A hard right connects with the left side of the jaw. In slow motion the jaw appears to temporarily leave the socket and then relocate itself. Who would want that? Some say, MMA fighting is a ridiculous sport filled with a bunch of goons with no real talent; while true fight fans know the training these fighters put in leads to great talent and by no means are these guys just a bunch of jar-heads.

Sure, the most talented fighter doesn’t always win, which brings luck into the ring. Take the Matt Serra, George St. Pierre fight. One slip turned into a champion getting pummeled. That was luck not goonery. When St. Pierre picked apart Matt Hughes in their second go around it was pure talent, which created that performance. For people to walk around and say MMA fighting is a ridiculous sport for goons, it’s just as ignorant as calling a poker player an athlete.

Back in the early 1990s, just when the UFC was getting started, I had a couple of friends who couldn’t get enough of it. I mean these guys were pumped when UFC fights were happening. They would rewind the fight tapes, time and time again, watching Pat Smith stomp somebody, or Gracie submitting a fighter that would appear be the winner before the first round bell. This activity would go on until the next VHS or DVD came out. I would sit around with my buddies watching the fights, with a train wreck look on my face. I wasn’t sure if I liked it at all. Maybe, I thought these guys were a bunch of stupid goons.

Over the past five years I’ve realized I do like it; like a lot of other people around the world, proven by the sports growth in popularity. MMA has become a guilty pleasure. Personally, I’ve never watched a Pay-Per-View boxing event that ever got me as lit up as a UFC Pay-Per-View. When Rampage came out with his chain draped around his neck barking like a dog, followed by Chuck Liddell walking into the ring with a great calmness, I was literally bouncing off the walls. Then “BANG” it was over. A ridiculous high met by a never to be filled low. Maybe this is one reason the sport is growing and turning ignorant assholes into die hard fight fans.

Mixed Martial Arts fighting is the new best thing in sports and it isn’t going anywhere soon. Whether it’s the UFC, Pride or WEC it doesn’t matter. These fighters have butt loads of skill, proving the fight game is not for goons. It’s no different then the high-class sport of fencing, two guys squaring off against each other, mano-e-mano, except there’s no “Epee” involved. This great sport is just that, a great sport. Years and years of training and fighting go into a career, so for hatters to try and tear it down makes them the goofs.