The Days Of Bar Brawlers Are Gone: The Evolution Of MMA

Today I woke up in my good friend Ryan's basement. I had been in a sleeping bag when I went to bed the night before and had somehow ended up laying on top of it by the next morning.

My shoulders and thighs were on fire. The night before my cousin Nick and I had grappled. I trained in jiu jitsu for a year when I was a freshman in high school and then sophomore didn't have time to anymore. But this year, my junior year, I've been able to start training again. I train a little bit in jiu jitsu, but for now I'm focusing mainly on Muay Thai which I've trained in for all three years of high school. My cousin has only recently started training in both the styles.

The grappling match started out fast paced. Both of us immediately working for position. My cousin got my back and applied a rear naked choke. I was able to spin out of it and get the mount. He bucked me off and I ended up in side mount. I began working for an armbar. When I went for the submission, he immediately countered and ended up in side guard on top of me. I got out from under him and we scrambled for position. I ended up in his guard and he worked for a triangle.

I countered and got my head and arm free and began working for heel hook. My cousin countered and spun out of the heel hook. I kept a hold of his leg and after about two minutes of working and countering, I was able to sink in the knee bar. The whole match lasted about five or six minutes. We pounded fists and then Nick and Ryan went at it.

I've noticed lately the change in fans. Fans of MMA in particular.

The days of frat boys watching UFC events and saying that they would smash Matt Hughes or questioning the heart of a fighter leaving. Fans of the sport have started to understand just how much skill these fighters, these athletes, actually possess. That these fighters are not just bar brawling, street fighters. That to be good at this sport it takes years and years of training. Something that used to not be true.

Tank Abbott was by far one of the worst MMA fighters in history. Yes, he was the original bad boy of the UFC, but he had absolutely no skill other then a little wrestling and having been in many street fights could brawl a little. And in the end, he ended up losing more fights then he won. Those days are gone. Where a tank abbott type can make it in the UFC or in MMA in general.

I used to get on YouTube and type in "UFC" and all these videos of kids "sparring" in there yards would pop up. And it would be stunning how bad at fighting these kids were. The lack of skill was astonishing. And then you realize why that is. Why these teenagers who think that they would walk through the likes of Forrest Griffin and Rich Franklin are so bad at fighting.

Because they have never trained in it before.

Very few people have ever set foot in a dojo or martial arts school. So few people know how to fight or have even been in a fight. I'm one of the only people in my family that has ever been in a street fight. And I'm one of only two that has been in more then 10.

Before I started training, I had no idea how to fight. I wasn't good at it and I relied on my size when in a fight. Those days are over for me.

I train in muay thai and BJJ. And I love it. I'm and ten times the fighter that I was when I would just street fight and I'm still not all that good if you ask me. Others tell me differently.

Not to toot my own horn or anything, but I would feel confident in an amateur MMA fight with another person who was either a new comer like me or had no more then three or five fights. I'd probably lose even to someone of that caliber, but compared to how I used to be, there is actually no comparison.

You may think me a hypocrite for telling about my cousin and I rolling in a basement, but think about what I've said. We both have training and have an idea as to what we are doing and would like to do. We don't sit around and talk about how we would walk through a certain UFC fighter or anything because we know that we wouldn't be able to walk through anyone in the UFC. Knowledge that I wish all teenagers that you find street fighting on YouTube and think that they are good shared with me.

The idea that there is no skill involved in MMA is still around unfortunately and we all must do what we can to help make that mind set and belief go away. If you here someone bashing MMA fighters and calling them street brawlers, pull out your phone and download a video of a fighter training to show them. If people didn't just assume that they are brawlers and actually did a little research, their minds would be easily changed if they are not stubborn. If they are, well then your screwed.

People need to realize that fighters are highly trained athletes that deserve the respect that you would give to any other professional athlete.