MMA in the Olympics?

**Tank** · 02-19-2010, 01:16 PM

UFC president Dana White would support MMA at Olympics - SI.com - Mixed Martial Arts

I think this would ruin MMA for me. We will be seeing the same fighters that we see week in and week out on TV fighting and most countries probably wouldn't even have a team. Also, there is no way that they are going to put amateur fighters in the ring to fight so they will all be pros and in my opinion, I hate seeing professional athletes in the Olympics. The Olympics is supposed to be for non-pros but that all changed when basketball added the Dream Team in the 1990's and I just hope that some day they go back to strictly amateurs in the games.

**Cybyassociation** · 02-19-2010, 01:19 PM

Originally Posted by Tank

UFC president Dana White would support MMA at Olympics - SI.com - Mixed Martial Arts

I think this would ruin MMA for me. We will be seeing the same fighters that we see week in and week out on TV fighting and most countries probably wouldn't even have a team. Also, there is no way that they are going to put amateur fighters in the ring to fight so they will all be pros and in my opinion, I hate seeing professional athletes in the Olympics. The Olympics is supposed to be for non-pros but that all changed when basketball added the Dream Team in the 1990's and I just hope that some day they go back to strictly amateurs in the games.

I thought the olympics were supposed to be the best of the best? Why not put in pros?

IMO, MMA would never make it to the olympics. Half of the fighters are either on steroids, or someother illegal substance. The testing for doping is much too strict in the olympics for MMA.

st8 · 02-19-2010, 01:23 PM

NO WAY!!!!!

not to discredit MMA and the talent/bad-***-ness that it takes to compete in that sport. but the total kooks, degenerates, and wierdos that follow the sport are not the crowd that the olympics wants around, I'm guessing. this is not to say that all people who watch MMA are wack jobs, but there is an overwhelming amount of these folks out there.

**RyCy04** · 02-19-2010, 01:27 PM

Originally Posted by st8

NO WAY!!!!!

not to discredit MMA and the talent/bad-***-ness that it takes to compete in that sport. but the total kooks, degenerates, and wierdos that follow the sport are not the crowd that the olympics wants around, I'm guessing. this is not to say that all people who watch MMA are wack jobs, but there is an overwhelming amount of these folks out there.

The number of douches wearing Ed Hardy, Affliction, or Tap-Out t-shirts would be more than the Olympic security could deal with. The stench of Axe body spray would be more than the Olympic fans could deal with.

**BryceC** · 02-19-2010, 01:29 PM

Originally Posted by Cybyassociation

I thought the olympics were supposed to be the best of the best? Why not put in pros?

I agree with you but there are still some people that hold on to notions of amateurism and think it's not all about the money. It is.

**BryceC** · 02-19-2010, 01:31 PM

Originally Posted by RyCy04

The number of douches wearing Ed Hardy, Affliction, or Tap-Out t-shirts would be more than the Olympic security could deal with. The stench of Axe body spray would be more than the Olympic fans could deal with.

Plus it would probably be a summer sport, and it's already hard enough to see through the cloud of smug from the American soccer fans.

**Tank** · 02-19-2010, 01:33 PM

Originally Posted by Cybyassociation

I thought the olympics were supposed to be the best of the best? Why not put in pros?

IMO, MMA would never make it to the olympics. Half of the fighters are either on steroids, or someother illegal substance. The testing for doping is much too strict in the olympics for MMA.

It is supposed to be the best of the best - of amateurs! It was always amateurs up until the 1990's in the US. Now, I get to see the same exact players that I can watch any night on the TV play hockey and basketball. What happened to the days of the US Miracle on ice against the Russians? Those were amateur players on the ice, not pros and I miss watching no-name players compete against each other b/c I can watch the pros anytime.

From Critical Reflections of Olympic Ideology:

The ethos of the aristocracy as exemplified in the English public schools greatly influenced Pierre de Coubertin. The public schools subscribed to the belief that sport formed an important part of education, an attitude summed up in the saying mens sana in corpore sano, a sound mind in a sound body. In this ethos, a gentleman was one who became an all-rounder, not the best at one specific thing. There was also a prevailing concept of fairness, in which practicing or training was considered tantamount to cheating. Those who practiced a sport professionally were considered to have an unfair advantage over those who practiced it merely as a hobby.
The exclusion of professionals caused several controversies throughout the history of the modern Olympics. The 1912 Olympic pentathlon and decathlon champion Jim Thorpe was stripped of his medals when it was discovered that he had played semi-professional baseball before the Olympics. His medals were restored by the IOC in 1983 on compassionate grounds. Swiss and Austrian skiers boycotted the 1936 Winter Olympics in support of their skiing teachers, who were not allowed to compete because they earned money with their sport and were thus considered professionals.
As class structure evolved through the 20th century, the definition of the amateur athlete as an aristocratic gentleman became outdated. The advent of the state-sponsored "full-time amateur athlete" of the Eastern Bloc countries further eroded the ideology of the pure amateur, as it put the self-financed amateurs of the Western countries at a disadvantage. Nevertheless, the IOC held to the traditional rules regarding amateurism. Beginning in the 1970s, amateurism requirements were gradually phased out of the Olympic Charter. Eventually the decisions on professional participation were left to the IFs. As of 2004, the only sport in which no professionals compete is boxing, although even this requires a definition of amateurism based on fight rules rather than on payment, as some boxers receive cash prizes from their National Olympic Committees. In men's football (soccer), only three players over the age of 23 are eligible to participate per team in the Olympic tournament. This is done in order to maintain a level of amateurism.

