Yahoo Sports writer Dan Wetzel on UFC vs Mayweather

[Krazikarl]

Um, those are dagreat1's response to the article. The actual article is in the first link. dagreat1 links that, then dedicates his post to a response. The response is biased and gets a bit ranty, but hes not a professional sportswriter and is trying to defend MMA specifically, so its really not too bad.

The real article doesnt say anything about MMA training.

[Afro]

Originally Posted by Krazikarl

Um, those are dagreat1's response to the article. The actual article is in the first link. dagreat1 links that, then dedicates his post to a response. The response is biased and gets a bit ranty, but hes not a professional sportswriter and is trying to defend MMA specifically, so its really not too bad.

The real article doesnt say anything about MMA training.

ahh my bad I Thought he was postin the article.

[Noob]

Originally Posted by Krazikarl

Um, those are dagreat1's response to the article. The actual article is in the first link. dagreat1 links that, then dedicates his post to a response. The response is biased and gets a bit ranty, but hes not a professional sportswriter and is trying to defend MMA specifically, so its really not too bad.

The real article doesnt say anything about MMA training.

Lol, I saw other people's posts and I thought I had missed something by thinking that the article and Dagreat's posts were two different things.

Thought I had it backwards for a few seconds.

[dagreat1]

Originally Posted by Krazikarl

Um, those are dagreat1's response to the article. The actual article is in the first link. dagreat1 links that, then dedicates his post to a response. The response is biased and gets a bit ranty, but hes not a professional sportswriter and is trying to defend MMA specifically, so its really not too bad.

The real article doesnt say anything about MMA training.

I'm definitely biased towards MMA and biased towards PRIDE.

If it were a boxing match or a jump rope competition, I'm taking Mayweather all day, but not in MMA with no training in any other aspect of combat aside from boxing.

[Afro]

Originally Posted by dagreat1

I'm definitely biased towards MMA and biased towards PRIDE.

If it were a boxing match or a jump rope competition, I'm taking Mayweather all day, but not in MMA with no training in any other aspect of combat aside from boxing.

but you do understand that UFC dominating the PPV buys over Boxing is pretty irrelevant considering that UFC makes all its money off of PPV, and Boxing shows a lot of there fights on HBO and Showtime right? and that Chuck Liddell is the equivelant of DLH.

[Bobcat1]

While one specific fighter may be better than another, the fact of the matter is that the whole argument is pointless. I mean, if we're comparing boxers to MMA fighters, - by definition, MMA includes boxing, so if there's a boxer who can beat the average MMA fighter, well, that makes him the Bo Jackson of boxing & MAA. More power to him. But, by definition, boxing cannot be a superior sport to MMA, because MMA includes it.

[Severn]

Originally Posted by dagreat1

Here is the link. Interesting read.

http://sports.yahoo.com/box/news;_yl...yhoo&type=lgns

I wrote Wetzel and this is what I had to say:

Mr. Wetzel, Regarding the Mayweather vs UFC article you wrote up, I am not sure how closely you follow the sport of MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) so I will give you some background on some of the fighters adding credibility to Dana White's stand on MMA vs Boxing and Mayweather vs ANY top caliber MMA fighter (Sherk is not even the best, he is merely the best in the UFC).

Also, this "Boxing vs MMA" matchup has already been done and this was well before the sport of MMA had evolved. It was a Muhammad Ali aka Cassius Marcellus Clay vs Antonio Inoki bout who was a pro wrestler versed in the art of grappling. This bout took place on June 25, 1976 and 2 days prior to the fight, Ali had the rules altered so that Inoki could only throw kicks if one of his knees were on the ground (obviously he was scared of the leg kicks as he should've been and this was apparently the result of Ali watching footage of an Inoki match just prior to the fight)
The link as follows:

http://209.85.165.104/search?q=cache...lnk&cd=1&gl=us

Ali suffered damage to both of his legs from the repeated low kicks from Inoki and those were thrown from his back. Simply put, Mayweather has no idea what would be in store for him if he were to step into an MMA cage or ring and fight any of the worlds best MMA fighters. Sherk would not even be the best candidate to expose the weaknesses in Mayweather, there are top caliber Light Weights in which are versed in Striking, Wrestling and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. These well versed fighters would use their takedowns to setup strikes and their strikes to setup takedowns. Mayweather would have basically a 1% chance of winning vs any of the top ranked LW fighters and whether or not he truthfully knows this has yet to be seen but he would find out pretty darn quick if he ever cared to step up which he will of course not because he just likes to talk.

MMA fighters are phenomenal athletes, they train up to 8 hours per day, 7 times per week and run upwards of 10 miles per day.. The days of the 1 trick pony are far behind us, you simply must be a well rounded/versed fighter in at least 3 aspects of MMA or you will be destroyed by someone who is. Those forms are Boxing or Muay Thai Kickboxing (Muay Thai is the more effective form IMO due to the kicks which are far more lethal than punches), Wrestling or Judo and Jiu Jitsu (this is needed to avoid being submitted via joint manipulation or submitted via strikes).

