You think if you asked 1000 people on the street more could name an MMAer than a boxer!!Guess all those years working in the rough clubs of the Phoenix ghetto have screwed your mind!
5 years from now MMA will be less popular than now as the fad is dieing and boxing will have a superstar HW champ. I m willing to bet you $1000 on this.
I would imagine that it depends where you live. In Hawaii it isn't even close. People here follow Pacman like their own shadow but it's not only because of his star power but also the strong Filipino culture in Hawai. But MMA rules here. In the gyms here, the health clubs not fighting gyms, I always hear MMA talk and never boxing. At work, after Lesnar lost, the old boxing/MMA debate came up. It wasn't so bad because these were just casual fans and since the Lesnar invincibility was gone it was just harmless speculation. Problem was, nobody, including myself I'm ashamed to say, could name the current heavyweight boxing champ.
I was at Border's in the mall a few days ago and went to check out the magazines. In the sport sections everyone had one of the what must now a be a half dozen MMA mag in their hand. The boxing and (thankfully) bodybuilding mags remained untouched and in pristine condition. Coincidently, a fight broke out just outside near the food court. I'm always amazed how much street fighting has changed. No more looping swings and mindless brawling. I saw knees, leg kicks, elbows combinations, attempted take downs. Even the coaching from their respective supporters showed the MMA influence. These guys were evenly matched and they fought to exhaustion and just quit by mutual agreement. People who have never been in a real fight don't realize how important conditioning is and no matter how tough you are when you lose your wind you lose your will. So these mokes just walked off still yelling insults at each other. When one yelled, while walking away still sucking wind, "Any time, brah! Any time you like scrap, brah! Any time!" And the other guy, also still exhausted, is yelling back, "Whatevas, brah! Time and place I'm there."
I just kind of laughed. I was thinking, "Um, how about, like, now. I mean, you're both here and you are fighting." But still it's always good to see that unlike on the mainland, everyone just lets them fight. No one calls security. No police. No one jumps in. No guns or knives. Still unconsciously observing the unspoken rules of fair combat culturally ingrained in them and set down generations ago based on pride and honor.
I have to get a real cell phone that can take videos and start recording this shit.
