This isn’t going to be a traditional Spilled Bag of Fights as much as a counter-point to Dan Griffin’s piece “Did MMA Fans’ Pessimism Overshadow Success of UFC on FOX?” I don’t know how much of Dan’s perspective was based on who he follows on Twitter and how much was inspired by Dana White’s derisive comments towards fans who criticized the event. However, one comment that Dan used about some fans saying that first time MMA viewers might think, after watching Cain Velasquez vs. Junior Dos Santos was, “This is just like boxing with smaller gloves.” That’s almost verbatim of a tweet I made Saturday night so, I feel obliged to respond. Speaking to that particular point Dan says, this ignores that new fans have the internet or other means to find out that MMA consists of a great deal more. However, we’re not talking about “new fans” who likely know what MMA is but rather the curious non-fan that is curious enough to watch but not research MMA. And while even those people likely know that MMA is not just boxing, that’s still the impression they’d be left with if that was the first MMA fight they’ve seen. Continue reading »
