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Was the early UFC more entertaining than the current UFC?


RogerJones620

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I actually feel that the early UFC was more entertaining, but in a "Jerry Springer" sort of way.

 

It was hilarious how random dudes who claimed to be Ninjas, Sumo Wrestlers, or other random Martial Arts experts were allowed to get into the ring when it was evident that they were out of shape and had no clue how to fight at all. The fact that guys were expected to fight multiple fights in a single night makes it even more hilarious, but not as humorous as the complete lack of weight classes.

 

I been watching Howard Harold tributes on youtube, and reminiscing on how entertaining the old UFC used to be - in a white trash sort of way. You definitely had a lot more outrageous characters / personalities too (think Kenny Powers, Kip Dynamite, Dwight Schrute etc.)

 

Did anyone else find this crap super entertaining?

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Well i think it most certainly was ,however i always had to worry if a fighter got injured,which was highly likely.One injury would ruin the whole night.You get a banged up tired fighter going against a fresh fighter,is not a fair scenario but one they had to do.

 

There is perhaps just like now the fact that one sided fights can really look crazy,just that today's one sided has a lot of wrestlers holding guys down.There were VERY few well matched fights back in the day,or perhaps we would have seen a lot more boring fights as well.

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In a way, it was. I loved the pure circus aspect of it, and pitting one style/discipline against another was a really cool idea (at the time). However, just as the above poster stated, it had to evolve. Fighters developing a more rounded skill set was inevitable, and we'd eventually have nothing but guys who have blended styles (we're almost there now). We're already at the point where newer fighters begin training in "mixed martial arts" rather than coming from wrestling, jujitsu, karate, etc.

 

I remember watching The Karate Kid (the real one with Ralph Macchio) when I was in grade school and thinking that I could whoop anybody if I had Mr. Miagi to teach me. I took some Tae Kwon Do a little later and thought that the guys with the upper level belts would destroy anyone in a street fight. I also thought that wrestling was nothing more than a sport in junior high and high school.

 

I was intrigued to see the first UFC in 1993 (I actually saw it a year later on VHS), thinking it would be awesome to see a boxer and against a karate guy, a sumo against a kung fu guy, etc. I was shocked when all these dudes with black belts from their various dojos and whatnot came out and got destroyed. It was even more surprising (to me at least) when drunken bar brawlers like Tank Abbott came out and smacked around supposedly "legitimate" martial artists.

 

The early UFC really changes a lot of people's perspectives on the importance of striking versus ground fighting.

 

It was fun, but it couldn't last forever. I'm happy with modern mixed martial arts.

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Id say about 03-08 was the best of the ufc

 

^^this with the exception being heavyweight. I think the heavyweight division post-'08 is way more entertaining than it was then. All the other wieght classes were better than they are now though, even if the skill level wasn't quite there. LHW was the best hands down. Prime Chuck, Randy, Tito and then the Pride guys like Hendo, Wand, and Rampage came over. Bonnar/Griffin 1! It was an awesome time to be a fan. I miss the good old days.:(

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^^this with the exception being heavyweight. I think the heavyweight division post-'08 is way more entertaining than it was then. All the other wieght classes were better than they are now though' date=' even if the skill level wasn't quite there. LHW was the best hands down. Prime Chuck, Randy, Tito and then the Pride guys like Hendo, Wand, and Rampage came over. Bonnar/Griffin 1! It was an awesome time to be a fan. I miss the good old days.:([/quote']

 

I still had Pride back then

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Back in the day some of the fighters rivaled even WWF in terms of wackyness and comedy. A guy fought with ONE boxing glove for Christ sakes. That kind of novelty could only last so long, but it was great.

 

I just think of the skill level and beautiful display of grappling that the kimura Mir put on Big Nog was, and can be glad of where the sport is now.

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