An MMA Primer For First-Time Viewers

By Rod Bourgoine


As far as sports go, MMA is still fairly new, but the roots of this sport go back many hundreds of years. Mixed martial arts is a sport that includes moves from the earliest Greco-Roman wrestling as well as martial arts from all over the world. This sport allows fighters to use a variety of skills to overcome an opponent, which makes MMA an exciting spectator sport. If you are new to the world of MMA, here are a few facts you should know.

First and foremost, don't confuse MMA with WWE. MMA is real, WWE is not. MMA fighters are actually competing against one another in real fights. If you want to watch a bunch of guys pretend to fight, head to a WWE event. If you want to see skilled athletes actually competing, then stick with mixed martial arts.

The mixed part of MMA is the idea that fighters can use a variety of different martial arts in order to win a bout. There is no one style required for MMA, but most fighters learn at least one of the following martial arts: Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Judo, Muay Thai, boxing, and different types of wrestling. Having a full arsenal not only provides you with offensive skills, but important defensive skills that allow you to escape from chokes and holds. So while you might have one style you favor, it is wise to master some other skills as well. There is a reason why Anderson Silva is so effective in a fight; he is a black belt in four different forms of martial arts.

Contrary to popular belief, it's not all about the UFC. There are several professional MMA organizations that hold competitions throughout the year. You hear a lot about the UFC, but you can see great fights from groups such as Bellator MMA. While UFC is certainly the most prominent organization, you can find smaller organizations and clubs where you can see live fights that are definitely worth the ticket price.

While sometimes an MMA fight can resemble a bloodbath, sanctioned MMA fights do have many rules. These rules, known as the Unified Rules of Mixed Martial Arts, protect fighters from suffering serious injuries. While deaths sometimes occur in unsanctioned MMA fights, there have been just three deaths resulting from sanctioned MMA bouts since the rules were put in place in 2001. To keep it in perspective, there are many dangerous sports with more fatalities, including skiing, boxing, bike racing and NASCAR.

There are plenty of other facts you'll need to learn, but you can start by simply watching some fights and reading some blogs and forums about the sport. If you want to take a look at some of the top names in the sport today and in the past, look up names such as Carlos Gracie, Royce Gracie, Randy Couture, Fedor Emelinenko, Anderson Silva, Vitor Belfort, BJ Penn, Matt Hughes and Georges St-Pierre just to name a few of the important figures in MMA.




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