Olympic MMA: Imagine The Possibilities

Gregory Corso — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 20:00:19 -0400

With the Olympic Games coming up next month, wouldn’t it be exciting if MMA was officially adopted into the Olympic sports lineup? The thought itself seems too good to be true.

But does it have to be?

The Olympics already feature other combat sports such as Boxing, Judo, Wrestling, and Taekwando. Isn’t Mixed Martial Arts just a combination of all of these great sports?

It makes much more sense bringing MMA to global competition then it is to have sports like baseball, which is predominantly an American concept, that most other nations outside the Americas have absolutely no interest in.

With baseball being eliminated from Olympic competition in 2012, it frees up some space for new events.

Even Dana White will tell you, that the most amazing thing about MMA is it’s ability to cross over all ethnicities and language barriers. Fighting is something that is understood by every human being, regardless of where they're from.

Bellow I have listed hypothetical Olympic teams based on the fighters given country and weight class. When analyzing these elite athletes and comparing them to the other athletes competing in different Olympic events, you’ll find that the age fluctuation in MMA is really remarkable, and non existent anywhere else.

There are some really young and talented athletes like Georges St. Pierre, Josh Koscheck, and Shinya Aoki, fighting. However at the same time there are some much older fighters like Randy Couture, Kazuyki Fujita, and Dan Henderson fighting, who are also capable of competing at the highest level of competition.

The truth is you’ll never see a 44 year-old man competing in Olympic swimming. The same thing goes with running, boxing, or any track and field event. What that means is that MMA is a very special sport, where an older athlete with a wealth of experience and technique can often overcome a much younger opponent that may be faster and stronger. (e.g Couture vs Gonzaga, Fujita vs Thompson)

We’re talking about a sport, were only the boldest and bravest venture. A sport where a thousand arts and techniques blended into one, formulating something so beautiful and passionate, you can’t help but be drawn to it.

Besides, wouldn’t you rather watch that than badminton?

Here’s what the teams could look like:

Untied States

275- Randy Couture, Josh Barnett

205- Forrest Griffin, Quinton Jackson

185- Dan Henderson, Matt Lindland

170- Matt Hughes, Josh Koscheck

155- B.J Penn, Sean Sherk

Japan

275- Kazuyuki Fujita, Hidehiko Yoshida

205- Kazushi Sakuraba, Kazuhiro Nakamura

185- Yushin Okami, Kazuo Misaki

170- Takanori Gomi, Hayato "Mach" Sakurai

155- Shinya Aoki, Mitsuhiro Ishida

Russia

275- Fedor Emelianenko, Andrei Arlovski

205- Besiki Gerenava

185- Andrei Semenov

170- Amar Suloev

155- Vladimir Zenin

Canada

275- Gary Goodridge

205- Nate Marquardt

185- Dennis Kang, David Lousaeu

170- Georges St. Pierre, Jonathan Goulet

155- Sam Stout, Mark Hominick

Brazil

275- Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, Gabriel Gonzaga

205- Wanderlei Silva, Loyoto Machida

185- Anderson Silva, Ronaldo Souza

170 – Thiago Alvez,

155- Gesias "JZ" Cavalcante, Vitor "Shaolin" Ribeiro

Quinton Jackson: Beat but Not Beaten

Gregory Corso — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 18:39:02 -0400

After a grueling 25-minute war between Quinton “Rampage” Jackson and Forrest Griffin for the Light Heavy Weight title, Bruce Buffer announced to over 11,000 fight fans that Jackson had lost the decision.

The crowd responded immediately.

Some fans cheered the newly crowned champion Forrest Griffin, and others expressed very different feelings as the unmistakable sound of boos echoed around the arena.

The bottom line is that the fight was close, and depending on who you were rooting for, your score card was probably biased.

Attention immediately moved to what Jackson had to say about the controversial decision.

"Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. Forrest is tough. I respect him a lot. He works hard; he's a hard worker. Hey, whenever you step in the Octagon, there's a 50/50 chance you're going to get your a** whooped,” Jackson said with a smile.

“I ain't no stranger to getting my a** whooped. I get my a** whooped sometimes."

Although those comments, which came immediately after the fight, seemed quite jovial, Jackson was more candid about his thoughts in the post-fight press conference shortly afterward.

“Well I feel like I won the fight,” Jackson said. “You know what? I feel like if [you're] the champ, you know what I’m saying? Somebody’s got to beat the champ"

"But it was unanimous,” Jackson said with some skepticism. “I ain’t a judge.”

So what’s next for Quinton Jackson?

Rematch.

But with whom? An immediate rematch against Forrest seems to be the most popular pick amongst fight fans around the world.

However, chances to avenge other past losses against the likes of Wanderlei Silva and Shogun Rua are on the horizon. So is a potential rematch against Chuck Liddell, who is still working his way back up the UFC ladder since Jackson took his belt from him back in May of last year.

What’s important is that, no matter what decision the UFC chooses to make on Rampage's next opponent, they need to put these fights together promptly and not let another 10 months pass before we see him in the Octagon again.

Fighters who are as exciting and talented as Quinton Jackson should be fighting as much as possible.

Bleacher Report - Articles by Gregory Corso

Olympic MMA: Imagine The Possibilities

Quinton Jackson: Beat but Not Beaten