MMA Questions Thread

[Cousin Jim Bob]

8 minutes ago, jimufctna24 said:

I'm aware the late 1990s and very early 2000s are not considered to be a golden age of MMA. I remember both Wand's reviews of early Pride events and MMA/Boxing historian CombatChronicles' retrospective describing how dull early Pride events could be. In fact I've seen some argue that MMA only really got good in the mid 2000s.

That said, I still find the late 90s and early 2000s an interesting era to discuss. The Gracies and most notably Rickson clinging on to their auras, Lion's Den wasting natural talent, the rise and fall of Kerr, Takada being a bit of a fraud, Coleman's career resurrection, Sakuraba being at his peak and probably the best fighter in the world, etc, etc. 

 

I started watching in 2002 so I watched bits and bobs from early Pride but it was more recommended events, than go through them all in order. You were kind of limited to what tape traders had in stock too. I do remember getting the events with the big Sak vs Gracie fights to learn the history. But my viewing had a lot of holes, it didn't help that the online narrative back then was the early ones were full of "works".

Interesting era but it felt like 2002 was when Pride started becoming essential viewing. Big Nog, Cro Cop and Fedor pushing the Heavyweight division to the moon. Wanderlai's  path of destruction and Rampage turning up to challenge him. Plus utter madness like Frye vs Takayama and Bob Sapp manhandling Japanese fighters half his size.

Fun times.

[Cousin Jim Bob]

22 minutes ago, wandshogun09 said:

Yeah, that was a running joke that carried over even into TUF 4 with Matt Serra taking the piss out of Shamrock’s lack of work ethic as coach on the previous season. “Eat steak!” ?

I don’t mind Ken and he was definitely a pioneer of MMA and one of the main reasons a lot of pro wrestling fans got on board with the UFC in the early years. I’ve said a few times on here that I think him and Tito don’t get the credit they deserve for basically keeping the UFC afloat at a crucial time in the early 2000s. TUF 1 and the first Griffin vs Bonnar fight gets all the praise but if not for Ken and Tito there might not have been such a thing as ‘UFC’ to even do a reality show with in 2004. Obviously we know why those guys don’t get their due these days and it’s all to do with not being on a certain pink faced, bald headed wife beater’s Christmas card list.

But…yeah, it’s undeniable that by 2006 when TUF 3 was being filmed, MMA had passed Shamrock by and his coaching methods were outdated even then. I remember watching that season with my brother at the time and we were cracking up at the contrast of Tito’s team training their arses off then they’d switch to Team Shamrock and Ken just had them watching tape of him knocking out Kimo. It was ridiculous. I’ve got no doubt the likes of Mezger were held back by Ken and his archaic training camps back then. As both of you have said, he clearly had skills. Especially for the time he competed in. But he was hamstrung by his own loyalty to the Lion’s Den, in my opinion.

I was gonna mention that Wandy fight after reading Jim’s post. Cracking little scrap that was. And yeah, Mezger was having success. Not many were beating Wand in a wild brawl back then though. But it didn’t help that Wand snuck in a headbutt in the finishing attack either. Bit of his bare knuckle Vale Tudo roots coming out there. Although he was still fucking headbutting in that mess of a Boxing match the other week where he got sparked after. So it seems he’s never quite shaken those late 90s Vale Tudo instincts. 

Yeah, if anyone’s interested, I did actually start working my way through the Pride shows and reviewing them on here. Found the old thread. From 2017!

I only got as far as Pride 11 unfortunately but that 2000 GP is covered in there. Plenty of ball-achingly long and shit fights reviewed in there, along with a lot of interesting stuff as well. Shame I didn’t finish that journey, don’t know what derailed it at the time.

I’m with you Jim. As much as there was some absolute dross on those old cards, in Pride and the UFC, I do have a soft spot for that time in MMA. It was the beginning of a completely different sport and we witnessed it in real time. So things weren’t always gonna run smoothly. What a crazy time it was though. 

 

I remember reading your reviews when you posted them and enjoying them. Will give them a re read. I can't remember what the earliest tape I ever bought was in 2002. I think it was the 2000 finals and I only ever saw clips of Sakuraba vs Royler Gracie.

The 2000 finals didn't particularly make me much of a Mark Coleman fan or ever wanting to see him fight again TBH..   

[jimufctna24]

Wand is right about Shamrock's pro  wrestling run acting as a sort of gateway drug to MMA. I first heard of MMA (or UFC) through WWF RAW episodes featuring Ken Shamrock my Uncle taped me off Sky Sports when I was 10 or so. In the early 2000s I watched UFC compilation shows when they popped up on Digital Channels (Bravo, etc), read a bit about Pride in PowerSlam (Sapp, Cro Cop, etc), and was addicted to the Pride FC video game, but only became a committed MMA fan in early 2005. 

At the time I was very fortunate to know a cracking bloke who had almost every Pride and UFC show on DVD (including current shows on a 4 day delay). If anyone on here remembers the ECUK store in Manchester, they will know who I am referring to. 

I was therefore able to view a lot of Pride's events that took place in 2003 and 2004 retrospectively. However, I didn't bother as much to view the Pride events that took place prior to 2003. I instead opted to read books and articles about those events.

Again though, I do find that era very interesting to discuss.

 

[Cousin Jim Bob]

Loads of the UK wrestling tape traders got UFC 40 with Tito vs Ken because of Shamrock.

So I picked it up along with a belting long play, 6 hour Best UFC Fights Ever tape going around at the time. Completely sold me on MMA. 

[BigJag]

Question for those that train in MMA.

My nephew has been training for a few years now. His 18th birthday is coming up. For which I was thinking of getting him a seminar pass/ticket. However, he's just told me that he he doesn't train for ranking. He doesn't have a belt colour. How am I supposed to know what level he's at? Is it important to know what his ability level is for a training seminar?

He trains at Uxbridge MMA. Are there any scheduled seminars in that area?

United Martial Arts Academy | Kids & Adult Martial Arts Classes In West London

Edited September 30 by BigJag

[Egg Shen]

You're probably getting off getting in touch with a seminar and inquiring. I'd imagine most seminars are for all kinds of levels as you are just observing and practicing what they show you on the day.

[BigJag]

@eggshen cheers.

Are there any lists of upcoming seminars about? Maybe there is something coming up that wil be headed buy an established name.

My nephew is more striking focused.He only grapples once a month.

[Egg Shen]

No idea, best up hitting up some MMA gym social media pages.

[jimufctna24]

1 hour ago, BigJag said:

@eggshen cheers.

Are there any lists of upcoming seminars about? Maybe there is something coming up that wil be headed buy an established name.

My nephew is more striking focused.He only grapples once a month.

Perhaps of interest. 

It's about an hours drive away from Uxbridge. 

Lyoto Machida Super Seminar Tickets, Sunday, 14 February 2027  •  10 AM - 1 PM | Eventbrite

[BigJag]

Thanks for the help gents. After speaking with his mum and coach. He'll be presented with a club Shirt and new Gi at his next training session.