Take Jens Pulver, an MMA fighter for the UFC who left after winning the Light Weight Title in 2002. He became a professional boxer in 2004 and went 4-0 then got back into MMA and went over to Japan to fight in PRIDE (which ZUFFA now owns as well as the UFC) where he was absolutely decimated by Takanori Gomi who is a wrestler with phenomenal hand speed and vicious KO power. While Pulver was the more technical boxer/striker, the fact that it is MMA and you must watch for takedowns completely altered the fight. Pulver was knocked out in the opening round (PRIDE rules, 10 minute first round followed by 2 5 minute rounds, also PRIDE takes place in a ring and not a cage like the UFC). Pulver was also completely picked apart and knocked out when he faced Hayato Sakurai in PRIDE who has phenomenal Muay Thai kickboxing and incredible KO power in his hands and feet (and is very large for a LW as many of them cut 10+ lbs to make weight).

There is also Antonio Rogerio Nogueira who has been training boxing since the age of 6 (he is 31 years old now) and is the current Heavy Weight Brazilian Championship and the South American Games champion who is currently training for the Pan-American games. Granted his boxing is not on par with Mayweathers however there are professional boxers in MMA and if they were 1 dimensional and only used their boxing skills, they would get eaten alive in 49/50 fights.

There are Olympic Medalist Greco Roman Wrestlers in MMA ala Rulon Gardner (Olympic Gold Medalist who defeated the best Greco Roman wrestler in the history of the sport Aleksandr Karelin) Randy Couture, Matt Lindland and Dan Henderon (Kurt Angle is also trying to make a move into MMA) as well as NCAA National champions and these guys are not 1 dimensional fighters because they know they would get their butts handed to them and these athletes are as good at Greco Roman as Mayweather is at boxing.

Educate yourself on the sport of MMA, it is not going anywhere and dominates boxing in PPV buys. The only time boxing has massive PPV draws is when De La Hoya fights. The numbers do not lie, in 06 the UFC took 4 of the top 6 grossing PPV events including #1 with over 1 million PPV buys (Chuck Liddell vs Tito Ortiz).

Regards,
Honor_Among_Thieves

Doubt I get a reply from him but it's whatever.

Are all noobie sportswriters this ill-informed in regard to MMA?

Great letter man. Leaves me nothing else to say but kudos.

[dagreat1]

Originally Posted by Afro Samurai

but you do understand that UFC dominating the PPV buys over Boxing is pretty irrelevant considering that UFC makes all its money off of PPV, and Boxing shows a lot of there fights on HBO and Showtime right? and that Chuck Liddell is the equivelant of DLH.

UFC is on Spike and is going to be on MyNetwork TV so it has other means of finacial support other than the PPV buys and gate. With boxing not doing well with PPV buys, ultimately this will result in HBO and Showtime either dropping boxing from its network or adding the UFC, there is simply too much money to be made for HBO and/or Showtime not to jump on board. Now with ESPN covering MMA, their stock continues to soar while boxing continues to fall.

Chuck is the equivelant of DLH however so is Tito Ortiz, Randy Couture and St. Pierre. Each of those 4 top grossing PPV buys for 06 were with the above mentioned names (then add what Cro Cop is going to be bringing in). If DLH is not fighting, boxing sells next to nothing due to the hispanic community dominating the PPV buys so right there MMA has 4 huge names that sell 600,000 - 1,000,000 PPV buys when they headline and unless DLH and his 900,000 PPV buys are going to be fighting every month, boxing will be dominated indefinitely.

[Afro]

Originally Posted by dagreat1

UFC is on Spike and is going to be on MyNetwork TV so it has other means of finacial support other than the PPV buys and gate. With boxing not doing well with PPV buys, ultimately this will result in HBO and Showtime either dropping boxing from its network or adding the UFC, there is simply too much money to be made for HBO and/or Showtime not to jump on board. Now with ESPN covering MMA, their stock continues to soar while boxing continues to fall.

Chuck is the equivelant of DLH however so is Tito Ortiz, Randy Couture and St. Pierre. Each of those 4 top grossing PPV buys for 06 were with the above mentioned names (then add what Cro Cop is going to be bringing in). If DLH is not fighting, boxing sells next to nothing due to the hispanic community dominating the PPV buys so right there MMA has 4 huge names that sell 600,000 - 1,000,000 PPV buys when they headline and unless DLH and his 900,000 PPV buys are going to be fighting every month, boxing will be dominated indefinitely.

Ya so is Tito Randy and ST pierre true, but you gotta realise that Bhop brings in a ton of gates too, and he is the equivelant to a Randy Couture.

PBF is the equievelant to a Tito, difference is he is on the rise not on the decline

and I dont see how Boxing i snt doing well with there PPV buys, they run what? 5 PPV events a year and there highest paid one was 46 million which matched the UFCs highest paid event, The UFC had over 200 million total but they run ALL there main cards on PPV.

Boxing ran a ton of there best matchups on HBO and Showtime, and judging by the GATES and not the PPV buys.. there still doing well, they did very well in gates last year.

