Editorial: Is wrestling squashing the great buffet of MMA? The view from one consumer

When one goes to the buffet at the Mandalay Bay Las Vegas on a Sunday morning, you look forward to tasting a range of great offerings, from the French Toast and Filet Mignon to endless dessert options.  The diner is attracted to the diversity of possibilities and chance to execute on those options.  If all that was offered were toast and potatoes, the allure would not be the same.

Now, what does this have to do with MMA?  Well, it serves as a metaphor of sorts.  When UFC matchmaker Joe Silva and President Dana White are contemplating a match-up, I can imagine all the possibilities they might envision the two different fighters will bring to the Octagon and the array of skills that could be on display for fans to consume.   On paper, I am sure they thought George St. Pierre vs. Dan Hardy would thrill with Hardy throwing bombs and St. Pierre working his diverse tool kit of stand-up and ground skills.  On paper, I am sure they thought Jon Fitch and Thiago Alves would excite with Alves’ dangerous hands vs. the ground game of Fitch. On paper, I am sure Silva and White even thought the range of talents between Andre Winner and Nick Lentz at UFC 118 would offer a national Spike-TV audience lots to consume across the spectrum from wrestling to head kicks.

As it turned out, all those fights gave fans was a great big serving of toast and potatoes.

Despite all the tools that were brought into the Octagon for each of those fights, very few were on display for the fan to consume.  As if, Mandalay Bay left all the eggs, French Toast, Filet Mignon, and dessert in the kitchen denying the buffet diners of the best choices.  Unlike the buffet analogy, Joe Silva has no control over which tools are put on display, once a fight starts, for the fans to consume.  The fighters are in control, and more specifically, wrestling is in control.

In each of the mentioned fights, the winning fighter’s dominant wrestling utterly controlled the pace, scoring, and entertainment value of the fight.  GSP, Fitch, and Lentz each took the air out of the fight via slow, grinding, methodical wrestling to prevent their highly talented opponents from ever using their best and very entertaining standup tools.  There is nothing unfair or illegal about this tactic.  In fact, it is quite smart for purposes of winning the fight … why would the wrestler ever expose themselves to the best strengths of their opponent, if possible?  While this is a winning course to follow – it limits what the UFC “diner” can enjoy.  So many great items were on the “menu,” or brought into the cage, yet only one was available for consumption.

These fights all had so much potential for excitement but are mostly thought of as disappointments from an entertainment standpoint.  I do like ground fights, but admittedly, ones that are more Jiu Jitsu based, and part of an overall ground and pound package.  I love watching Anthony Pettis on his back, searching and probing for a loose limb to rip off or how Joe Lauzon transitioned from ground and pound to finish with an arm bar against Gabe Ruediger.  When dominant wrestling is used only as a neutralizer of the opponent’s most exciting tools instead of an offensive weapon itself, I find myself flipping to watch a New Jersey housewife throw a table or pull some hair.

Wrestling is taking over MMA more and more.  However, I am not a wrestling “hater” in general.  Frankie Edgar was masterful, mixing his wrestling with the full array of MMA tools: Muay Thai, Boxing, Judo throws, and BJJ to cement his title belt at UFC 118.  I am only a basher when a persistent neutralizing wrestling style takes away all my MMA buffet dining options in fights with potential for so much more.

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Is wrestling taking the air out of some potentially great MMA fights?  Are wrestlers too dominant?  sound off!

@john_moody