Proof MMA has overtaken Boxing
Before this weekend, many fans of combat sports would have argued that putting a UFC event a few moments after "a boxing superfight" would be just plain stupid. The largest Heavyweight fight since Lewis-Vitali would easily outshine a "fight between midgets" in Cruz-Faber 2. Also, in terms of viewing numbers, many thought Haye's attempt to defeat Klitschko would wipe the floor with UFC 132 since it was free whilst the UFC event would have cost you a handsome $55. So from all this, you'd expect boxing to win, right? Wrong! So very very wrong! Not only did MMA outshine boxing in terms of appearance, organisation and event management, it outshone "the sweet science" in the actual fighting. By far. Yes, when it comes down it, a odd boxing build-up hype can make you want to jump up and down like a 5 year old girl. The promise of a crushing knockout, the war of words at the numerous press conferences and so on. But last night the only thing that Haye-Klitschko and Cruz-Faber shared was bad blood. In the former's case, the bad blood led to 36 minutes of jab, jab, jab followed by wild miss and what seemed to be endless TAKEDOWN ATTEMPTS by David Haye (who is an MMA fan, mind you) as the larger Klitschko just man-handled the Brit when he got near. In the later's case, Cruz-Faber ended up being the fight of the night by a country mile and I, literally, couldn't take my eyes away from the screen as they fought for 25 minutes.
Being in England, I watched the boxing at around 10-11pm and then the UFC from 11pm until around 4:30am and I can honestly say I was more tired watching Haye lose then two guys, who both added together make up Klitschko alone, slug it out for 5 rounds of action. I even missed two rounds of the boxing because I fancied myself some cookies. I knew I wasn't going to miss much (my dad told me I missed 2 more takedown attempts by Haye). Jokes aside now, even the refereeing of both title fights ended with a victory for MMA. If you know Steve Mazzegatti, you know he sucks as a referee. Really sucks! But, on the night, he officiated the Bantamweight title fight perfectly and earned his paycheck. On the other hand, the referee officiating the boxing superfight was appalling. Giving Haye a standing 8 count after Klitschko clearly pushed him was the summary of a poor evening for the ref. The referee seemed to be swayed by a barrage of abuse from Klitschko's corner, and since that confrontation, he was scared to go against the Ukrainian when making decisions. Pathetic.
Finally, the organisation and management of both fighting events was the final nail in the coffin. For the boxing, Haye delayed his entrance by 10 minutes simply because he wanted to annoy Klitschko. If a fighter did that in the UFC, Dana White would bad mouth him and release him immediately. Michael Buffer, the ring announcer was lost for words after Haye didn't appear and, when he announced the delay, the (half full) arena let out a chorus of boos (its also important to point out that if the UFC had to fill that arena, it would actually be FULL). When David eventually came out, the security was so poor that Haye was nearly mauled by surrounding fans as he walked to the ring. Moments after the boxing finished, the UFC 132 Facebook stream started and, from then on, the UFC successfully navigated 3 different media platforms to bring 11 amazing fights to the public. There were no delays and the event fit perfectly into its allocated time slot.
All in all, if you gave me both events as a birthday present would gladly watch UFC 132 again and again and again. For the boxing, I guess I could enjoy 12 rounds of Klitschko's jab when I retire and am stuck in an armchair for 10 hours a day. It was still, none-the-less, a solid boxing clinic from the Ukrainian but that just isn't good enough for the superfight that it was billed to be. It is clear that, from last night, MMA has reached that point in time where, yes boxing still controls the combat sports market, but MMA is waiting on the front porch, ready to take over and upcoming events in Brazil, Japan and so on will look to push MMA into combat sports heaven.
Final Verdict:
UFC 132: Stunning KO's and storylines (welcome back Ortiz, goodbye Wanderlei) backed up a great Bantamweight title fight. 10/10.
Haye-Klitschko: A 12 round yawnfest/typical European boxing fight shrouded by poor refereeing and organisation. Far play to the fancy pre-fight introductions. 4/10.
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