From Sport to Spectacle
It started as a spectacle, a gladiator contest in an octagon that promoters considered surrounding with a shark-filled moat rather than a steel-mesh fence. The first Ultimate Fighting Championship began with Gerard Gordeau kicking Teila Tuli's teeth across the arena and ended with the very same Dutchman trying to bite Royce Gracie's ear, Tyson style. In those early days, the event thrived on being a freakshow. With no television coverage and no online audience to cater to, the UFC counted on newspaper articles to spread the word. The early UFC had no intention of being a sport. They were a spectacle- and they loved it.
Eventually, attitudes had to change. The negative news stories were doing more than spreading the word. They were also attracting attention from politicians and cable company brass, attention that nearly killed the promotion. The UFC started to clean up its act, instituting additional weight classes, rules changes, and safety precautions. By the time the company got the stamp of approval from New Jersey it was a bonafide sport. Until now. The freakshow, the spectacle, is back. And not just in Japan. It's invading America too-and even the UFC isn't immune. Want proof? Just take a look at Tim Sylvia getting creamed in just under 10 seconds, falling to the brick-like hands of 48-year old boxer Ray Mercer. Here are two other recent train wrecks, and two still to come.
1. Kyle Maynard makes his MMA debut.
No legs below the knee? No arms below the elbow? No MMA experience? No problem. Maynard, a congenital amputee, managed to overcome his physical disabilities and become a successful high school wrestler. When he decided to try his hand at MMA, the Georgia Athletic and Entertainment Commission drew the line. After all, how could a man with no hands protect himself from punches and kicks? Heck, he couldn't even tap out-he didn't have the tools to do it even if he wanted to. Maynard and promoter David Oblas thought long and hard about an appeal, before deciding they'd rather just hop the border over to Alabama where no athletic commission means no rules.
Maynard spent the bulk of his prefight preparation trying in vain to attach a pair of gloves to his arms. His time in the cage was just as fruitless. Maynard chased his opponent, a Wisconsin-based fighter named Bryan Fry, around the cage on all fours. Fry's mom works with disabled kids and he's sensitive to Kyle's plight. But not so sensitive that he hesitated for even a second before whacking Maynard upside the head. The fight was held in the perfect venue, just another spectacle for a tin-roofed straw-floored arena that played host to an "Adopt a Donkey" campaign earlier in the year.
2. The 40/40 Man
In the 80's, Jose Canseco was one of baseball's top young stars. There was nothing he couldn't do on the diamond. It turns out that while Canseco could hit and run on the field, in the ring he did more running than hitting. Canseco made his MMA debut for DREAM at their recent Super Hulk Tournament. Unfortunately, his collection of Tae Kwon Do side kicks did little to halt the progress of the 400-pound Korean giant Hong Mon Choi. Canseco carried a bat with him to the ring. I have the feeling he could have used it in the fight and it wouldn't have made a difference. Canseco struck out, tapping from strikes in just 77 seconds.
3. Black on Black Crime
Bob Sapp made his bones in Japan, living up to their wildest stereotypes by eating banana after banana on television, acting like a caged beast, and dressing like a pimp to hock cars, washing machines, and even sex aids. Every Sapp fight is a bit of a spectacle, but promoter Ricky Derouen and the gang at Fight Force International amped the freakshow up a notch for Sapp's U.S. PPV debut. His opponent will not be the customary Japanese pro wrestler-they will rock the boat by feeding "The Beast" an American pro wrestler instead. Bobby Lashley, late of American Top Team and now training furiously in Colorado, a man who once helped Donald Trump shave Vince McMahon bald on PPV, should feel right at home across the ring from MMA's walking spectacle.
4. Kimbo making that Bread on TUF
This leaves us with the most high profile freakshow fighter of all time, internet sensation and cultural phenomenon Kimbo Slice. The last time we saw Slice, he was on the receiving end of a Seth Petruzelli jab, staring up at the ceiling in his hometown of Miami, Florida. UFC President Dana White decried Elite XC's use of Slice, insisting the man who once had 7 of the top 20 clips on youtube.com wasn't a real fighter. Of course, like all promoters, Dana has dollar signs in his eyes and he made a play for Slice to join his ratings challenged signature show. Can you imagine Kimbo Slice arguing with housemates about drinking his milk or someone pissing in his bed? The mind boggles at the possibilities. Ratings will soar and the UFC will learn the same lesson of thousands of promoters that came before them did-spectacle sells.
