Milwaukee Journalist Did Not Enjoy Cageside Seat
Jake Rossen Apr 6, 2010
It’s not the fighter’s fault, but there is a clumsiness and
haphazard movement to MMA that can appear downright awkward at
times. This is not a reflection of talent or training, but the
necessity for participants to worry about a half-dozen variables
where most athletes only have to worry about one or two. It’s
usually only about the punch, the sack, or hitting the ball: in
MMA, you have to worry about the left, the right, the high kick,
the low kick, the tackle, the elbow, and the occasional spinning
kick to the liver. Navigate all that and maybe you’ll be rewarded
with a knee to the pouch.
The point is that the sport can be a blender of styles even at a high level. At the regional floor, it can look like a hot mess.
Journalist Dave Begel’s first exposure was to the latter. In a column written for OnMilwaukee, Begel describes attending something called the North American Fighting Championships. He walked away unimpressed with “sissykickers” and declared an average offensive tackle to be tougher than anyone he saw that night -- ultimately stripped of his superficial impression that the sport was garishly violent and instead thought it boring.
Begel is a big boxing fan, apparently, and once made romantic reference to Muhammad Ali knocking out Sonny Liston as an example of fighting sport as it should be. A curious example, since Liston was accused to have thrown the fight and Ali later wound up virtually mute and brain-damaged from the abuse he had suffered.
There is a strange sterility in both football and boxing that seems to placate people who would otherwise moan at the blood and hematomas on display in mixed martial arts. Horrific, life-changing concussion is okay when there are no outward signs of injury; punch a guy while he’s down or open a cut on his forehead and suddenly people get morals. What a strange world.
The point is that the sport can be a blender of styles even at a high level. At the regional floor, it can look like a hot mess.
Journalist Dave Begel’s first exposure was to the latter. In a column written for OnMilwaukee, Begel describes attending something called the North American Fighting Championships. He walked away unimpressed with “sissykickers” and declared an average offensive tackle to be tougher than anyone he saw that night -- ultimately stripped of his superficial impression that the sport was garishly violent and instead thought it boring.
Begel is a big boxing fan, apparently, and once made romantic reference to Muhammad Ali knocking out Sonny Liston as an example of fighting sport as it should be. A curious example, since Liston was accused to have thrown the fight and Ali later wound up virtually mute and brain-damaged from the abuse he had suffered.
There is a strange sterility in both football and boxing that seems to placate people who would otherwise moan at the blood and hematomas on display in mixed martial arts. Horrific, life-changing concussion is okay when there are no outward signs of injury; punch a guy while he’s down or open a cut on his forehead and suddenly people get morals. What a strange world.
