[CaptainCrunch]

Originally Posted by Locke

I was having a intellectual debate with an associate the other day, and the 'fad' of MMA arose. Now, I'm no fight fan by any means, I dont really care for UFC or Boxing, but my associate was extolling upon me the virtues of MMA and UFC.

For some reason I've really lost interest in the fight game, whether boxing or ultimate/mma/whatever. I remember watching the first ever UFC which I think featured the Shamrock vs Gracie super fight. For two guys that were suppossed to hate each other they sure looked like they were doing it. I think thats why the standup rule came into effect. But the one thing that I remember from the first one was that the fighters had character, they weren't generic toughguys. There was the fat guy who invented his own fighting art. There were the continaul low blows. Today its pretty colorless too me.

Originally Posted by Locke

Now, first of all, he was somewhat incensed that some people consider it a fad. Apparently it is the premier up and coming sport that shall define our times.

Your right, we live in an extreme society. Boxing dosen't fill that need, wresting is just dumb now, this sport is suppossed to bridge that gap. But god help us when our kids start imitating that sport. But I don't think it will define our times until it becomes even more out there. They did too good a job of covering up their steroid scandal for example.

Or some such nonsense at any rate.

Originally Posted by Locke

Now, I dont consider two half naked dudes in a cage about to get it on as a form of reliable entertainment. I mean, this event could go either way, they could kill each other or they could find instant, intense passionate love.

See Shamrock vs Gracie, I remember watching that fight with a couple of buddies, and after the first 40 minutes of the "loving embrace" I turned to a friend and told him that I felt grossed out. You compare that to the Mike Tyson vs Buster Douglas fight that Tyson lost for the first time, and that had everything that a guy could want. Great buildup, not much science but a lot of punches, and Douglas to his credit took a ton of damage and fought through it. Sadly heavy weight boxing is on the decline due to a stable of good fighters.


I for one, am not willing to take the risk that the latter might occur and tune in to find out.

Originally Posted by Locke

Now, my rational and well thought out argument was that it cannot be considered a premier sport for the ages unless it can be made into a "Rocky" film.

Rocky 8: The Italian Stallion Meets the Octagon

Alright, promising premise, I'll grant you that. But can you see The Italian Stallion's ancient ass getting into Ultimate Fighting? Will he be trained by the ghost of Mickey and the Zen-like re-incarnations of Pauly and Apollo Creed?

but, but Rocky did beat Hulk Hogan is a sort of MMA style brawl after Paulie cut off his gloves with a switch blade.

Originally Posted by Locke

This brings us to the question of whether or not Ghost Mickey even knows anything about MMA and whether or not he can get 'Rock' through this one final challenge. I for one, have my doubts.

Furthermore, there are precious few Russian machines in UFC. He'd probably end up fighting a French guy. Now, I can get into watching a french guy get worked, but lets be honest here, French fighters are hard to take seriously.

Believe me, the next step in MMA is to invent characters, same with UFC. The fights will still be legit, but the build up and the hype created by interviews has to be better, and capture the imagination of Joe six pack ######.

Originally Posted by Locke

I would then suggest that, if the Villain sucks, it cannot be viably made into a Rocky Film and thus is not a premiere sport.

It was then brought to my attention that a recently released Rocky Film, "Rocky Balboa" came out with a pure weaksauce villain. Did anyone know about this? How was this allowed to happen? Did Sly have some serious bills to pay that "The Contender" couldnt cover?

Frankly, I liked Rocky Balboa, the villian was Antonio Carver who looked the part, but they gave him a ton of humility so that he wasn't a cookie cutter, but a legit champion trying to get out from Rocky Balboa's large shadow. I don't think he was a weak villian, in fact, I really don't think he was a villian at all. He was a boxer and a good one who didn't want to show up Rocky or crush him or humiliate him, he just wanted to be better then him.

I enjoyed the movie, I thought it was far better then anything after Rocky 2.