MMA Ever to Be Part of the Olympics?

Many of us witnessed arguably the two best fighters in the world on Saturday with Anderson Silva as a headliner for the UFC card and Fedor Emilianenko on the Affliction card.

Not only were both victorious but they were untouchable, literally. The bigger surprise to me was the Fedor/Sylvia fight. The surprise did not come with Fedor's victory but with how fast he took out the former two-time UFC heavyweight champion.

I knew however that James Irvin had no shot at stopping Silva despite the fact that it was Anderson's first fight in the LHW division. Forrest, I've got mad respect for you but I don't think you will have the belt for too much longer.

With the ever growing popularity of mixed martial arts around the world I just wonder if and when it will gain acceptance by the International Olympics Committee as an event we could one day see in the Summer Games.

I think it would be great for the sport and a way for some of the best athletes to gain worldwide recognition. There are many casual MMA fans who once knew only of the UFC organization. When PRIDE fighters began to transition into the mainstream it opened fans' eyes and gave them a whole new respect for fighters from Japan, Russia, Brazil, and many others overseas.

Mixed martial arts is the ideal melting pot sport, so it only makes sense to turn it into an Olympic event. Other Olympic fighting styles include boxing (which has gone through a huge decline), Greco-Roman wrestling, and Judo. I'd be willing to bet that by the 2012 Olympics we may see these old school fighting styles become obsolete, while MMA takes over.

All weight classes could be represented as well. Imagine for a minute Team USA vs. Russia vs. Japan vs. Brazil vs...Canada? (Sure, GSP and Patrick Cote to name a couple.) Again, it would be great for the sport and every organization across the board. Just look at what it once did for fencing and is now doing for the "sport" of curling.

So let me ask you this, who would you want to see on Team USA? (Hint: A. Silva, Takanori Gomi, and Fedor are already spoken for.)