Anyone else simply can't stand them? All the booing when fighters go to the ground. You just get the impression that most of the people who go to the arena are ignorant, uneducated and just blood-thirsty. Yes I'm singling out American fans because I've noticed when UFC goes abroad, to places like, for example, Australia, the crowd always has such a much more positive atmosphere and seem to really appreciate what they're watching no matter what is happening. I'm the same... I appreciate MMA for what it is - MIXED martial arts. The clue's in the name. Some fights are gonna be pure boxing/kickboxing, some are gonna be like last night, pure wrestling. Some are gonna be a mix of both. I love the variety of each fight. Yes, we all love to see a good old tear-up, I get it. But I feel like the people inside the arenas are watching the wrong sport. It's a real shame that Muay Thai hasn't been promoted properly in the West, as I feel like that is what these guys should be watching. It's MMA without the ground game, surely that would be heaven for them. They could "Americanise" it and get rid of all the Thai traditional stuff, like the music etc... it absolutely puzzles me why someone hasn't tried to make it take off. Look at the success of BKFC... and even stupid slapfighting is somehow more popular in America than Muay Thai, crazy. It's like Americans don't even know it exists.
One FC is trying. The problem with One FC Friday night fights is it is on in the morning in the US. 4oz glove Muay Thai is really my favorite combat sport at this point. Friday night fights is just ridiculous wars as almost the standard fight. There is some strange thing in American culture though too with this. I know a few people that watched Demetrious Johnson vs Rodtang, who love watching wars but can't be bothered to look up Rodtang fights. There has always been this thing in America and MMA of who would win in a "street fight". Because MMA fighters would probably beat Seksan or Rodtang in a "street fight" then it isn't worth watching somehow. Even though every fight from both those guys is always going to be what the American crowd hopes the MMA fight turns into. If One FC can't get this to take off in America with Rodtang, Superlek and Stamp it is just not going to happen. I am not very hopeful. Americans want to see guys like Chimaev because that is who would win in a "street fight". Bare knuckle boxing, again, basically a "street fight".
It´s their names! They are off putting, for a lack of a better term. There is a reason why even in the 1900s even American boxers would adopt more simpler, and Americanized aliases. Ray Robinson was not born Ray Robinson, he changed it because his real name was a rather common one, and he/his team wanted something more marketable. Rocky Marciano picked his alias literally because it was more easier to pronounce than his real name. Joe Louis shortened his name for the sake of simplicity, and marketability. Manny Pacquiao changed his alias a bit too. Even Mike Tyson simplified his name. It always annoys me when Eastern-Europeans move to America, and don't change their names. I am sorry, but a names like; Bakhram Murtazaliev, Pavel Silyagin, Zhanibek Alimkhanuly, they will hold you back in an Anglo country. Some guys from these regions to have more simpler, and palatable names, but most of the time it´s not the case. FFS, after all these years I still often get the Klitschko name wrong.
