Tapping Out With TBerg 07.17.09: Episode XL: Mainstream This!

Posted by Todd Bergman on 07.17.2009

Recent media backlash concerning UFC 100 has gone way past the point of just cause. 411’s Todd Bergman looks at the comments from those negative columnists and takes those naysayers to task on their biases and uneducated opinions in this edition of Tapping out with TBerg.

I'm starting to understand how Kimbo Slice felt after his embarrassing loss to Seth Petruzelli on CBS back in October of 2008. I say that I understand how he feels because the media in general has taken every negative shot that it could possibly take this past week at the sport that I so dearly love. UFC 100 was to be the showcase event that was to propel the UFC to some sort of "mainstream" acceptance amongst fans and wannabe fans everywhere. Obviously, some questionable things happened on the card including Mac Danzig having the nerve to actually bleed during his fight, Dan Henderson hitting an opponent before being stopped by the referee, and Brock Lesnar acting like an emotional mess. With nearly a week having passed and looking back on those things that were "questionable" they don't seem that big or important in my eyes. Let's have a look back at some of the factors that have come together to produce this mass appeal and dislike for the event.


How dare he bleed so much!

The Lesnar Effect
Brock Lesnar is a big name for most people out there. However, unlike what is portrayed in the mass media, he's isn't the biggest name in MMA. I'm sorry but I still don't see him above people such as Rampage Jackson, Chuck Liddell, Randy Couture, or even Forrest Griffin. With that said, the media focused on Lesnar and his rematch with Frank Mir while mostly ignoring the fact that Lesnar had won two other high-quality UFC fights since first meeting Mir at UFC 81. As the event grew closer and closer, it seemed like the majority of media outlets who didn't cover MMA in the past were trying to build Lesnar as a wrestler who did nothing but step off the squared circle and enter the cage. It's fairly ridiculous that any sort of reporting or column writing would take place around that notion. However, it did and it continued all the way up to the minute that the fight happened. The pro wrestler Brock Lesnar stopped the MMA fighter Frank Mir and that should be the end of MMA, right? If that wasn't bad enough, Lesnar had the nerve to get in the face of the man that bad-mouthed him for the better part of 15 months. To top it all off, Lesnar then insulted a major sponsor and boasted about having sex with his wife. You may not be like me and realize the absurdness and the hypocrisy that is coming from the media around this event. I will go back and state that Lesnar was completely wrong for insulting the sponsor, but it's not like Bud Light is going to end it's contract with the UFC over Brock saying those things. There was also the middle finger salute that Lesnar gave to the crowd that is being blown completely out of proportion. A good majority of people out there think that no matter what you say or do to a person that they should respect you and your thoughts. Obviously, being somewhat of an MMA Columnist, you quickly find out that doesn't happen. Who cares if Lesnar flipped anyone off, especially a great deal of people that booed him for the sole reason of him being a former pro wrestler. Isn't that the real reason that people can't stand Lesnar? Far be it for someone to be a former NCAA champion and then enter a sport where a good majority have gone before. I hope that all of those fans that booed Lesnar in Vegas would do the same when Josh Barnett, Sakuraba, Dan Severn, and countless other respectable MMA fighters who have toyed with pro wrestling in the past enter the Octagon.


He just wanted to lay with his wife

My other complaint is that MMA doesn't have a face to it. When I think of MMA, there isn't one person who I instantly think of that is the standard barer for the sport. As I mentioned above, you do have guys like a Randy Couture or Chuck Liddell who could be the supposed face of MMA, but the sport changes so much that it's impossible to have one particular person representing the entire sport. On Friday, I did my usual guest spot on the local AM station here in Indy and I was asked the questions. "Are you ok with Brock Lesnar being the face of the UFC and MMA?" My immediate answer was, "Of course, I'm ok with it, but MMA isn't a sport where one guy is the face." In all honesty, I should've said that with so many events happening each month and so many dream fights happening it's hard to imagine someone becoming the only person that we, as fans, can relate to. So my mindless rambling has led me to believe that the media, who doesn't follow MMA, is desperately trying to kill the sport that they don't understand. It nearly happened in 2008 when countless outlets attached MMA to Kimbo Slice full-knowing that he would eventually lose and that they could use the excuse that MMA wasn't a stable enough sport to build stars in. That's why I now feel bad for Kimbo Slice because I know that he was forced out there not only by a shady company in Elite XC but he was the scapegoat for those hundreds of media outlets. Brock Lesnar has now reached that level, and I have to believe that many of the writers were just waiting for Brock to lose so they could throw the sport under the bus again. Instead, they got a one-sided ass kicking by Lesnar and some risky behavior after the fight. Since they didn't get the defeat, they latched onto the post-fight actions as if they had taken place on PBS during Sesame Street.

I will remind every one of those writers who took negative shots at MMA that these fights took place on Pay-Per view, where you actually have to fork over some cash to watch this. MMA, more specifically, is a full-combat sport and isn't for the weak of heart. Typically guys are nice to each other after the fights but not always. There is no set rule that states both guys have to hug it out after the fight. In fact, if they did then the sport would become boring as it's nice to occasionally see people who don't like each other duke it out and then not be friends afterwards. My basic motto concerning the negative thoughts involving Lesnar's treatment of the crowd and comments is that you can always turn the channel and not watch if you don't want to. I can tell you that I, personally, don't care if the LA Times, or New York Post comments on any of the UFC events. I don't judge the success of the sport on whether or not it's gets what is considered mainstream coverage. The sport is thriving without the positive coverage of any of those publications, and they have only recently jumped aboard due to the recent setback in newspaper subscriptions. We, as MMA fans, don't need a bunch of high-browed people telling us what we should and shouldn't appreciate about the sport. Plenty of people enjoyed UFC 100 and plenty of new fans enjoyed the event as well, regardless of what might have or might have not offended you. It's one thing to voice an opinion, it's also another to voice an opinion with a huge amount of bias and uneducated thoughts. My suggestion for those columnist who referred to the sport as "Ultimate Bore and Gore" is to watch more than one MMA show. Much like any other sport, not every game, show, or event is going to be a five-star event. Did you watch the Homerun Derby? That was suppose to be the showcase of the long ball but turned into something like four long hours of terrible nicknames followed by everyone taking fifteen pitches before swinging. Should everyone stop watching baseball because it's snore and bore? Of course not! That was one night and there will be plenty more. A little consistency would be nice, as it's extremely unfair for MMA to be judged solely on one night. Now that it settled, let's get onto another topic surrounding MMA that is burning a hole in my head.

Mainstream MMA
The non-MMA fan's obsession with saying MMA won't go mainstream is pretty ridiculous. First and foremost, I, and most MMA fans, don't care if MMA goes the supposed "mainstream." What the hell does that mean anyway? Culturally accepted by everyone? Of course that isn't going to happen because it's a combat sport and some people have a hard enough time watching Sponge Bob without bitching about the violence. This magnificent sport isn't for everyone, and the same could be said for almost every other sport. Who doesn't hate soccer or even the NHL, MLB, or the NFL. It's extremely unfair for certain outlets to push this upon a sport that really doesn't want it either. That's the beauty of someone like Dana White being in charge of the UFC. He isn't going to be the stereotypical "yes man". He's always going to tell you what he thinks and he's going to run his company like that. Bottom Line: MMA is here to stay regardless of the media attention that is attached to the sport.