**The_Architect** · 02-19-2010, 01:54 PM

Originally Posted by RyCy04

The number of douches wearing Ed Hardy, Affliction, or Tap-Out t-shirts would be more than the Olympic security could deal with. The stench of Axe body spray would be more than the Olympic fans could deal with.

This +1000.

God please make MMA go away.

**heitclone** · 02-19-2010, 02:13 PM

Originally Posted by Tank

UFC president Dana White would support MMA at Olympics - SI.com - Mixed Martial Arts

The Olympics is supposed to be for non-pros but that all changed when basketball added the Dream Team in the 1990's and I just hope that some day they go back to strictly amateurs in the games.

I love how people claim the olympic competitors are "amateurs". What makes them an amateur? Michael Phelps gets hundreds of thousands of dollars for endorsements but because theres no "National Swimming League" then he's not a pro? The contestans in individual sports may not be competing for a check but they are competing to earn sponsorships and other things that bring them money as a result of waht they do during competition.

**frontrangeclone** · 02-19-2010, 02:47 PM

I would prefer if it were like the Kumite (kumite!! kumite!!) from Bloodsport... where any and all styles and fighting methods are par for the course.

**3TrueFans** · 02-19-2010, 03:21 PM

Originally Posted by frontrangeclone

I would prefer if it were like the Kumite (kumite!! kumite!!) from Bloodsport... where any and all styles and fighting methods are par for the course.

Watch out for the monkey guy.

**deadeyededric** · 02-19-2010, 09:47 PM

Originally Posted by RyCy04

The number of douches wearing Ed Hardy, Affliction, or Tap-Out t-shirts would be more than the Olympic security could deal with. The stench of Axe body spray would be more than the Olympic fans could deal with.

Anyone that wears a tapout shirt is a ***! Not that there's anything wrong with that.

**TarHeelHawk** · 02-19-2010, 09:48 PM

Originally Posted by Tank

UFC president Dana White would support MMA at Olympics - SI.com - Mixed Martial Arts

I think this would ruin MMA for me. We will be seeing the same fighters that we see week in and week out on TV fighting and most countries probably wouldn't even have a team. Also, there is no way that they are going to put amateur fighters in the ring to fight so they will all be pros and in my opinion, I hate seeing professional athletes in the Olympics. The Olympics is supposed to be for non-pros but that all changed when basketball added the Dream Team in the 1990's and I just hope that some day they go back to strictly amateurs in the games.

Hockey?

**Tank** · 02-19-2010, 10:13 PM

Originally Posted by TarHeelHawk

Hockey?

What about hockey? If you are refering to pros playing hockey in the Olympics, then yes, I do not want to see them either. I watch most of these players play in the NHL and do not want to see them in the Olympics. I want to have another "Miracle" situation where amateurs play and the only way you might know the players is if you follow college hockely or any one of the minor league teams below the NHL. Also, I know some people are going to say that even minor leaguers are professional, which is true but they are not in the NHL and are not well known players. The Olympics could be a stepping stone for many players if they perform well into the pros but I would still rather watch them play.

As for the arguments about Phellps or White earning millions and being "professional" in swimming or snow boarding. My argument to that is that they are still amateurs because there is no professional swimming league or professional snow boarding league. If it wasn't for endorsements, they would not be making millions, unlike players like Crosby, Ovechkin, etc...

**TarHeelHawk** · 02-19-2010, 10:19 PM

Originally Posted by Tank

What about hockey? If you are refering to pros playing hockey in the Olympics, then yes, I do not want to see them either. I watch most of these players play in the NHL and do not want to see them in the Olympics. I want to have another "Miracle" situation where amateurs play and the only way you might know the players is if you follow college hockely or any one of the minor league teams below the NHL. Also, I know some people are going to say that even minor leaguers are professional, which is true but they are not in the NHL and are not well known players. The Olympics could be a stepping stone for many players if they perform well into the pros but I would still rather watch them play.

As for the arguments about Phellps or White earning millions and being "professional" in swimming or snow boarding. My argument to that is that they are still amateurs because there is no professional swimming league or professional snow boarding league. If it wasn't for endorsements, they would not be making millions, unlike players like Crosby, Ovechkin, etc...

Ok, how many people do you think follow college or minor league hockey religously? You might, but I'd be willing to bet that Joe sports fan doesn't. The NHL gets terrible ratings as it is, but most average sports fans know who Sid Crosby and Alex Ovechkin are.