Chris Lytle (black trunks) and Dan Hardy (red trunks) are two of the most obvious examples of game fighters, those athletes who willingly gamble their health and career against the victory to give fans what they want. (Photo courtesy of Zuffa, LLC.)
It can read it on any MMA forum: “the sport is being taken over by wrestlers”, “fighters used to fight, now they play it safe”, “I miss PRIDE rules” (we all do, relax). Even veteran fighters such as “The Prodigy” BJ Penn (16-7-2) have voiced their displeasure with where the sport is supposedly headed. The pundits worry that the days of brawls at the center of the cage are over; overshadowed by collegiate and Olympic dynamos that stifle the brutish element of the sport they fell in love with. But what exactly is all the fuss about? A few more wrestlers? The sport has had plenty of wrestlers since its inception. What the sport needs are gamers. No, not the gamers that obsess over the next World of Warcraft map update. The gamers that MMA needs grit their teeth and plunge headfirst into battle with another fighter. And whether it’s nostalgia for the “glory days” of MMA or the odd disdain fight fans have grown for the ground game, the furrowed brows of MMA fandom have forgotten that regardless of style, gamers still exist in this sport. It just so happens that this past weekend’s UFC Live on Versus 5 brought this point home for fight fans of all persuasions, showing that gameness will trump fighting style any day. And the future of this sport is full of game fighters.