Reality is, ya MMA is doing better then Boxing and they got more draws

They got GSP, Liddell, Couture, Tito.. soon Cro-cop

Boxing has Bhop, DLH, and PBF but no Trinidad.. so MMA does have the edge there. But Boxing still does well in gates, and in PPVs. Not as well as MMA in PPVs, but as well in MMA in gates and there not going to get any lower, in fact this years matchups should do better then last years.

[Ramma]

Originally Posted by dagreat1

Here is the link. Interesting read.

http://sports.yahoo.com/box/news;_yl...yhoo&type=lgns

I wrote Wetzel and this is what I had to say:

Mr. Wetzel, Regarding the Mayweather vs UFC article you wrote up, I am not sure how closely you follow the sport of MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) so I will give you some background on some of the fighters adding credibility to Dana White's stand on MMA vs Boxing and Mayweather vs ANY top caliber MMA fighter (Sherk is not even the best, he is merely the best in the UFC).

Also, this "Boxing vs MMA" matchup has already been done and this was well before the sport of MMA had evolved. It was a Muhammad Ali aka Cassius Marcellus Clay vs Antonio Inoki bout who was a pro wrestler versed in the art of grappling. This bout took place on June 25, 1976 and 2 days prior to the fight, Ali had the rules altered so that Inoki could only throw kicks if one of his knees were on the ground (obviously he was scared of the leg kicks as he should've been and this was apparently the result of Ali watching footage of an Inoki match just prior to the fight)
The link as follows:

http://209.85.165.104/search?q=cache...lnk&cd=1&gl=us

Ali suffered damage to both of his legs from the repeated low kicks from Inoki and those were thrown from his back. Simply put, Mayweather has no idea what would be in store for him if he were to step into an MMA cage or ring and fight any of the worlds best MMA fighters. Sherk would not even be the best candidate to expose the weaknesses in Mayweather, there are top caliber Light Weights in which are versed in Striking, Wrestling and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. These well versed fighters would use their takedowns to setup strikes and their strikes to setup takedowns. Mayweather would have basically a 1% chance of winning vs any of the top ranked LW fighters and whether or not he truthfully knows this has yet to be seen but he would find out pretty darn quick if he ever cared to step up which he will of course not because he just likes to talk.

MMA fighters are phenomenal athletes, they train up to 8 hours per day, 7 times per week and run upwards of 10 miles per day.. The days of the 1 trick pony are far behind us, you simply must be a well rounded/versed fighter in at least 3 aspects of MMA or you will be destroyed by someone who is. Those forms are Boxing or Muay Thai Kickboxing (Muay Thai is the more effective form IMO due to the kicks which are far more lethal than punches), Wrestling or Judo and Jiu Jitsu (this is needed to avoid being submitted via joint manipulation or submitted via strikes).

Take Jens Pulver, an MMA fighter for the UFC who left after winning the Light Weight Title in 2002. He became a professional boxer in 2004 and went 4-0 then got back into MMA and went over to Japan to fight in PRIDE (which ZUFFA now owns as well as the UFC) where he was absolutely decimated by Takanori Gomi who is a wrestler with phenomenal hand speed and vicious KO power. While Pulver was the more technical boxer/striker, the fact that it is MMA and you must watch for takedowns completely altered the fight. Pulver was knocked out in the opening round (PRIDE rules, 10 minute first round followed by 2 5 minute rounds, also PRIDE takes place in a ring and not a cage like the UFC). Pulver was also completely picked apart and knocked out when he faced Hayato Sakurai in PRIDE who has phenomenal Muay Thai kickboxing and incredible KO power in his hands and feet (and is very large for a LW as many of them cut 10+ lbs to make weight).

There is also Antonio Rogerio Nogueira who has been training boxing since the age of 6 (he is 31 years old now) and is the current Heavy Weight Brazilian Championship and the South American Games champion who is currently training for the Pan-American games. Granted his boxing is not on par with Mayweathers however there are professional boxers in MMA and if they were 1 dimensional and only used their boxing skills, they would get eaten alive in 49/50 fights.

There are Olympic Medalist Greco Roman Wrestlers in MMA ala Rulon Gardner (Olympic Gold Medalist who defeated the best Greco Roman wrestler in the history of the sport Aleksandr Karelin) Randy Couture, Matt Lindland and Dan Henderon (Kurt Angle is also trying to make a move into MMA) as well as NCAA National champions and these guys are not 1 dimensional fighters because they know they would get their butts handed to them and these athletes are as good at Greco Roman as Mayweather is at boxing.

Educate yourself on the sport of MMA, it is not going anywhere and dominates boxing in PPV buys. The only time boxing has massive PPV draws is when De La Hoya fights. The numbers do not lie, in 06 the UFC took 4 of the top 6 grossing PPV events including #1 with over 1 million PPV buys (Chuck Liddell vs Tito Ortiz).

Regards,
Honor_Among_Thieves

Doubt I get a reply from him but it's whatever.

Are all noobie sportswriters this ill-informed in regard to MMA?

that was beautiful...