeing any real skill displayed in the fights. Are you serious? First of all the fact that you mention Karate is hilarious. Karate is not one of the major disciplines used in MMA. George St Pierre, Chuck Lidell, and Lyoto Machida all come from a karate background. However, Lyoto Machidia is the only person who's style is primarily based around Karate. The main striking disciplines in MMA are boxing and Muay Thai. The primary ground disciplines are Brazilian Jujitsu and wrestling (traditional and greco roman). If you watch any two high level fighters you will see a wealth of moves from all the disciplines. Watch any Anderson Silva fight to see the beauty of the striking in MMA. Watch Shinya Aoki for a lesson in the ground game and how great jujitsu really is.

Please watch some more MMA before you write a blog like this. You base your opinions on a single fight. And really it ruins your arguments.

I didn't actually watch the Kimbo Slice fight on Saturday night, but having watched MMA since the very first UFC, I would like to address some of the points the author made.

1. This was nowhere near the biggest event in MMA. It did happen to receive a huge share of television ratings, but this probably has more to do with the fact that so few people actually watch TV on Saturday night than the popularity of this particular event.

2. MMA is safer than boxing. One of the reasons for this is the quickness of the referees to stop a fight when they feel the fighters are in danger.

3. Only a true novice would be unable to identify karate (Lyoto Machida), judo (Karo Parisyan), Wrestling (Matt Hughes) or Ju-jitsu(Kenny Florian) in a match.

4. Ju-jitsu and judo's roots involve striking, but these are removed from competition and aggressive training for safety. This was the greatest reformation that Jigoro Kano made, and what has propelled martial arts into the mainstream in the last century.

As a whole, this article reflects poorly upon both Ms. Giles credibility as a journalist and the editorial staff of the Hook.

Why do people new to MMA feel they need to write about it? Just cause you saw one fight doesn't make you an expert. It took me several events to fully understand the sport and even more events just to understand which fighters were seen as better and why.

EliteXC was more of a "showcase" and not a legitimate MMA event. Kimbo=corporate creation. It's already been exposed no need to argue about it. He might be good against people on the street but there are trained fighters out there.

Watch the Fedor vs Sylvia Affliction event. Thats going to be real MMA.