I have to stand on my soap box, and let’s face it that’s the only reason I write these columns; I have things to say and ya’ll need to listen. I’m not going to apologize for the rant you are about to receive, nor am I saying anything that isn’t true. MMA Hipsters need to let go of the pretense that trash talking doesn’t matter.
I have read a lot about trash talkers lately, mainly due to the rise of one brash, confident, cocky Irishman. This is not the first time this conversation has come up, and when it does there are two types of people out there. There are those MMA hipsters, that wear their very subtle MMA related t-shirts, subscribe to the ‘Gracie breakdown’ you tube channel and whine and moan about MMA not needing trash talkers. To them “it’s all about the sport”.
Then there are those of us who couldn’t wait for a Chael Sonnen fight to end just so we could hear what he had prepared for us all in his post fight interview. Those who jumped out of our seats and lit up twitter the moment Jon Jones and Daniel Cormier started to brawl at their pre-fight press conference. The difference between the two? The first lot are a fat bunch of liars. That’s right people; their pants are well and truly burning.
I am a fan of combat sports; I like boxing, I enjoy watching Metamoris, and I love to watch MMA. The promotion does not bother me, I have watched them all and been entertained and at times bored by them all without exception. When you talk about two world class fighters going toe to toe I can’t think of any other sport that can match the intensity, the anticipation or the excitement. Everyone wants to see the best fighters fight, that’s part of our psyche. We have all had the conversation, who will win? The Thing or The Hulk, Superman or Batman?
We have something in us that needs to categorize fighters, it’s one of the reasons the UFC brought in their own ranking system, and why every week keyboard warriors hit the forums to justify or attack the position of fighters within a made up league table. We need to know who the best is, it’s what compelled me to write about the possible Rousey vs Cyborg fight.
We all have this in us and I’m assuming we can all agree watching the two very best fighters throw down is the best part of our sport. Yet there are still hipsters out there that will try to tell you they are just as happy watching two unknowns on a regional undercard go at it, just as much as they would enjoy watching Weidman Vs Belfort. I have seen them type it with my own eyes, heard it with my own ears, and smelt their bulls**t with my own nose.
Of course, I am being a bit of a drama queen but it’s because certain people just fail to acknowledge our human programming. There is a reason why reality TV, soap operas, and shows like X factor do so well; because we feel invested in people and their story. There is nothing wrong with that, its part of being human. Granted some people despise all of the above genres, but I bet they might get involved with Game of Thrones, or Breaking bad, or Mad Men? When they kill off your favourite character after a few seasons it’s ok to shed a tear. The more we know about someone the more we love or hate them, the more we are intrigued by their story, their next fight, their training camp, their twitter feed, and their Instagram, and why we watch the UFC countdown shows in our millions.
What I’m trying to say is not rocket science, it’s actually psychology. I can get up for a bad ass fight like Jones Vs Cormier, but after the bad blood, the pre fight- fight, the hatred on our screens, I’m so pumped up I have to stop myself putting the dog in a head lock. We need the bad blood, the trash talk; we need the back story, it’s part of human nature to be drawn to these things.
The sport is the sport, and I love it, but all you MMA hipsters out there can’t tell me that when you heard about Jon Jones’ recent hit and run you didn’t text your buddy using the shocked face emoji. As much as you don’t want to admit it, whether it’s to see him win, watch him lose or just to see if he can actually predict the future, watching Conor McGregor fight Jose Aldo this July is making you wet your Gi pants with anticipation. It’s not just his fists that excite you, or his feet, love it or hate it, it’s also because of his mouth.
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